Live body art is latest St James performance

Some people took the opportunity to have another design added, some were having their first, while others wandered around just to take a look.

Chloe Smith, from Ritual Tattoo Club, has been a tattoo artist since 2018.

‘I think some people would rather show their art on themselves than have it hanging on a wall,’ she said.

‘There’s a personal side to it and people are more open-minded these days. A lot have memorial tattoos and some dedicated to animals.’

Sign writer Neil Etasse had designed a traditional butterfly tattoo he had put on in memory of his mother, Margaret, who died about three years ago. It was not his first.

‘I had my first tattoo when I was 21, which was 16 years ago,’ he said.

Woodie, from Sacred Hand Tattoo, has been a tattoo artist for the past nine years.

‘Tattoos are definitely more socially acceptable nowadays and not just something associated with the Navy,’ he said.

There have always been trends and black and shade tattoos are in at the moment.

Woodie said he had tattooed his own legs during lockdown, including the bottom of his foot, which was the most painful.

Any discomfort would relate to how big a tattoo was and where it was, he said.

‘Everyone is entitled to have a tattoo but it has to be within reason,’ he added.

He would not do anything racist, for example, or tattoo genitalia.

The longest job he has done was a full black and shade sleeve for one man, which took him 12 hours.

It was difficult to predict the future, he said.

‘Things evolve constantly and we might end up with robots doing it.’

Zoe Halton, who works for Fitzgerald’s Photography, was having a native American woman and an owl tattoo added to several that she had had done previously.

‘I love the artistic side and it’s very creative,’ she said.

‘This won’t be the last and I’ll carry on.’

Greg Harrison, from St James, said this was the latest community event which the building had to offer.

‘We’ve been speaking about it for a while and this is live art.

‘Some people live for tattoos, others have the odd one, while some are just intrigued to see how it’s done.’

. Granite.Fit and Diamond on the Island sponsored the event.