Just got back from the Great London Tattoo Show and a guest spot at Trash Tattoo in Dendermonde, Belgium. What a fantastic time it was. Took a day or five to get used to the time change but after that I was good to go.
London is always sunny when I visit which prompts people to tell me to visit more often. I certainly would love to, since London is one of my favorite cities. We arrived a day after the Manchester bombing which was a bit unnerving. The whole place had a different vibe; not bad, just a kind of tension that seemed to infect everyone. But people soldiered on and apart from the presence of heavily armed police and incessant news coverage, it was quite pleasant.
I tattooed in Alexandra Palace which was a nice piece of old architecture. The show was busy and I did a neck piece on a gentleman, which was my highlight of the show.
Belgium took me by surprise. I didn’t really know what to expect and at first, I hate to say, but I had a bit of culture shock. Coming straight from London to the cobblestone streets of Dendermonde seemed like I had stepped back in time.
In a day or two, after gathering our wits about us, it began to make sense. And then it seduced me. I really like Belgium. Our hosts were very gracious and their shop was buzzing like a beehive from the moment it opened until the doors closed. It was an all female shop and the vibe was chill and welcoming; it was nice to see it doing so well.
We went to Brugge and Gent and had a great time in between days of me working like a dog.
And then we went to Amsterdam. Everyone should go to this place before they die. Needless to say, I enjoyed it to the fullest of my capabilities.
We did some filming for Tattoo Nomad, the show that I (and my wife) are producing. Belgium will be the first official episode. I am still waiting to release the pilot episode, which is about the Big Island and Polynesian tattoo, but have to wait as I entered it into a film festival and cannot show it publicly until I hear if I got accepted or not.
In the meantime, here are some pics that you may hopefully enjoy.
Aloha!