MAINE!

I’m always looking to hear about different scenes in different cities.  I tend to travel a lot and while I travel, I’m always on the look out for new and different tattoo studios and if I can, to meet new and different artists.  I’m really hoping that this year I’ll be able to get to a very specific – and as of right now – secret location in order to get tattooed by a tattooist whom I have a lot of respect for.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed and seeing how this year pans out.
Anyway, as I was saying, I love to learn about different scenes, yeah.  Some of you might cringe over the use of the words “tattoo scene”, but I don’t give a rat’s ass if you do.  Cities have scenes, like it or not.  If I go and check out the tattoo studios in London, England, it’s going to be a completely different experience from checking out the studios in L.A. or Seoul.  Different people, different styles, different attitudes, different ink.  That my friends, is a scene.

Now, maybe I’m naive and uninformed on what’s going on in America, but according to this article in The Maine Sunday Telegram, Maine is actually quite the little tattoo spot.  I’m going to be honest and say that until now, I’d never even considered Maine as a place where there could be a lot going on in terms of tattoo.  But I guess I was wrong.  One of the great things about Maine’s tattoo scene is that all the studios are licensed and regulated.  This is always a touchy subject, but I happen to be all for regulation.  At present time the officials in charge of the inspections are only there to concern themselves with hygiene, but hopefully as time goes on these jobs will be filled by people who are really invested in the tattoo industry and who appreciated it for the art form that it is.
At any rate, I recommend checking out the article on Maine and discovers some of the interesting facts about the place and its relationship with tattoo.  It’s particularly cool that such a high percentage of tattooists in Maine are women.  It’s nice to see a variety of genders and races within any particular scene.  Keep up the good work, Maine and I hope to get down and see you all one day soon.