It’s a humbling experience for anyone to walk into a gallery or museum and take in the art suspended with wire and tiny nails. However, it’s other worldly to have art surrounding you, walking pass you, or even saying “Hi!” to you. That’s the Seattle Tattoo Expo, a living gallery of walking canvases. Artists fleshing out new pieces every 5ft, pages of past work filling countless folders, gallons of ink at the ready, buzzing brushes – and the droves of people waiting for their first, or next, tattoo.

Not his first rodeo.

There’s a ever-present buzz in each room. At first, it’s the only thing you hear – eating fragments of conversations, leaving you to smile and nod as if you heard what’s been said. Then it’s gone, transformed into a barely audible tone tuned out until you’re looking at it’s source. The machines. Whirring along outlines, coloring in the gaps between, shading depth into flat surfaces – each as unique as the artist holding it, and some – one of kind works of art themselves. The expo brings out the most incredible and imaginative aspects of the tattoo world-from the best tattoo guns of all kinds, to the plethora of tattoo styles across the globe. There’s an intermingling of the art and the artist, and it’ll take a while to figure out which is which. But you don’t have to. Just enjoy the experience!

Handmade Star Wars tattoo machines by Ben Euse

Getting inked isn’t the only attraction to the Expo, each of the 3days featured a seminar by some of the best in the business. Friday saw Shawn Barber discuss and demonstrate portrait painting. Dan Dringenberg, owner of Dringerberg Tattoo Company, lead a 6hour tattoo machine building course on Saturday. For today, there’s still time to get into the Black & Grey Techniques seminar with Bryan Childs, who’s 20years of experience landed him a 1.5year wait list to have him tattoo you at his shop in Olympia, Spidermonkey Tattoos. The seminar runs from 1PM-5PM, at a cost of $150 per person.

For the casual expo attendee, the mainstage offers entertainment all day, mixing tattoo contests, music, and burlesque. Performances by LoudMotor and Alicia Amiri are sure to please, while the contests bring in stunning pieces and the brave contestants who stand up and bare their bodies to a slew of strangers – but the way to win over the crowd is with the sultry sway of the Atomic Bombshells.

Burlesque is coming back and ladies of the Atomic Bombshells all but guarantee this resurgence won’t fade anytime soon. The each dancer had their own style and flair as they drew every eye, call, and whistle from guys and dolls alike. From cheeky teases to belly dancing, and with very little clothing in-between – the Atomic Bombshells lived up to their name and put on, what I can only imagine to be, as authentic a burlesque show can be this side of the 1950s. Catch them today, on the mainstage, at 2PM.

Sorry, Sailor. You’ll have to come to the show to see more of these Bombshells.

Today is the last day get to the Seattle Tattoo Expo, meet with amazing artists from around the country and right here in Seattle, catch the music, grab a bite from local vendors, smoke a cigar while watching burlesque, and maybe get that first tattoo you’ve been thinking about.

SEATTLE TATTOO EXPO
Why wait till next year? Grab you tickets at SeattleTattooExpo.com
Seattle Tattoo Expo, open Sunday 12PM-8PM

Sunday Schedule:
1:00PM Large Black and Grey
2:00PM Burlesque
2:30PM Best Overall
3:30PM LoudMotor
4:15PM Best Religious
5:15PM Alicia Amiri
6:00PM Best Pin Up
7:00PM Tattoo of the Day

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