Today I post the second (and final) installment of our adventure at the Houston Tatto and Body Art Expo a few weeks ago. Don't forget to check out the picks we took!

Our next step was to track down the artists … and we met Clint … Clint Leifeste of CMFL. To create Susan’s galaxy he integrated anime with the imagery he had seen on Discovery. Apparently, space science tats are not in high demand. People want tattoos based on what they have seen … in a catalog, on someone on the street, or on TV. Yes, tats on TV help to drive the market. Who knew? Clint also told us that either men or women can be interested in space tats – but it is mostly women. Women are more in touch. Clint is a fan of space exploration. He wants to see us inhabit the Moon - prime real estate - and go farther into space. “We need to colonize, move beyond this planet.”

While waiting for the trio – or quartet – at Southern Boys to take a break to talk with us … which they never did … we wandered around the exhibits. A quick perusal of the catalogs revealed intricate, colorful tattoos with an airbrushed flavor … flowers, vines, real and fictitious animals, religious symbols … and lots of demons, blood, and skulls … lots of demons, blood, and skulls. No “Mom” or I Heart ____” for this crowd. And nothing to do with the solar system, moon, or galaxies. Stars are big … as filler.

Our wanderings caused us to bump into Diane. Her entire arm was covered with an integration of planets, zodiac signs, a comet or two, and religious symbols. Amazing detail of the gas giants! And all done by her husband, Ryan Green, of Sante Fe Tattoo Parlor in Beaumont, Texas. Diane has been into Astronomy for a long time … and yes, is a bit of a space geek in following the news from Mars and other places in our solar system. Catherene was on the cell phone, but hastily dropped the call to chat with “NASA.” She sports a Sun-Moon amalgamation done by Goodtimes Tattoos of Houston. She selected the design from their catalog but asked that it be in color with no black line whatsoever. Who knew that this was … of interest. When Catherene was little, she used to watch the Moon as her family was driving and she thought it was following her.

Finally, we met Erin, who has a simple, pretty Moon and stars inked on her neck. Her sister likes stars, she likes the Moon … so they got star-moon “sister-tats” together in high school. Growing up, her dad took her family to museums and Space Center Houston and they always had fun learning about space science.

OK, so maybe space tattoos are not as hip as we had hoped. But that doesn't mean they can't be! If you need help with some lunar tattoo ideas, here are some websites I found with some cool, if not interesting, ideas:

Tattoos-and-Art.com

Tattoo Johnny

by: Andy S.

Wednesday Jun-02-2010