My arms on full display!
Posted by Victoria Boarer on May 19, 2010 in Kicks & Giggles
Check out my Vampire and Zombie tattoos by Nathanial W Scutt at The Wizard of Ink in central Brighton.
The flame has gone out for Spitefire
Posted by Victoria Boarer on Feb 26, 2010 in Kicks & Giggles
Unfortunately, after over 2 years, Spitefire have split.
Over the past few years Spitefire has had its ups and downs with many good times along the way but nearer the end things weren’t gelling anymore. After such a rollover of band members throughout Spitefire’s life the energy for the music was low so was hard keeping everything together. In the end the flame burnt out.
There is a possibility that in the future some of the band members may get together again to work on a new project (Spitefire is truly being laid to rest) so if you’re interested in getting involved then get in touch.
Here is a quick “what they’re doing now” for the Spitefire line-up at the end:
Me – Looking for new music projects to get involved with.
Gavin Allen – Looking for new music projects, you can contact him on twitter @GavinJAllen
Joe Chung – Looking for new music projects, you can contact him on twitter @JoeChungUK
Forbes Coleman – Focused on Audio Beach UK, his new music studio in the centre of Hove, you can contact him on twitter @ForbesColeman and @AudioBeachUK
Liz Witkowski – After recently picking up the bass again she is getting her groove back so watch this space and you can find her on: www.myspace.com/lizmyredangel
Latest from the crypt!
Posted by Victoria Boarer on Nov 15, 2009 in Kicks & Giggles
Halloween rocked we should have it more often, in fact everyday should be the day of the dead – bring on the Zombies!
Halloween was crazy this year and I got to meet some really cool peeps while out and about in Brighton.
Jess Foreman is going to be back in the tattoo chair at some point this week for two swallows extending her arm piece, one pink and one blue and next weekend is looking pretty busy with a few other tattoos lined up.
Until then I leave you with this great quote as heard on Being Erica: Labels are for coke cans, not people!
The London Tattoo Convention 2009
Posted by Victoria Boarer on Oct 1, 2009 in Kicks & Giggles
Last Sunday Jessica and I headed up to London for our day trip to the London Tattoo Convention. It was an easy journey up there by train and tube, and although there was a vintage red bus taking people from the station to the Tobacco Docks, we walked it in the sunshine.
When we arrived we grabbed a program to see what was going on, neither of us had been to a tattoo convention before so it was all new and exciting – not that I expect tattoo conventions to become boring any time soon! At first it was a little difficult to work out where we were on the map and which direction everything was in but I think that comes down to us rather than the way the place was laid out – I’m no good with maps in cars so what makes me think I’m going to do any better in a room of rooms? So to start with we hunted out the bar and grabbed a beer.
To start we headed downstairs to the vendors stalls which were great eye candy – it’s a little like going into a shopping center where every store is your favorite crammed with everything you have ever wanted! There were clothing stalls, magazine stalls (thank you Total Tattoo for November’s edition early!) and bit’s and bobs for sale all over the place along with a tattoo museum and many other tattoo related showrooms. One of the rooms caught my attention before I was anywhere near it because a stage was set up in there with some rocking tunes blasting out. I would have liked to stay and listened for longer but I could hear the tattoo machines buzzing overhead and I was itching to go watch the artists in action.
Now upstairs – where to start? At one end, by the bar, there was a graffiti display with artists and their spray cans working with a crowd watching in awe. Next to them was the stage room, acts were on throughout the day, usually sexy women showing off their dancing skills. From there to the other end of the building you find room after room filled with booths containing some of the biggest names in tattooing – all working like there was no better pastime in the world – agreed! I was getting itchy fingers and longed to have a machine in my hand, it’s like a drug – when you’re not doing it you want to be and this craving is heightened when you see other working and have the buzzing filling your ears!
It took us about 2 hours to wander around all the tattoo booths and tattoo supplies stands, after 3 hours of wandering around we finished back in the stage room in time for the beginning of the tattoo competition. By this time our feet were aching and we were getting hungry. It would have been great to see more of the competition but the stage wasn’t raised very high and the tattoo community seemed much taller than us two so we couldn’t actually see anything. After half an hour we decided it was time to head home and grab some food on the way.
So here are my overall thoughts on this year’s London Tattoo Convention.
Seeing so many artists at work all at once was a lot to take in and although it was a little overwhelming for a newbie like me with not a single tattoo on display, it was an amazing experience – one I want to repeat as soon as I get the chance.
Watching the hand tapping tattooists was incredible, I recommend everyone at some point in their lives to see this style of work in action, even if they aren’t into tattoos. There is something very peaceful and spiritual about their process and I would love to find out more about this tradition, I think getting a tattoo using this technique needs to go on my life’s to-do list!
The recession does not seem to attend tattoo conventions and it was harder to get to the front of the vendor stands than it was to get to the front of the tattoo booths to view portfolios.
There is a lot of standing involved when going to a convention and so the time you can spend taking it all in is down to how long you can stay on your feet. I think it would be a good addition to have areas where there is seating in front of things ‘going on’ so that you can take a break without missing any of the action.
And finally I wish I had more money to spend! Oh how great it would have been to have a tattoo there in that atmosphere and there were so many books, art prints, tattoo supplies, clothing and jewellery I would have loved to take home with me. I think I will save up ready for the Brighton Tattoo Convention in January so I can pocket all of these delights.
