What economic downturn? Skin artists are thriving in these rocky economic times.
At the sixth annual Salt Lake City international tattoo convention this week, vendors said economic downturn isn't preventing customers from spending hundreds of dollars for skin art.
"My question is 'What recession'?" said Kate Hellenbrand, a tattoo artist for the past 38 years. "Every day, new clients are being born. The media promotes the industry. There are ads everywhere and sports heroes, rock n' roll stars and models all have tattoos."
She said tattooing dates to ancient times and that almost all cultures have song, dance, dressing for special occasions and tattoos in common.
"This is the art history that art history teachers forgot to tell you anything about," said Hellenbrand. "It is global and ageless."
Tattoos don't come cheaply, especially when patronizing one of the local or national artists at the convention. Many of the top artists warn against bargain hunting when deciding to get a tattoo that will likely last as long as a person lives.
"If you spend $200 for a bad tattoo, it will be a memory forever that you cheated yourself," said Hellenbrand.
Sergio Reynoso of Salt Lake Tattootland was one of the few vendors who said the recession has hurt his business. Since about 80 percent of clients are Latinos, many experiencing trouble finding a job in a down construction industry, he has noticed a drop in business. He has, however, been doing a good business lately repairing or sprucing up bad tattoos done on the street by less qualified artists.
Amanda Brinkerhoff was one of many convention goers who elected to get a tattoo. "I saved up for it," she said. "It (the economy) didn't play a factor on whether I got a tattoo. It was something I wanted to do."
Even in Seattle -- where thousands have been laid off in recent months -- tattoo art is a shelter in the storm. Seattle tattoo artist April Cornell keeps quite busy.
"If you weren't watching the news, you would not know there was a recession," she said.
Artist Vinnie Almanza of Anchorage, Alaska, said he was booked all weekend in Salt Lake and is booked through June at his home shop. "One thing people definitely don't have a problem spending on is their ink," he said. "It's like an addiction."
Jay O'Leary of Big Deluxe Tattoo in Salt Lake City said that when people get sad, they sometimes opt for a tattoo.
"In hard times people come in to get tattoos and brighten their day up," he said. "Tax season is amazing."
Nate Drew, a convention organizer, said that this year's show was slightly bigger than last year and that people come from all over the world to get tattooed at the Salt Lake City show because they know that some of the top artists in the country come to the event. The artists include guys such as John Snider of Tampa, Fla., who may have found a near recession-proof business.
"Honestly there has not been that much impact (from the down economy)," he said. "It's been busy."
E-mail Tom Wharton at wharton(at)sltrib.com
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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