New Hampshire Tattoo And Body Piercing
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Concord, New Hampshire
04/13/07

Tattoo you.

Even when it hurts, it's good, the hot scratch etching a memory in the mind as the ink stains the skin. It's a powerful feeling to face pain and overcome it. Besides, pain is temporary. Tattoos are forever.

People still want "Mom" tattoos. Old school is now new school: roses, nautical stars and tribal patterns are in. So are memorial tattoos.

"It's a way for someone to wear their soul on the outside of the body for everyone to see," said Brenda Florin, who co-owns Gothic Tattoo, a company with a shop on Loudon Road and another in Derry, with her husband, Paul.

"We try to discourage people from getting names," said Andrea Wilson, whose husband, Art, recently opened Derma-Designs on North State Street. "Something always seems to happen."

To be licensed in New Hampshire, tattoo artists must perform 1,500 hours of apprentice work and be approved by the state and the city before opening shop. Once licensed, artists can tattoo from the jaw down - the face is considered cosmetic tattooing and requires a special license, Paul Florin said.

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Courtesy of: concordmonitor.com

Nashua, New Hampshire
09/18/06

Downtown Nashua reinventing its Main Street appeal.

In the last few months, the city’s core shopping district has attracted an upscale young women’s clothing boutique, a tattoo parlor with two veteran artists, three hair salons, a bank and a long list of other merchants. Add to that a new restaurateur who has plans to open next year, and you’ve got a sought after Main Street.

Downtown Nashua’s uniqueness – from its brick-faced shops to its sidewalk cafes and riverfront eateries, has attracted business owners who want to be part of a thriving market.

Raynard Stevens, co-owner of Tattoomb, the city’s newest tattoo parlor, in Railroad Square, chose downtown because he likes the architecture and wanted to add to the art community downtown. He said he was received with open arms.

“I noticed that before I was just a person on the street,” Stevens said. “And now it’s like I’m a part of a business community where they respect you as a fellow business owner.”

Tattoomb, owners Raynard Stevens and David Lewis, 35 Railroad Square, 889-8287, www.tattoomb.com.

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Courtesy of: nashuatelegraph.com

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Manchester, New Hampshire
07/21/06

Merchants sell Gorham street as a destination.

The small side street off of Gorham’s Main Street holds six shops and lies near a railroad museum, the town common and the Gorham Library, which boasts a wi-fi hotspot. The street is ideally situated to pull customers in from the other retail businesses along the main thoroughfare, but “so many people, even local residents, would say they didn’t even know we were here,” she said.

Gorham, located just south of Berlin, was hit hard by the tough economy and paper mill closing in 2001, and hit hard again when soldiers were called up from the National Guard base in Berlin and the mill closed a second time.

You can get a custom-designed tattoo by Paul Daigle, owner of Drigger’s Tattoo.

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Courtesy of: nh.com

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Salem, New Hampshire
07/06/06

As our generation ages, are tattoos becoming more accepted? More appreciated?

In past generations, tattoos were considered something reserved for the less savory members of society. At one time, it seemed only sailors, prisoners, bikers and carnival workers would ever dare to set foot into a tattoo parlor to have beautiful, colorful works of art permanently inked into their skin.

“They’re becoming more and more accepted,” said David Leonard, 27, of Spider-Bite Tattoos in Manchester. “Last week I gave a 75-year-old woman her first tattoo. She’s always wanted one, but it wasn’t acceptable when she was younger.”

But tattoos still have a long way to go before they are completely accepted, said Dug Mendoza, an artist for Goodtimes Tattoos in Manchester. It’s still not easy being a tattooed person in a formal business setting or even the military. (Once one of the only tattooed sects of society, the military now places strict limitations on the designs, locations and number of tattoos on its members.)

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Courtesy of: salemobserver.com

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Nashua, New Hampshire
07/02/06

Thinking about inking?

Deciding to do it is easy. Choosing what you want inked is a lot tougher. While there are laser techniques that can remove what once was considered irremovable, tattoos are still, mostly, going to be with you for life. Any design you have done should be one you’re willing to live with.

After more than 50 ink-free years, columnist Paul Sylvain took the plunge recently and got a tattoo.

Did it hurt? Not really, but there was a slight burning-pricking feeling that I stopped noticing after a few minutes. And afterwards, it felt no worse than a very mild sunburn. It took about five days for it to pretty much heal.

Now, if I can just find another design that speaks to me.

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Courtesy of: nashuatelegraph.com

Current And Pending New Hampshire Laws...

Tattoo And Body Piercing Conventions...

Skin deep and bad to the bone.

It was a day full of beer, hard rock music, body piercings, men breathing fire and more than 200 tattoo artists as the Seacoast Tattoo & Music Festival returned for its fourth year at the Elks Lodge in Dover.

For the artists, the opportunity to showcase their work to customers was the biggest reward, as each booth had displays full of photos of past tattoos as well as their business cards.

This is the second year the festival is being held at the Elks, after it outgrew its original headquarters at the Frank Jones Center in Portsmouth two years ago, Sullivan said.

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Courtesy of: seacoastonline.com

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Durnam, New Hampshire
09/15/06

Getting Inked!

The Boston Convention buzzing to get your tatt' on.

The biggest convention you never heard about happened on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of September, and it was all about tattoo artists. The convention held over 50 booths, many with more than two artists, including Tsunami Tattoo of Portland, Maine, 13 Roses of Atlanta, Ga., and House of Colour from Long Island, N.Y.

Two common tattooing practices were at the convention: stenciling and freehand.

Stenciling is what most artists do for non-custom work. If a person wants something specific tattooed on them, they will ask the artist ahead of time, or bring in an image. The artist will then photocopy it on to stencil paper, which transfers the outlines onto the skin of the willing victim.

Freehand tattooing is a much more fluid and custom-made tattoo process. The art that is to be tattooed on you is first drawn on by hand with no tracing or help of any kind, just straight onto your skin. The art tends to flow better on the skin this way, coinciding with your natural lines instead of clashing with them.

There is an artist of every style you can think of, from a more stylized version of the graffiti look to old-school-pirate-like tattoos. Watson Atkinson of 13 Roses said that it was one of the best conventions he had ever been to, and he came all the way from Atlanta. Beth Potter of Tsunami Tattoo said, "You should stay longer. Lizardman is going to put on a show?He swallows swords." The convention has everything. Well, everything but the bearded lady.

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Courtesy of: tnhonline.com

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