Tattoo artist Karmon Parker, from right, works on a cover-up tattoo for his client Chad Mays during the Road Hawk Magazine tattoo show on Sunday, November 17, 2019, in Ironton, Ohio.
Mikey Combs of Black Dagger Tattoo Co. works on a tattoo for his client Haleigh Kent during the Road Hawk Magazine tattoo show on Sunday, November 17, 2019, in Ironton, Ohio.
Dwayne N. Spears, owner of Crazy Apache Tattoos, works on a full-leg tattoo for one of his clients during the Road Hawk Magazine tattoo show on Sunday, November 17, 2019, in Ironton, Ohio.
Tattoo artist Karmon Parker, from right, works on a cover-up tattoo for his client Chad Mays during the Road Hawk Magazine tattoo show on Sunday, November 17, 2019, in Ironton, Ohio.
Mikey Combs of Black Dagger Tattoo Co. works on a tattoo for his client Haleigh Kent during the Road Hawk Magazine tattoo show on Sunday, November 17, 2019, in Ironton, Ohio.
Dwayne N. Spears, owner of Crazy Apache Tattoos, works on a full-leg tattoo for one of his clients during the Road Hawk Magazine tattoo show on Sunday, November 17, 2019, in Ironton, Ohio.
IRONTON -- The distinct buzzing sound of multiple tattoo guns provided some ambient background music to the Ro-Na Theater in Ironton on Sunday, the site of a tattoo show hosted by Road Hawk Magazine.
The show featured about a dozen tattoo artists from the Tri-State, who celebrated each other's work and dealt out some fresh ink to those willing to give their bodies a permanent work of art.
It was the first tattoo show hosted solely by Road Hawk Magazine, a monthly digest for bikers. The magazine had been involved in similar shows in the past, but wanted to host their own show to highlight the best artistic talents of the region, said assistant editor Wendy Dunlap.
Dunlap said there couldn't be a better time to have tattoos as the art form continues to gain acceptance in employment and among all age groups. That's why it's important for local talent to have a place to show off their work, she said.
"It's important for artists to have venues, period," Dunlap said. "Around here there are no venues for artists, there are very few. We really wanted to showcase the talent that exists here and that nobody gets to see."
Among that talent Sunday was artist Ben Collins, who previously owned a shop in Huntington before he moved to North Carolina. Collins said he's given people in their 70s their first tattoos and people from all types of professions.
"It's no longer for bikers, gangs and the military anymore," he said.
Mark "Sideshow" Lucas began collecting his tattoos more than 40 years ago, including several inked by Collins. Lucas said more people are getting tattoos that represent statements of their personalities or symbolize their life stories. Lucas himself has a tattoo of a grandfather clock that represents his journey to sobriety and a tattoo of a Creamsicle because he eats three every day.
"I got friends that never had a tattoo in their life, 50 or 60 years old that went and got them," he said. "My wife didn't have any until we got together five years ago. She just turned 49."
Sam Sowards maintained Ohio's oldest tattoo shop in Pomeroy until he retired after 40 years in the business. He said he always recommends newcomers do their research and select a design that is personal to them.
These days, he said, tattooing has become more advanced than ever before with photorealism and other techniques. People no longer have to stick to ship anchors or mom hearts.
"If da Vinci or Michelangelo were alive today, then the 'Mona Lisa' would have been on somebody's back," he said.
Travis Crum is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. He may be reached by phone at 304-526-2801.
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