on the road
Lethbridge Convention
by JORDAN PRINGLE photos: DOC CHAINSAW PHOTOGRAPHY
The Lethbridge Windy City Tattoo Weekend took place September
18-20th, 2015 in Lethbridge, Alberta. ‘Windy City’ is not just a clever
name, there were wind speeds rocking Southern Alberta that made
stepping outside or going for a drive an adventure!
T
he convention was
full of amazing artists,
giving the people of
Lethbridge access to some of
the finest tattooers in Western
Canada and more. Put on by
super talented tattoo artist Will
Woods of Peppermint Hippo
Tattoo in Lethbridge, the show
had a great vibe and intimate
family type feel amongst the
artists and vendors. West Coast
Ink was in the house providing
official media coverage of the
event, featuring some of the
past and present stars of Spike
TV’s Ink Master: Craig Foster,
Big Ceeze and Season 3 winner
Joey Hamilton. These 3 guys
were busy tattooing all weekend,
and the general consensus was
that they really enjoyed visiting
Canada and are stoked to return!
Check out our features on the
Ink Masters at westcoastinkmag.
com to get the lowdown from
our exclusive interviews and see a
portfolio of their sickest tattoos!
The show featured it’s own
Ink Challenge Contest, where
5 amazing artists each had to
complete a tattoo in a different
style each day; comprising of
traditional, new school and
realism. Taking home the
belt was Monty Ricken from
Monsters Ink in Medicine Hat.
Monty is a top notch artist
and the contest win is also a
testament to his versatility,
especially with such a talented
26 | WESTCOASTINKMAG.COM
field of competition. Other
competitors were Nick Chan
of Kreative Ink in Victoria,
Dinnie Lavers from D & M
in Edmonton, Dylan Brown
of Art & Soul Tattoo in
Red Deer and Carla Raffael
of Peppermint Hippo in
Lethbridge.
Amongst the other tattoo
contests over the weekend,
the big prize Best in Show
came down to 3 amazing
pieces: 2 realistic portraits by
Newfoundland’s Glen Decker,
and a New School style pink
dinosaur by Edmonton artist
Jen Danger. After some
seriously tough deliberation
by the judges, the top prize
and championship belt
went to Jen, who told us,
“Winning best in show was a
huge and wonderful surprise.
There were so many amazing
artists that attended, I’m
happy I won my first award at
this convention!”
To sum it up, the Lethbridge
Windy City Tattoo Weekend
was a great event with a cool
feel. Hats off to Will Woods
and his team, much respect
to the many volunteers that
helped hold everything
together. We are stoked for
what the 2016 event will
have in store, stay tuned to
West Coast Ink to hear all the
exciting announcements as
the next show takes shape!