LFOD Convention in Manchester NH

This past weekend was the Live Free or Die convention in Manchester NH. If you haven't been there before you really need to stop by it next year. John and his gang at Spider Bite put on a really nice convention. The convention runs Friday/Saturday/Sunday and is usually the 3rd week of July.

As usual, Jason and the Hobo's crew were there. We've participated since they started it, it's a show all of us really enjoy. Friday was a great day, it started off with Jason somehow convincing Tony to stick his head in the hole of the cheesy tattooed dude and letting him get a picture of it.

Jason, Tony, Beth, and Bill kept busy all weekend. Jason and Tony worked the convention all weekend and Beth worked with them Saturday and Bill with them on Sunday. I haven't gotten all the pictures that were taken the weekend but they definitely had a great time. Here is a picture of our booth at the show:

Here are a few of the tattoos that Jason did over the weekend:

Here are a couple tattoos that Tony did over the weekend:

As always we want to thank our clients and friends who either stopped by and got a tattoo from us or stopped by in support of us. We wouldn't be us without you!

-Kim

Some recent tattoos by Jason Scott

It's been a while but I need to vent about "Tattoo School"

Jason and I have had a busy year and I've just not had time to sit down and write anything. I felt compelled to do so today after reading about a documentary airing on TLC next week called "Tattoo School".

From what I can gather, if you put up 5k of money you can learn how to tattoo in just two short weeks. You will learn all the basics and get to skip the part where you toil away in tattoo shops for years cleaning toilets and never getting to touch a tattoo machine. They even offer free housing for those two weeks, what a deal. Sounds great, right?

This is not great at all. This is just another step in making a mockery of a profession so many of my friends and of course my other half call their career and their passion. Learning a life long trade should not be a two week course, end of story. If you want to be an Accountant you don't take a two week course and after those two weeks you are magically an Accountant. You spend years in college learning about Accounting and/or toiling away at entry level jobs until you reach the point in your career where you are respected at your desired position.

I see nothing wrong with someone who wants to tattoo starting at the bottom and working their way up. Many of my friends served a one or two year apprenticeship where they started with sweeping and mopping the floors and ended with becoming a licensed tattoo artist. Yes many of them even payed money to learn how to tattoo. They paid it because they considered it the same as paying for a college education. Even those that didn't serve a "formal" apprenticeship spent those same years struggling to break in to the tattoo world. They've spent years dedicating their life to learning how to tattoo and now one idiotic documentary is going to make it seem as if it should only take two weeks to learn how to tattoo.

I'm sure some who read this will think who cares about a documentary on a tattoo school. You would care if you've watched your spouse, loved one or friend spend years of their life learning to perfect their craft. I've watched them struggle, sweat, doubt themselves, build up confidence in themselves, work hard, draw every day, paint every day, tattoo every day, and basically give their life over to tattooing. I've done this for over 16 years now and will continue to watch from the sidelines as they continue to learn, as learning how to tattoo is a lifetime endeavor and not a two week course.

As an end note, Jason and Hobo's Tattoo does not accept apprenticeships. Jason will be teaching his nephew sometime in the future how to tattoo but that will be end of any apprenticeships through Hobo's under Jason's management. His only real apprentice to date has been Tony who we are happy to say has been with us since the day he started mopping the shop floors about six years ago and is now a thriving tattoo artist working in the same booth he used to clean for other artists.

Thanks for reading,

-Kim

A year of tattoo conventions...

When Jason first started working in Portsmouth NH we traveled a good amount to various tattoo conventions, both to work at and just to attend and have a good time. Along the way we made some great friends and made many great memories. When he bought the shop he slowed down the convention circuit, mostly choosing to stick close to home. When his mom became sick, conventions and traveling for anything tattoo related stopped completely.

Fast forward to last summer. With money he inherited from his mom's estate, he built the shop of his dreams...our second location, Congress St. Tattoo. Over the past few years, he's hired a great group of tattoo artists who we consider our family. We had the beautiful new second shop, an amazing crew of artists that made sure our shops ran smooth but one thing was missing...it was time to start attending tattoo conventions again. Jason missed meeting new people and being surrounded by the art he loves so much.

Last August he was asked to attend the Hollywood tattoo convention and after much prodding we convinced him to go. He had a great time and got to hang out with friends he rarely gets to see. Move on to October, Scott Bramble invites him to work at the tattoo convention in Philly being held on the USS Olympia.

Here's a picture of Scott working on the boat...

This June he was lucky enough to once again share a convention booth Scott Bramble. Scott invited him to work at the Toronto Tattoo Convention with him. It was our first time out of the country for work or play. We absolutely fell in love with Canada and can't wait to go back. It was a busy convention filled to the brim with the nicest people you'll meet.

Scott and Jason working side by side at the Toronto convention:

The one convention we always try to do is the Live Free or Die tattoo convention that takes place each July in downtown Manchester NH. It is a fun and busy show and we always enjoy working at it. This year Tony, Jason, and Beth all worked at the show with our nephew Spencer as our floor person. It was Tony's first time working a tattoo convention (long overdue!) and Beth's first time attending a convention with us since she joined the Hobo's family. The five of us had a great time and there is only one picture I can think to post that will show just how happy we were...I'll let Tony show you:

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words!

