Lil D is appearing for his first ever Ink & Dagger guest spot from July 12-16. Lil D is back in Georgia now after a few years in Portland, OR.  He usually works out of his new shop "Shotgun Tattoo Club" in South Georgia but he will be making regular appearances at Ink & Dagger for those of you who don't want to make the drive. Lil D's specialty is old school traditional Americana and "street shop" style tattooing.  Check out his facebook page for his portfolio and booking contact.

Our good friend Myke Chambers was recently featured in Rebel Ink Magazine as one of the 25 most sought after tattoo artists.  Well guess what, we've managed to nail him down for another guest appearance at Ink & Dagger from
July 6-10.  Contact Myke through his facebook page or his website.

Jeremy Sutton will be back in the shop from June 26- July 1st.  He is now taking appointments for this extremely limited engagement.  Jeremy has been quite the globe trotter lately and you never know when his travels will bring him back to Atlanta.  You can contact Jeremy through his facebook or his website.

(Via Watson Atkinson) Despite my urgent need to disappear– on an open sea schooner, in search of distant mountain paths to traverse– I will nonetheless ramble Southward for a brief tattooing spell, and will give Mitchell a dignified and honorable farewell Memorial Event. I hadn’t ‘til now realized how much of the pull I felt towards Georgia was via Mitch welcoming me with such loving enthusiasm. And now the pain of his passing has taken root. All the more clear it will be in our cherished Southern haunts, without the refuge of Mitch’s company. With this undercurrent, I am still glad to come to my Georgia home. Rambling time, a three day mountain hike, and private engagements notwithstanding, my gypsy jaunt down the coast brings me to three Georgia tattoo shops before the July 1st Mitchell Atkinson Memorial Event at the 40 Watt Club in Athens. (I may extend the tour dates- spontaneously hitting certain cities on return to New England. For now, in anticipation of the Memorial Event, the dates posted below are all I can emotionally commit to.) If you would like to get tattooed while I’m in Georgia (or post-July 1st), please contact me via e-mail asap (trustyourself@trustwatson.com) with your name, city, phone #, tattoo ideas/in-progress projects, etc. I will try to fit everybody in the schedule with no delay, as I hit the road with my only traveling companion, the Twine St. Rambler

June 15th-17th Old South Tattoo (Helen, Ga.)

June 23rd-25th Ink and Dagger (Atlanta/Decatur, Ga.)

June 28th-29th Pain and Wonder (Athens, Ga.)

July 1st 40 WATT CLUB, ATHENS GA
MITCHELL ATKINSON MEMORIAL EVENT

This past weekend was the 15th Annual Atlanta Tattoo Arts Festival and we think it was one of the best years to date!  We would like to thank Tony Olivas and Sacred Heart Tattoo for doing such a great job putting on the show.

As usual, Ink & Dagger had a booth at the show.  Russ Abbott and Kurt Fagerland were tattooing and hanging out all weekend.  It was a great chance to reconnect with some old friends and make a few new ones. 

We are very proud to announce that our very own Kurt Fagerland took home the award for "Most Realistic" tattoo for  his portrait of "John Locke" from the TV series "Lost".  Kurt has never been one to seek awards for his tattooing but this year he decided to give it a shot and it payed off big time.  Check out Kurt's portfolio to see some of the new portraits he's been doing, we think they are top notch.

Russ Abbott also took home the coveted "Tattoo of the day" award on Friday for a tattoo of an old timey camera that he did at the show. 

Perhaps the biggest achievement of the weekend was the money raised for Ink 4 Pink on Ink & Dagger's "Wheel of Destiny".  Together with other local tattoo studios and businesses, we helped raise over $1000 for the local breast cancer charity!

Atlanta is always one of our favorite tattoo conventions, not just because it's our hometown but also because of the strong community vibe that everyone involved creates.  See you there next year. Photo Credit: Jon Ruby.

If you're friends with us on facebook (which HELLO why aren't you? Get your ass over to Facebook and DO IT!) then earlier today you saw us post a link to TattooSnob.com who had the exclusive to our new video!

Here at Ink & Dagger we often times fall in love with the tattoos that we do for folks. But once in a blue moon a piece comes along that is simply legendary. This is one of those tattoos.

Last spring, Adam Machin of The Tattoo Company in Machester, UK flew across the pond and got a full sleeve of roosters done by Russ. The crazy Brit sat for a total of TWENTY FOUR HOURS to finish the piece in just THREE days. Below is video of the process from consulatation to finish with a delirious Russ and very sore Adam!

Check it out! Share it with your friends! Hell! Stop random strangers on the street and share it with them!
 

Russ Abbott's Three Day Sleeve from Ink & Dagger Tattoo on Vimeo.

And for your viewing pleasure a shot of the finished piece:

A big thanks to Kevin @ TattooSnob.com, Adam from The Tattoo Company and Les Morgan!