Below are some of the photos taken at the convention, although I’m sure there will be much better ones to look at in next month’s tattoo magazines.
Look at the faces on this lot stading behind us in the Stage Room!
When we get tired and hungry – we get stupid!
Us walking home – yes I’m low on energy by this point and so I was taking some randon photos (5% shown on here :) )
Me at Victoria Station waiting for the train to arrive – 000 – insane as usual!
Baby J checking the times at the station.
Simon Shepherd Art – Tattooed and pierced sculptures, Rock on!
Posted by Victoria Boarer on Sep 22, 2009 in Kicks & Giggles
Simon Shepherd of www.simonshepherdart.co.uk is one of my Riot Creative clients. We worked with him to make his website, business cards and promo fliers earlier this year. His stuff is great and the photos used throughout the site show how amazing his work is – I’m still trying to organise myself so that I manage to catch him at his studio to see them in the flesh so to speak. His studio is a few units down from the Bars by Design, ChocChick and Green Van Hire crew, who I do some in-house work for from time to time, so eventually I will get my arse into gear and go say hi to Simon in his work space.
As you can see from the site, Simon makes life sized sculptures of heads and fruit which he then pierces and paints with super tattoo designs. This past Sunday, after having a coffee with Jess in Hove’s George Street, we went into WHSmiths to see what latest tattoo magazines came out this week and October’s Skin Deep (UK) mag had just hit the rack. I got my grubby little hands on one and headed home. Three pages in what do I find – an article about Simon and one of the signature photos on display. Oh how I love it when work meets pleasure and what a result for Simon! Well deserved me thinks and about time, these shocking pieces should be in all of the tattoo shops and in people’s homes making an impression!
For those of you out there that haven’t had a chance to get your hands on the latest edition of Skin Deep here is a scan of the article. I hope this is allowed lol but hey – there should be no limits on advertising good art I say!
Well good luck Simon and I shall soon pop in and say hi. Hopefully I’ll be able to grab a photo of the master with his work too!
Zombies, doodad’s and chocolate – what’s the catch?
Posted by Victoria Boarer on Sep 12, 2009 in Kicks & Giggles
There isn’t one – these are just some cool ass shizzle!
As some of you may know Jessica Foreman is getting married next year and she was browsing though the Offbeat Bride website (http://offbeatbride.com) and came across this cool service to make your loving photographs into zombie portraits. Go to: http://offbeatbride.com/2009/08/zombie-wedding-portraits to see some cool artwork.
Next we have Fred’s pretty little things at the Fred Fabulous website (www.fredfabulous.co.uk) there is just so many cool things on this site like these: www.fredfabulous.co.uk/set-of-6-funky-beakers-521-p.asp what kitchen should be without them!
Gallia is the cool Choc Chick (www.chocchick.com) we should all aim to be with her fabulous organic chocolate kits. This chocolate is like nothing you will have tasted before – unless of course you have already managed to get your hands on her chocolate like I have. When you try it you realise how much the chocolate you buy in the stores has been messed with and how much of the flavour is actually taken out in the process. With Gallia’s kits you too can make a wide range of REAL chocolate treats or give them as gifts.
I’ll be back with some more fun links soon!
I have lost a piece of my childhood :(
Posted by Victoria Boarer on Jul 2, 2009 in Kicks & Giggles
I thought I would leave it a little while before posting a message about Michael Jackson’s death until I had digested it fully. This is such a shame and very upsetting.
I have been a fan of Michael’s for as long as I can remember and my childhood is filled with memories of singing along to his music and learning all of the dance moves to his videos. I went to see him when he came over here last time for the History Tour and it was an epic display. It is so sad that other’s won’t now have the chance to see him play live as it was an experience of a lifetime and I remember it clearly to this day. It was in fact the first live concert I went to.
I collected every album, every newspaper clipping, every video… the list goes on and even when times were bad and his reputation was on the line I never stopped respecting his tallent and continued to be his fan. I felt very much like I did when Princess Di died but this time it was personal as I can safely say I am a singer today because of his influence.
I wish from the bottom of my heart that, however he chose to live his life and however misunderstood he was, Michael is now somewhere seeing that through it all he was loved as an artist and will be missed. I am sure he will never have his crown as The King of Pop taken from him and he will forever be in our hearts and in the history books!
Another legend has left the building!
Recording the vocals for the latest Spitefire song – Voices of Reason
Posted by Victoria Boarer on Jun 26, 2009 in Kicks & Giggles
Forbes Coleman, our Drummer and hands on producer, had recorded the parts to our new song Voices of Reason ready to go up on MySpace, it just needed the vocals and it was ready to be mixed, mastered and uploaded for everyone to hear. We spent a few hours recording, all the while Forbes was trying to get me angry so that the sound matched the lyrics, he succeeded in his goal and I got myself all angried up. However, the high blood pressure managed to give me a headache so I had a sleep on the sofa while he put all the pieces together and I woke up to the final thing.
Jess Foreman then recorded the backing vocals for the song the next day.
Here is a low quality version:
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You can have a listen to the new song and keep up to date with what’s going on with Spitefire here: www.myspace.com/spitefireband