Jason and I have two more conventions coming up this year. Labor day weekend we will be heading down to Boston for the Boston Tattoo Convention. It's been a few years since Jason has worked at this show so we are looking forward to it. Joining Jason at this 4 day show will be Tony on Friday and Saturday and Beth on Sunday and Monday. Tony and Jason will both have prints available for sale and all three are hoping to have new paintings for sale as well.

The following week Jason and I will be exploring a bit more of Canada as we head up to Montreal for the Montreal tattoo convention. We are completely thrilled that Jason was able to get a half-booth at this convention as it's someplace we've wanted to visit and it's another road trip! Who doesn't love a good road trip.

~Kim~

Hobo's Tattoo/Congress St. Tattoo will be at the NH Live Free or Die Tattoo Convention...

On July 23-25 Jason, Tony, Beth, and Bill will be working the Live Free or Die Tattoo Convention at the Radisson Hotel on Elm Street in downtown Manchester NH. If you get a chance you should take a day (or three!) and stop by and check out this show. Spider Bite Tattoo does a great job running this convention and it's definitely worth a look-see.

Jason will be working all three days, Beth will be there on Friday (and maybe Saturday too), Tony will be working the show on Saturday and Sunday, and Bill may stop by and work on Sunday. All are available for walk-ins or appointments on their scheduled days, give us a call at either shop if you'd like to set up an appointment.

Jason has some new items for sale. He has a new print for sale, limited run of 25 and all signed and numbered. He will have them available at the show both framed and unframed. He also has about 10 to 15 paintings that will be for sale at the show. We will have T-shirts for sale as well.

The show hours are Friday from 5pm to 12am, Saturday from 10am to 12am, and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Tickets are available at the door. We hope to see everyone there...!

Traditional Tattoo Sleeve...

For the past few months Jason has been working on a traditional sleeve. The sleeve in question only had one small tattoo at the wrist so he has an almost blank canvas to work with. After watching him complete another piece of the sleeve last night I felt compelled to write about it. I think this sleeve is amazing and encompasses the exact type of work Jason loves to do the most and I know he hopes to do more like this in the future.

It all started with a couple of penguins on the upper inner arm. I've never seen such cute penguin feet in my life.



















Then it moved on to a couple of mice...equally as adorable and very personal to the owner of the tattoo.


















The next tattoo was in the ditch of the arm. Jason didn't go easy, he put a full color traditional tattoo there and it came out beautiful.


















Along comes a pink panther on the forearm...absolutely traditional with a pink twist.


















The next tattoo was on the upper back of the arm. It came about on a whim when the owner of the tattoo's other half was half way down the east coast also getting a similar tattoo. Sometimes tattoos just need to be spontaneous and fun!


















One last big spot was left to fill on the upper arm. A scorpion is what Jason's client wanted and he drew one up that fit the space perfectly...


















Last but not least and certainly not the end of the sleeve is yesterday's tattoo. One last big piece was needed on the forearm, his client wanted a snake but nothing too fancy. He adapted one from a Dan Higg's flash sheet and added flowers that are also in other parts of the sleeve.


















There is still more to go on the sleeve...an elbow tattoo, a small piece on the wrist and maybe a few more flowers and filler. I'll post a completed picture when the sleeve is done but like I mentioned in the beginning, I was compelled to write after watching Jason tattoo this last tattoo yesterday. I'm not being biased but very honest when I say that if you are in to traditional tattoos I don't feel your collection of tattoos is complete until you've gotten a Jason Scott tattoo.

Hellos and Goodbyes...

So here it is finally, a blog for both of our locations penned by yours truly; wife of owner, coffee fetcher, sometimes bookkeeper, website maker, photo uploader, all around shop bitch...Kim. You never know what I'll be posting...pictures, stories from the day, shop news, important dates, convention schedules; this is basically a blog of all the antics from the artists at our shops.

I wanted to start off our blog by handing out some hellos and goodbyes. 2010 began with us saying goodbye to one of our long time artists and good friends Al Benedetti who moved on to work in greener pastures in California. We know he is loving life out there and although we miss him we are happy for him and hope he comes back for a visit soon! Since he left the shop, it left us needing to say hello to a new artist. Hello Beth Potter we are happy to have you with us! More on Beth to follow in a later blog (or blogs!).

This month marks the 28th anniversary of our first shop, Hobo's Tattoo. We celebrated by planning a shop field trip to say hello and get tattooed by our friends at Smith St. Tattoo in Brooklyn, NY. It was a long day but a wonderful time and a great way to wind down before the summer season starts. Our 2nd shop, Congress St. Tattoo, will be marking its one year anniversary on August 15th of this year. Help us celebrate by joining us on Friday the 13th for a $31 tattoo followed by an after-party at a soon to be revealed location.

Goodbye for now but I'll be back soon with a new blog...