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Ink & Iron Newsletter
Ink & Iron 2010 by Skin Deep Magazine
The Ink & Iron is the longest 
running show in the UK,
notching up close to fifteen
successful shows.
This year the organisers had
moved the convention to a
nightclub on the shores of
Edgbaston reservoir and on this bright,
sunny and warm Sunday, many flocked
to the venue to help welcome back an old
friend to the show scene.
I took the opportunity to head down to
Birmingham on my bike and the ride down
was wonderful, blowing the cobwebs out
of not only myself but my bike too. Along
the way I met up with quite a few others
who had the same idea and arriving at the
venue, I was greeted by a vast array of
heavy metal in the guise of chops, trikes
and bikes, all lined up against the shore of
the lake, making for an impressive sight.
A s the name suggests the Ink & Iron
has in the past, combined both a superb
collection of tattooists and custom bikes.
This year the Iron part of the show was
a little on the thin side but talking to one
of the organisers he said that as it was a
new venue, they wanted to see how things
worked out and are hoping to increase the
custom bike display further next year.
Inside, the first thing I noticed was the lack
of lighting – not a good start for a tattoo
convention - still, this is something that will
be addressed next year and as tattooists
are the mothers of invention, all sorted
out their own lights, so things got started
pretty quickly.
The sizeable queue outside started to
shuffle in and the show got on the road and
the familiar tattoo machine sound filtered
through the building.
Wandering about the venue I couldn’t
help thinking that this show was
somewhat hastily put together and the
booths could have been more defined but
again, the artists settled themselves down
to a day of putting ink into the skin. No
sooner had they started than the first band
hit the stage. Sadly they were turned up
to eleven and as always happens at many
shows, everyone was drowned out by the
excessive noise until they finished their
carry a tune in a bucket and these ladies,
although very enthusiastic, made me want
to stick pencils in my ears. Just my opinion
you understand, and it must be hard to get
tunes to please every palate.
B y now many of the artists had started
to produce some real nice tattoo work. The
artists list consisted of about 35 mostly
UK artists, with Lawrence Ah Ching
hand tapping on a plinth in the middle of
the room. Artists of note included John
Treharne, Terry Fuller, Amanda West,
Dawnii and Kev Shercliffe. There was a
healthy selection of Birmingham’s finest
but with a noticeable absence of guys like
the Modern Body Art crew, Leah Moule,
Rich Pearson and Helen Brown but to be
honest, I doubt if the organisers could have
fitted any more artists in.
R obb and Ruth from Eternal Tattoos
were also on hand to offer their unique
blend of black and grey work. It was
fantastic to see Ruth working her first show
after a long period of self-doubt and child
rearing, but she said after, she thoroughly
enjoyed and couldn’t wait to do more. It’s
so nice that folk will get a chance again to
get some of your superb artwork Ruth.
A s the afternoon moved on, the judging
started strangely in a room behind the
stage, which I thought was quite odd
actually denying the audience a view of
the work being judged. Later there was a
‘Tattoo Parade’ on stage but this could have
easily been combined with the judging as
the show and tell was a little on the quiet
side, with many not choosing to show off
their ink to the crowd.
The venue was quite well suited to a
tattoo convention with a raised balcony
running along one side, giving the public
a good view of the guys working on the
ground floor.
A s the day wore on, we were treated to
a suspension act with Alice and her cohorts
suspending themselves from hooks in a
pastiche of a French restaurant set, which
looked visually interesting; getting gasps
and looked upon slack-jawed at their fakirtype
feats.
Not long after, the awards were handed
out and as per, folk started to leave,
including myself. I had a long (and very
cold!) ride home, but I was kept warm by the
fond memories of the new Ink & Iron show.
S o the Ink & Iron was a huge success and
I have no doubt, got its foot firmly back on
the rungs of the tattoo convention ladder
with the rebirth of a superb show. Next
year I am assured, will be bigger, better
and dare I say it – brighter?