The big grandmother of tattoo industry Shanghai Kate Hellenbrandhas joined hands with Art N Body, Williamsville, NY. It is a one stop to ensure your choice of body art as well as clothings from various eminent brands like Ed Hardy, Sailor Jerry, Suicide Girls, Affliction and Black Market and more.
Kate has been tattooing since 1971 in all styles whether custom or classic. She has worked with Sailor Jerry Collins of Hawaii, Don Ed Hardy, Jack Rudy, Bill Funk and many others. Very soon you’ll see her personal clothing line hitting the store.
Know more about her new apprentice, Art N Body, from the following interview.
Disha Singh:Can you take me through the evolution of Art N Body?
Shanghai Kate: Art N Body was conceived in the Buffalo region to give the public a new and better idea about tattooing. As tattooing becomes more mainstream, we felt there was a need to satisfy more mainstream clients who were not satisfied with the options they had in the past. Tattoo Shops have had a somewhat less than satisfactory image and there is room for improvement and we wanted to be the leader in that movement. By placing our shop in a suburban setting, we hope to draw clients that normally would not visit a traditional “tattoo shop” in an urban area, while still being located where tried-and-true tattoo clients would still visit.
Our goal was to offer the highest quality tattoos and piercings as possible. After all, if the quality of the work is substandard, sales would suffer. Along with the highest quality of work, we would offer the highest sterilization protocols. Our shop would exceed all local, state and Federal standards, as well as OSHA regulations. All artists would be fully licensed and would continuously attend health related seminars. Along with the tattoo and piercing services, we would offer a great number of tattoo-based clothing lines and accessories for our clients to purchase in an upscale retail environment. The store would also sell artwork by local artists of all kinds as well as music by local musicians.
Disha: What’s an ideal connection for you, between you and your client I mean?
Kate: To develop a harmonious long-term relationship while offering the highest artistic completion of their projects performed with the best state-of-the-art technological advances under the safest protocols known. We want to preserve the client’s vision while adhering to the body’s dictates for the best result over time. We want our clients to feel comfortable in a friendly atmosphere while maintaining a strong professional attitude.
Disha:You say you’ve “combined cutting-edge equipments and sterilization procedures with a comfortable, creative environment,” can you please detail it? For the benefit of our readers.
Kate: We have spent the first year of our growth investigation and pursuing the best hospital-style sterilization components to incorporate into our “clean room.” Our artists are well versed in all the latest protocols and study Universal Precautions on a routine basis. We spare no expense in keeping a store of single-service, preventative safeguards in the studio and our products for tattooing are the best, most investigated items on the market. Including our inks, needles, tubes, machines. We have our fingers on the pulse of what’s new out there and continue to purchase and grow with the best our industry has to offer. We spend time investigating the newest developments. At the same time, we don’t want our clients to feel they’ve entered a “hospital” or “clinic” . . . one look at our photos shows a relaxed and gorgeous interior geared toward fun and bright retail items. It’s a store where you can come to shop, search and learn. While we’re deadly serious about what we do, we don’t want to browbeat anyone into anything. This is a great business. We want to have fun.
Disha:Art N Body opened its doors one year back. Looking down the line, what are your hopes for the space and business?
Kate: We have so many great ideas to bring into fruition. We can’t let too much out of the bag but, while our first year in business has been fraught with lessons and paying dues, we think the worst of it is over. We believe in our shop and concept and what we want to do and we think the community will respond because we have some great things on board.
Disha:How do names like Ed Hardy, Jerry Sailor, Suicide Girls, etc. are associated with you.
ArtNBody: Some of the names you mention are directly linked to our shop because we have Shanghai Kate Hellenbrand working for us now and she spent the earlier part of her career working with Sailor Jerry, Ed Hardy and others. This is an incredibly personal connection, no other shop in the world can make that same boast. She is intimately involved with both of those names and she brings her own collection of images with her. And we expect to develop a Shanghai Kate clothing line in the future in the same grain as the aforementioned names. She also brings with her many personal stories and books . . . and we expect to include these in our future marketing. The other names are direct off-shoots of the very popular Hardy and Jerry empires. We do carry their line and we look to other cutting edge clothing to incorporate in the future.
Disha:There are various artists under one roof. Do you guys push each other to grow as artists? Or, be honest, you’re just too busy competing with each other?
ArtNBody: We very much push each other to grow and become better at what we do. We are not competitors. We believe that may have been the climate of the past, but we now live in an age of communication. Why would we harbor secrets or techniques to use only in our own little cubicle when we could all work more smoothly, more enthusiastically and more efficiently if we all share? Competition can lead to price gouging within the team, that leads to paranoia and turf guarding that leads to the sociopathic personalities we’ve all come to know and love in some of the less progressive shops. That is really OLD School and we want to be the wave of the future. Sharing creates fun creates money creates happy artists, happy clients and a wonderfully informed public.
Here, are the names of the crew members of Art N Body:
Shanghai Kate Hellenbrand, The Manager
Bob Bieber
Heidi Serth
Loren Webster
John Erickson
Sarah Grabowski, Retail/Counter
Bill Robins, Chief Operating Officer
Check out our Image Galleryfor some selected Tattoos from the great Tattoo artists of Art N Body!
