Wednesday January 2, 2008
Bringing sexy back
By ZACK YUSOF
Tattoo artiste extraordinaire Kat Von D is back in the game.
SHE may have left her friends in Miami under a cloud and on rather bad terms, but the charismatic tattoo artiste extraordinaire Kat Von D is back in the game. She has a brand new shop, a new talented crew and a host of celebrity clients.
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Kat Von D: ‘Los Angeles is where I belong.’ |
Having set up the newest and hottest tattoo shop in her hometown of Los Angeles, which has a distinct rock ’n’ roll flavour, Kat is ready to leave her mark on Hollywood.
This time around, she teams up with two of the most respected female tattoo artistes around, along with one well-respected male artist.
Working alongside Kat at L.A. Ink are Kim Saigh, Hannah Aitchson and Kat’s mentor and renowned underground tattooer, Corey Miller. The shop manager holding everything together is Kat’s good friend Pixie.
The three talented artists working at L.A. Ink give it a uniquely female touch in a male dominated industry, setting it apart from most tattoo shops in the country.
“I think I’ve put together an awesome crew of talented girls,” enthused Kat in a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles. “These girls are really awesome and they’re really positive. They’re better than me in a lot of things. I think that gives me the opportunity to learn and soak up a lot of information, so it’s really great.”
Kicking off on Discovery Travel & Living today, L.A. Ink aspires to delve deeper into tattoo culture and the artists behind it, capturing the stories behind the ink and the art.
This season, viewers can catch celebrity clients such as hip hop star Eve, porn queen Jenna Jameson, ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives fame, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and Frank Lero of My Chemical Romance all getting their ink on by the team.
Throughout the series, viewers will also get a first hand glimpse into the vibrant tattoo culture of Los Angeles though the eyes of Kat who leads a fast-paced, rock and roll life and plays by her own rules.
Viewers of L.A Ink will get an exclusive glimpse into her world and see just how she will try and temper her hedonistic urges.
“I live in the middle of Hollywood, so there’s always a party. It's hard to say no sometimes,” admitted Kat. “But I’d never let drinking get in the way of my work. I’ve always said anything that gets in the way of my job, I would delete it, and I think you’ll see in season two a lot of changes happening. There will be an episode where I end up actually going sober.”
For Kat, the differences between Los Angeles and Miami tattoo cultures are far and wide.
“It’s completely different. I think Los Angeles brings a lot to the table; we’ve got a lot of different cultures and subcultures, and people from all over the world, the different styles.
”You’ll see a lot more people here getting larger-scale tattoos and more custom-made tattoos, while in Miami it was more like people getting small tattoos of a memento of their vacation.
“Los Angeles is where I belong, and I think that with the long list of musicians that we all tattoo, it makes sense to have LA Ink cater to more of the rock ’n’ roll aspect of tattooing,” said Kat.
The way Kat tells it, one of the most difficult things about setting up L.A. Ink was trying to convince the other artists to come aboard, especially since they have their own businesses to run.
“For me, the most important part for putting a team together was getting the best tattooers out there,” reckoned Kat. “I wasn’t looking for what was going to get higher ratings because I just felt like it’s my tattoo shop and I want it to be the best.
“And I think a lot of good tattooers already have their own shops. However, I would still love to share it with my good friends.”
And finally, does she ever think back to her days in Miami? How does she feel now about the way it ended for her on Miami Ink?
“I’m not upset about anything,” said Kat. “It was my choice to leave, and I think that leaving Miami Ink was a hard decision, but it led to some really positive things. I’m really proud of the shop that I’ve got going on now.”
Up for grabs
TEN copies of L.A Ink calendar are up for grabs. To win a copy, just answer these two questions and send your entries to: Discovery Travel and Living L.A Ink contest
No.47-10, The Boulevard
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
1. Kat Von D is the shop owner at L.A Ink. Name two other members of her team.
2. New episodes of L.A Ink premiere on Discovery Travel and Living (Astro Channel 707) at 10pm every ...
The contest is open Malaysians aged 18 and above. Closing date for submission of entries is Jan 31.
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