ARTS AND CULTURE
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
The annual Pacific Northwest Tattoo Expo officially returned
last weekend to the Spirit Mountain Casino for its second
year, bringing artists from around the nation and locally to
exhibit their work o f art.
In the past two decades, tattoo culture has seen a rise
in business. It is a part o f today’s modern culture where
everyone from athletes to celebrities show them off as a
symbol o f their personality or their background. It has
certainly permeated the modern era, especially in a place
like Oregon, where the city o f Portland is known for its
retro style and art. This caused tattoo conventions to pop
up around the globe, bringing in fans o f the culture. The
PNW Tattoo Expo is no different.
Though the expo is barely in its second year, it has seen
an exponential growth of popularity.
“Last year went very well, but this year is even bigger and
better,” said Timothy Azinger, a tattoo artist from Pittsburgh
and the organizer of the event.
Azinger has been organizing and tattooing for 25 years
and has built a reputation internationally for holding these
events. He currently runs a shop located in Pittsburgh and
has opened a new one with his partner.
The event showcases talented artist trying to make a name
for themselves in the business by displaying their work and
even selling their art in the form of portraits.
“This is my first time at an expo,” said Lance Smith, a
local tattoo artist from Oregon City. “I ’m not expecting
a lot to come out o f this expo, but I thought it would
be a great experience and maybe
even get inspired by other artists to
build up my credibility.” Smith was
introduced to tattoos at the age of
14 when his uncle opened a shop.
His uncle mentored him throughout
the years until he finally opened the
shop in Oregon City called Oregon
City Tattoos.
O ne o f th e b ig g e st booths
show cased at. the expo was the
Eternal Art Tattoo shop with a total
o f eight artists. Jesse Perez, the
brother o f the owner, was among
them only having three months of
holding the title as a tattoo artist but
having about 10 years of experience
by shadowing his brother.
“We’ve always been into art, so
we figured it was a chance to make some money and do
som ething we love, it w asn’t a hard s e ll/’ said Perez.
“Conventions like these have helped us get our name out,
look at other tattoo artists and styles of tattoo and learn
from them to see what’s going on in the business.”
The shop is located in Santa Rosa, Calif., where it’s owned
by. Jesse’s brother: Jesus Perez, the lead artist.
O f course one of the biggest things about these events
are the fans that come to support the culture and even get
a tattoo from the experience.
“Being in the business for 25 years, you can imagine how
things have changed,” Azinger said. “People still had a lot
of stigma attached towards tattooing since people thought
it was disturbing, thinking of it as a back-alley-biker-gang
kind of thing. So my thought was to bring a lot of talented
tattooers to a comfortable public setting, where people who
were iffy about tattoos, might be interested in one, but they
were just intimidated to go into a shop. Well, here we are
in a beautiful ballroom where you can go in and explore
all the possibilities tattooing has to offer.”
This included fans like Nick and Katina, a couple who
declined to give*their last names. They decided to spend their
three-year anniversary at the expo, looking to get a tattoo.
“It’s pretty cool for my first time being at a convention,”
said Katina. “The fact that so many artists gathered in one
place is awesome, in addition to seeing their artwork.”
If you missed this year’s Pacific Northwest Tattoo Expo,
definitely check it out next year, if you’re looking for high-
quality tattoos, want to see more of the tattoo culture, and
maybe even have the first experience of getting a tattoo. The
expo offers you many possibilities. To check out more info
about the expo and its artist, go to: http://www.tattoopgh.
com/pnw.html
photos by McKenna Streed
Top Left: Maureen Orrissim tattbos a new bee
on Nina Anderson.
Bottom left: Henry R odriguez tattoos a butterfly
on Ben Baker.
Right: Kent Parrell tattoos Dom inique
Meldredge.
Clackamas Print ------------------------------------------------
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ NOVEMBER 15, 2017