(The craze for facial piercing in Himachal Pradesh, India, is increasing day by day but it’s not professional piercing, rather it is DIY piericng. Concerned about this issue I got down to write.) 😕
A low-waist jeans with tight bottoms, baggy pullover, a bandanna for gelled locks and a face with some piercing…this is the appearance of our youth slipping in the shoes of Rap Style, frequently seen freaking out on the Mall Road.
This is mainly not the fashion for under-graduates but it’s our school going children trying their level best to add some funk to their style.
This is the new cult into which our ‘future of nation’ is moving sleathily. Recently, on the occasion of Valentine’s Day many youngsters were seen parading in this fashion.
To be in latest fashion is good but following it blindly is the matter of concern!
The craze for facial piercing is growing day by day but with a heavy heart it is to be mentioned that people are not aware of its side-effects. Any part of our body can be poked but for every piercing special assistance as well as aftercare is required.
Focusing on oral piercing a person may experience regular irritation with oral soft tissues like lips, gums, etc. Piercing can have bacterial stagnation due to poor oral hygiene and may form deformities in soft tissues and teeth.
A young government school student in the town, who has himself pierced labret, said that he poked his labret himself with a sewing needle and for over a month the piercing was very painful with bleeding and pus in it. With the passing of over three months now, however, the piercing has healed but still at times it gets painful with pus in it.
Has he ever thought what is the reason behind this prolonged healing and pus? No! He takes it to be a normal process.
The reason behind this is the unhygienic method of piercing. Returning of pus means existence of bacterial infection as it’s actually a collection of dead skin cells, white blood cells called neutrophils and some bacteria that are still putting up a fight.
However, it do takes about 6-8 weeks for a lip piercing to fully heal but do-it-yourself piercing is hazardous.
The ratio of people going to hospitals for body piercings is very less, therefore, it is recommended to get yourself pierced by a doctor as they have the proper knowledge of human body and can provide proper hygienic conditions that are required for body piercing. DIY piercing can at times be highly risky as you might poke a nerve, which may also lead to health crisis or ones death.
Along with getting yourself poked by a doctor, you need proper aftercare follow-up. As mouth is the gateway to anything we eat, it can sometimes be more prone to infections. The infection can be due to inappropriate method of cleaning. Therefore, rinse 4-5 times a day with non-alcoholic antimicrobial or antibacterial solution, even over rinsing can be harmful. Don’t think that your saliva can be harmful to your piercing as it has some anti-bacterial qualities which help in preventing the infection to some extent. Don’t play with your piercing jewelry during the process of healing and don’t touch it with uncleaned hands.
As per my knowledge there is no law for body art in Indian Constitution like most of the western countries, who have now understood well the consequences of unsafe body piercing or tattooing. If you know about any laws for body in India, please share it with us.
In 22nd century I guess everything will be replaced by electronics – even our jewelry as we see the LED Nose Ring in the above picture. As you breathe the ring glows with the help of a delicate fan structure that transforms exhaled air into electric energy to light up the LED light.
For me simultaneous to the talk of LED nose ring is the nostril piercing. Nostril piercing is very common in India or you can say Hinduism. However, the craze for poked nose is growing day by day and is also slipping into western society.
Hindus believe, a girl with pierced nostril get married sooner than others, as it is a honor to the Parvathi – the goddess of marriage and it also symbolizes a married lady. Moreover, pierced nostril also has medical reason that it makes childbirth easier because Ayurvedic medicine associates this location with the female reproductive organs.
Healing:
Nostril piercing takes more time (about two to six weeks) to heal than an earlobe because inside area of the piercing takes longer time to heal. So, we suggest you no to change your jewelry frequently till your piercing has 100% healed. At times it also gives a problem during the process of healing as sometimes the thread of the towel or clothing get entangled with the jewelry. Therefore, it is suggested to wear a ring that is in sterling silver.
Cleaning:
Over rensing and strong soap is not recommended to clean the piercing. Cleaning of the piercing is little troublesome and is required to be taken special gentle care.
After the piercing is cleaned you can apply an antibiotic ointment. Piercing Aftercare from Grandmaa’s diary:
Heat pure ghee and turmeric powder in a small bowl and with the help of cotton pat this hot mixture on the pierced area. It will help to reduce pain as well as faster healing.
Tongue Splitting is one of the hottest body modification. It is a procedure of cutting the tongue from centre towards the base.
Shown above is a photograph of Alan from Indianpolis, Indiana, US. The image shows the bloody scene after tongue bifurcation or tongue splitting.
The brave guy did it himself and said,
“I had no problems with my split. It was healed within a couple weeks of having it done. I had it cut back further once it was healed, and that time it was also healed very quickly with no complications. There was really no special aftercare that I used for it other than I would for a normal oral piercing… rinse with clean water any time I ate or drank anything, didn’t use harsh mouthwashes, avoided spicy/hot foods for a while, and drank a ton of water, etc.”
Guys don’t think that it’s an easy process after reading Alan’s words because he is a professional in tattoos and body modification field thus knows well the pros and cons of tongue splitting. You need to take special care of few things before going in for tongue bifurcation as it can be at times so risky that you can even die.
Always make sure to take help of an erudite practitioner, instead of trying in a group of friends or by yourself, as you can harm the lingual nerve and anemics can suffer because of uncontrolled loss of blood. It is a very painful and a bloody procedure. Consult your doctor or get it done by him.
For more reading about Tongue Splitting check out below pasted link. http://www.bmezine.com/tsplitfaq.html
