Tattooed Zoë

This was my first visit to the London International Tattoo Convention and there were quite a few surprises.  I wasn't prepared for the setting to be so beautiful.  The approach to Tobacco Dock is not imposing but as I entered the gates all changed.  A few fine boats were moored there and on the other side of the dock were quite fine blocks of flats.  But most impressive was the way that the old warehouses, or whatever the building used to be, have been transformed into a space so ideal for shows and exhibitions.  Every nook and cranny is architecturally interesting. I was also surprised by the degree to which the event lived up to its name "international".  It seems that most of the tattooists came from abroad and many of the visitors I spoke to had travelled from around the world especially to be there.  Conversations weren't always easy as not everyone had good English. The weather was unseasonably sunny and warm and many people hung around outside the main b

Dragora Druida was at the "Holly Hedge Fun Day" at Ashton Court just outside Bristol with her dog.  The event was to raise money for the local animal rescue centre.  At one stage my wife was there with our three Salukis, while I was busy as the master of ceremonies.  When I saw someone with a quite heavily tattooed face I couldn't resist slipping a way from my duties for a few minutes to talk to her. She got her dragon on the right side of her face in 2013. The others are all quite or very recent, with the one on her forehead being last May and the neck just a week before I met her in September. She agrees that getting her face tattooed was a big step on from her body tattoos but she wanted them and wanted to be different.  She loves the art.  They are very personal and most have a dragon theme. She hails from Manchester but lives in Bristol now.  She agreed that you have to be very self confident to have face tattoos and have to accept people will