{"id":293,"date":"2007-05-16T01:25:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-16T01:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/docwiggly.wordpress.com\/2007\/05\/16\/del-mars-last-tattoo-expo\/"},"modified":"2007-05-16T01:25:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-16T01:25:00","slug":"del-mars-last-tattoo-expo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2007\/05\/16\/del-mars-last-tattoo-expo\/","title":{"rendered":"Del Mar's Last Tattoo Expo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Going going gone\u2026<\/p>\n

Body Arts Expo at Del Mar Fairgrounds<\/b>
\nDel Mar, CA
\n(submitted May 2, 2007)
\n
\nstory and pics by Tina M Helton<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Boasting appearances by over 200 \u2018worldwide famous\u2019 artists from over 13 states, the Body Art Expo is a convention that includes 18 different tattoo contests, schwag giveaways and audience participation contests (“Hot Ass” and Wet T-shirt, no explanation necessary and held later in the evening). But for some, it is also a family event and I noted that many had their young children with them. I even spotted one artist\u2019s young sons giving each other magic marker tattoos, working right alongside dad. People of all different calibers attend the three-day event, some to be tattooed, and some just for the voyeuristic pleasure. I looked on in envy while men and women had various body parts adorned in permanent artwork, as my own artist was not in attendance this year. I arrived about noontime on Saturday and had made my rounds up and down the aisles of what one of my friends called “the swap meet of tattoo shows” in just under three hours. I picked up business cards and flipped through different books of completed and \u2018in progress\u2019 tattoos from shops as far away as Kansas, Illinois and even Ontario, Canada! I stopped occasionally to ask local North County shops if the USMC\u2019s recent ban on visible ink had affected business much and I was informed that there has been a noticeable decline in clientele. I browsed booths offering T-shirts and body jewelry and even spoke with some of the lovely Suicide Girls that were there, hawking their calendars and posters. I was told that there had been a \u2018sex toy\u2019 vendor there the previous night but she had been asked to leave by the time I showed up. Differing from years past with the absence of live bands, this year\u2019s event had a DJ spinning vinyl from all genres of music, and adult beverages could be had for as little as $8.00 for a domestic draft.<\/p>\n

I watched while a slow turnout became increasingly busy with activity and the low hum of tattoo machines as the evening hours approached; but while standing outside in the smoking section, I overheard a vendor on his cell phone, complaining about how dismal the “San Diego Scene” was, vowing to never return. As I later discovered, this would be no problem, as this year was the final run for the Body Arts Expo in San Diego, according to Sheila Montie, daughter of renowned artist, Gil Montie. “It seems San Diego County has finally figured out that tattoos = blood & pain = possible fainting.” The remaining Body Arts Expo shows, produced by Mega Productions and sponsored by Baba of Vintage Tattoo will continue to be held, as scheduled, at The Pomona Fairplex and The Cow Palace in San Francisco. Personally, I think it\u2019s a sad social commentary about how increasingly conservative the climate in this county I grew up in is becoming; where it\u2019s okay to hold gun shows in the same venue that now no longer allows body modification, whether or not it is billed as a family- friendly event. It seems to me that the last time I checked, guns caused more gore than tattoos ever did.<\/p>\n

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Going going gone\u2026 Body Arts Expo at Del Mar Fairgrounds Del Mar, CA (submitted May 2, 2007) story and pics by Tina M Helton Boasting appearances by over 200 \u2018worldwide famous\u2019 artists from over 13 states, the Body Art Expo is a convention that includes 18 different tattoo contests, schwag giveaways and audience participation contests (“Hot Ass” and Wet T-shirt, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[125],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","tag-del-mars-last-tattoo-expo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8494,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2013\/06\/14\/ad-church-of-steel-body-piercing-and-tattoo-750-broadway-san-diego-619-232-5752\/","url_meta":{"origin":293,"position":0},"title":"[ad] Church of Steel, 750 Broadway, San Diego, 619-232-5752","author":"Reviewer Rob","date":"June 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Church of Steel Body Piercing And TattooTweet 750 Broadway in downtown San Diego, Call them at 619-232-5752 churchofsteel.comClick the pic for larger version","rel":"","context":"In "advertising"","block_context":{"text":"advertising","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/advertising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11175,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2015\/02\/09\/the-falcon-free-to-the-girls-200-for-the-guys\/","url_meta":{"origin":293,"position":1},"title":"The Falcon – Free To The Girls, $200 For The Guys","author":"Reviewer Rob","date":"February 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"[Products] Maximizing Your Profits Camming With \"The Falcon\" product debut by Reviewer Rob This is a new product they said was called \"The Falcon\" that was revealed and discussed in the Novelties symposium class thing that the people from the website Clips4Sale had on the last day of AEE 2015.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "las vegas"","block_context":{"text":"las vegas","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/las-vegas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4269,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2016\/05\/05\/ad-big-city-tattoo\/","url_meta":{"origin":293,"position":2},"title":"[ad] Big City Tattoo in North Park","author":"admin","date":"May 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"[ad] Big City Tattoo, Inc. 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