This year’s Granite City Tattoo Convention was a big hit and miss as to whether it would go ahead. The Scottish government, in their infinite wisdom, decided that all tattooists in Scotland needed a new type of license to operate. Not just that, but Piper Jim, the man behind Granite City show was told that he had to get these new licenses for each artist working his show – at a cost of £80 each. So not only did he have to find the extra moolah, but by the Thursday evening, the forms hadn’t arrived and the powers that be promised him that they would shut down the show before it began if the forms hadn’t arrived. No pressure then…

Jim, being a consummate professional just shrugged his shoulders and got on with organising the last Granite City convention to be held in the City hotel. The word was out that this was to be the last show in Aberdeen and it was going out with a bang so the crowd waiting to come in on Saturday morning was pretty big. The hotel hosting the event had had a major face-lift from last year so things had moved about a bit.

The artists were working in two rooms either side of the staircase on the second floor. Talking of which the line-up was pretty impressive with some big names in the tattooing field like Paul Naylor, Carl Cooke, Gary Wiedenhof, Stix, Clive Bilham, Rod Clark, Theresa Gordon-Wade and many others. Brent and his mentor, Kassala from Auckland in New Zealand, provided an international feel. Both guys were applying ink with traditional stick tapping methods and were producing some beautiful designs, including working on Steve and his new wife. Both were attending the convention as part of their honeymoon. Best of luck to the both of you for the future.

Saturday seemed just a little quiet compared to last year, but not much. All the artists were working hard over the weekend, producing some spectacular tattoos, most of which I had the privilege of seeing as I was asked to do the judging along with Ian from Comedian Tattoos and Steve, the honeymooner. There was some superb work being shown off, and much to the crowds delight, the organisers had a camera hooked up to a big screen so all could see the work being judged. A guy called Ron Lindsey and his band provided the afternoon music. 

The chilled out, laid back music was just perfect and not too loud with many people appreciating the sounds. 

With the Saturday judging out of the way and the winners announced, it was time for some serious partying. It was good to see everybody get into the spirit of the final party and the fun and frolics went on until the wee hours. The evening’s entertainment was supposed to be provided by Freddie & the Stars but some ‘kind’ individual stole his trailer with all his props in. Freddie, being a true professional sent another act in his place that went down an absolute storm.

Over the course of the weekend I was approached by at least ten people who had not been to a tattoo convention before, which was really refreshing. Does this mean more people are becoming interested in tattooing? I certainly hope so.

The doors opened on Sunday morning to a queue of willing punters as the tattoo machines burst into life for another days work. More people came through the doors and the hotel filled up pretty quick. One of the many nice things about this convention is the fact that the tattooists are on a different floor to the music, bars and trade stands. This gave everyone the option of either watching the tattooists at work or you could catch up with mates for a chinwag and a pint in the bar area or go and have a look around the various stalls selling everything from clothing to jewellery to swords. Also downstairs there was displays of traditional Scottish country dancing and the Dezibel Drummers to keep everyone entertained.

Later in the day, the judging took place again and was over in a relatively short four and a bit hours. Again, we saw some fantastic work and there turned out to be quite a few ties, such was the quality of the work. None of us knew the others marks or the artists and we had a great time trying to justify why we had picked a certain tattoo over the others. Obviously, this took a little time but I feel it was worth it and soon after the prize giving got underway.

Not long after this, the hotel management decided that the show had finished and told Jim and the crew that they had to clear out both tattooing rooms immediately, hardly giving the tattooists time to clear their equipment. It was pretty obvious that the new hotel owners didn’t want the convention to go ahead and were not being particularly helpful. With the rooms cleared the bar filled up and the job of serious drinking got underway.

Over all, the last Granite City convention was a huge success with over a thousand pounds being raised for the Marie Curie Cancer Care. The organisation was as good as ever with nothing being too difficult for the staff to deal with. Everyone I spoke to had a great time and were already lamenting the demise of the show.

I can’t thank Jim, Rosie and all the Granite staff for their help over what was a top weekend and what a great way to finish and series of superb Scottish tattoo conventions.

My hat goes off to Piper Jim and Rosie.

STOP PRESS:
Although this was the last convention to be organised by Piper Jim and his wife, Rosie, I have just had news from Ian, Shonagh and Gordon - some of the helpers from past shows - that they are hoping to take over the running of the Granite City Convention and are in the process of talking to the hotel management about hosting next years convention.Keep an eye out for more details in the Tattoo Tour section of Skin Deep.

Large Black & Skin
1st Jim McKay by Richard Pinch at Richards Tattoo Studio
2nd Karen Holmes by Spacey at Bizarre Ink

Small Black & Skin
1st Nige by Gary Wiedenhof at Inkredible Kreations
2nd Vaughn Swift by Max at Custom Inc

Large Colour
1st David Young by Richard Pinch at Richards Tattoo Studio
2nd Ian Fraser by Paul at Red Hot at Blue

Small Colour
1st Scott Pullin by Alun Gregory at Dragon Ink
2nd Ian Oxley by Carl Cooke at Artful Ink Ltd

Best Back
1st David Young by Richard Pinch at Richards Tattoo Studio
2nd Claire by Low at Northside Tattoos

Best Celtic
1st Bruce by Paul at Red Hot & Blue
2nd Scott Anderson by Kev at Draconian Tattoos Studio

Best Tribal
1st Steve Smith by Jim McKay at Richards Tattoo Studio
2nd Paul by Jim McKay at Richards Tattoo Studio

Best Portrait/Wildlife
1st Shonagh Forbes by Theresa Gordon-Wade at Tradition 180
2nd Nige by Gary Wiedenhof at Inkredible Kreations

Best Oriental
1st David Young by Richard Pinch at Richards Tattoo Studio 
2nd Neil Jenkins by Darryl B at Artz & Daggers

Best Sleeve
1st Stuart Campbell by Jim McKay at Richards Tattoo Studio
2nd Paul Redshaw by Helen at Xtreme Ink, 

Best Female Individual
1st Nicole Campbell by Gary Wiedenhof at Inkredible Kreations
2nd Jackie Wright by Jim McKay at Richards Tattoo Studio

Best Male Individual
1st Ian Fraser by Paul Slifer
2nd Paul Redshaw by Helen at Xtreme Ink

Best of Show (Saturday)
Winner Jen Mitchell by Paul Naylor at Indigo Tattoo Studio

Best of Show (Sunday)
Winner Nawggsey by Shane Sommers at Whitby Tattoo Studio

Best Done at Convention
Winner Nawggsey by Shane Sommers at Whitby Tattoo Studio

Sandy Rose Memorial Trophy
Winner Nawggsey by Shane Sommers at Whitby Tattoo Studio

Best Tattoo Booth
Winner Brent and Kasala at Falealili Tatau, New Zealand

Best Stall
Winner Nicola at Dances with Unicorns, England

Artist of the Weekend
Richard Pinch at Richards Tattoo Studio, Scotland

Stix at Draconian Tattoo Studio, Aberdeen, Max at Custom Inc., Glasgow, Carl Cooke at Artful Ink Ltd, Durham and Mark at Tribal Planet, Strathaven, were presented with longest serving tattooists and stall holder certificates and tankards as they have supported and worked at all five Granite City Tattoo & Body Art Conventions.