Cedar Rapids Weather
Tattoo Expo Leaves Mark in Cedar Rapids
CEDAR RAPIDS - The second you walk into Lefty's Cedar River Tattoo Expo at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in southwest Cedar Rapids, you can see the work that has been done.
But it's the sound that says you've entered the inner chamber. "It's a comforting environment. I love tattoo shows," said Troy "Lefty" McDaniel about the constant and unending hum of the tools applying the ink. McDaniel owns Lefty's Tattoo and Piercing and he said he wanted to bring one of these expos to his comforting environment of Cedar Rapids. Saturday was Day Two of this first-time event -- a three-day convention for people to look at art that has already been applied -- as well as what the mind can pull up. Yet for Shantelle Deeds of Hiawatha, it's not the mind but the heart. "I'm getting a lilly on the foot," said Deeds, 20, pointing to her foot. "It says 'grandma' and it is in honor of my grandma." She said this would be her sixth tattoo and admitted her first one came "a week after" she turned 18. That's the main aspect behind each piece of art -- or tattoo. Each one comes with a story. Yet from the business side, there is also a story here. Tattoos artists and owners of tattoo shops across the Midwest, from Sioux City, Omaha and Chicago, made Cedar Rapids their destination for the weekend. "You say it's unusual but a lot of people don't realize it's a major form of art," said Jason Evans of Neon Dragon Tattoo in Hiawatha. "It's very important to a lot of people." And to keep these artists, and hundreds of paying customers, coming back, providing a welcoming environment plus plenty of competition between the top artists could make for a top draw. "Some aren't even here to get a tattoo," said organizer Jeremiah Klein. "It's just to show people how good they are." With so much talk of flood recovery, McDaniel has also experienced this with the flood. He said, four years ago, he and his wife took $1,500 to start the business. Now, even after having lost one shop in the Flood of 2008, McDaniel said the plans are in place for another expo next year but it does take plenty of planning. For this first time out, he said about 30 artists and shops came to town. More Good Stuff |
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