Getting inked shapes society through the years

ROCK SPRINGS — Public acceptance of tattooing has increased in the last two decades. Even teachers, lawyers, doctors and politicians have tattoos.

In 1976, the first tattoo convention was held in Houston, Texas. The event provided an opportunity for artists to see work from other artists all around the world or to have the chance to display their own work and be seen by their peers. The inaugural tattoo expo in the Lone Star State was a place for artists and outcasts alike to meet and to be respected as well as appreciated.

After the first-ever tattoo convention, large tattoo gatherings began popping up all over the world, including Southwest Wyoming.

The annual Sweetwater Inkfest was held at the Sweetwater Events Complex, April 5-7.

Judy Parker, who hails from San Diego, California, has been a tattoo artist for 45 years. Mermaids are her favorite to draw. Each has a different personality.

“A tattoo will change your life,” said Parker. “After that Snickers commercial, I even had a few people ask me to do ‘No regerts.’ At first, I thought the first customer who asked me to do that was kidding, but he was serious!”

Tattooing has stuck with her “for years,” but she is also a painter and a commercial artist.

She said she used to do two tattoo shows a month all over the world, but she admitted that “these days, I can’t keep up with the young whipper snappers!”

Like other shows, it takes a team to set up for the annual Sweetwater Inkfest. Traveling from Radcliff, Kentucky, Brandon “Starboy” White expressed how excited he was to be in Rock Springs. He works for Secret Lotus Tattooing; the parlor has been a part of his life since high school.

“Art has always been a comfort zone for me,” said White. “A tattoo is like your logo. A person can tell what kind of person you are by your tattoos.”

Jay Brown, a certified master tattooist from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, brought a wealth of tattoo history with the Northwest Tattoo Museum. It contains over 125 years of electric tattooing and fun facts.

Brown explained that the first electric tattoo machine was patented by tattoo artist Samuel O’Reilly in December of 1891. His machine was based on the rotary technology of Thomas Edison’s autographic printing pen. Edison had patented an electric pen for stencils and puncturing paper in 1876. O’Reilly’s first prepatent tattoo machine was a modified dental plugger, which he used to tattoo several dime museum attractions for exhibition.

“Tattoo machines have come a long way,” said Brown, noting that tattoo machines have continued to evolve since the late 1800s.

After O’Reilly passed away in 1909, Charlie Wagner filled the shoes of his alleged mentor. He tattooed many people and passed on his knowledge to other artists. He even tattooed his own entire body, except for his face.

In 1939, Millie Hull became New York’s first female tattoo artist. The former burlesque dancer opened her own tattoo shop in lower Manhattan, called “Tattoo Emporium.” She also learned the craft from Wagner, who tattooed her entire body.

“She was a rough and tumble lady who had the ability to handle anyone, even sailors,” Brown chuckled. “Back then, she was one of the few female tattoo artists in the world.”

Rocket Miner spoke with New Jersey native Caroline Evans. She has been a tattoo artist since 1998. Tattoo enthusiasts may recognize her from the fifth season of Ink Masters.

When she started her career as a tattoo artist, there weren’t that many female tattoo artists.

“I knew they were out there,” said Evans, noting that she was able to finally attend an all-female tattoo convention. “I was surrounded by women I had seen in magazines; I was intimidated at first, asking myself, ‘Why am I here?’ but they were very supportive, and it was such a nice environment.”

She added, “It wasn’t like that with the men; it was just a big contest with them.”

As they were promoting Season 5 of Inkfest on a radio show, she was challenged to tattoo someone while they were on-air.

A long time ago, she said, if she was working at a coed tattoo parlor, the male customers would often prefer one of the guys to tattoo them and assume the women at the shop were secretaries.

“It wasn’t that easy back then, but I kept doing my thing,” she shared. “I didn’t care what others thought.”

She explained that everything shifted by 2010 when she saw women at various tattoo conventions.

“Now they cater to us; we have pink gloves, pink tattoo machines!”

She added, “I missed it for two years and this shift happened. It’s a whole new landscape. Now you can talk to people on the level of a colleague. It’s not sexist or so isolating.

“The men are our cheerleaders now. They’re excited for us and rooting for us.”

Since 2014, Matt Gone, a Portland, Oregon native, has held the record of the most squares, 848, tattooed on his body. He also has 201 squares tattooed on his head, as well. It took him ten years to get tattooed and another ten years to retouch the tattoos; a total of 20 years.

He decided to get heavily tattooed to cover physical abnormalities.

“It’s a part of being alive,” said Gone. “I have multiple medical issues due to rare birth defects and diseases; the tattoos give me power over my body when I feel helpless.”

He even inked the whites of his eyes; one is blue and the other one is green.

This story was published on April 10, 2024.