What economic downturn? Skin artists are thriving in these rocky economic times.
At the sixth annual Salt Lake City international tattoo convention this week, vendors said the downturn isn’t preventing customers from spending hundreds of dollars for skin art.
“My question is ‘What recession?’ ” said Kate Hellenbrand, a tattoo artist for the past 38 years. “Every day, new clients are being born. The media promotes the industry. There are ads everywhere and sports heroes, rock ‘n’ roll stars and models all have tattoos.”
She said tattooing dates to ancient times and that almost all cultures have song, dance, dressing for special occasions and tattoos in common. “This is the art history that art history teachers forgot to tell you anything about,” said Hellenbrand. “It is global and ageless.”
Salt Lake Tribune
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