As Cool As It gets
TATTOO TREASURES WITH DANA BRUNSON
The year was 1976, a time when tattooing was almost a thing of the past and the future was uncertain. The last renaissance was the hippie invasion in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and that wasn’t all that big. I was going to art school in Indianapolis and tattooing underground . My clients were ninety percent my motorcycle friends with a few art students and rebels thrown in. Tattooing was illegal in Indiana, so I did my tattooing out of my house, which can be interesting when rival cycle gangs show up. I had been to Chicago to get tattooed by Cliff Raven but tattoo information in Indiana was nonexistent. Then the turning point came in the form of an ad for the First World Tattoo Convention. Dave Yurkew was hosting the event in Houston. The only other convention I knew involved a 1950s group of artist meeting in Sandusky, Ohio. My brother and I flew to Houston where we met up with my mentor, D.C. Paul. Cliff Raven was the only other tattooist there that I had met. Looking back, this really changed my path. By today’s standards it was small, but in 1976 it was as cool as it gets.
Some of the artist in attendance became key people in my career. I met Tim McGuire, my past partner in my move to Cincinnati. Robert Benedetti was also there. That brief meeting led to a lifetime friendship that has been a key part of my tattoo family. Chuck Eldridge, Vyvyn Lazonga, Lyle Tuttle, Bob Shaw, Col. Todd ,Danny Danzel, people that will always endure. I was like a kid in a candy store, trying to eat up as much as I could. I had printed a few dozen tattoo shirts to sell, but I don’t really remember many tattoo booths or vendors. The tattoo contests were small and most of the ladies had palm-size tattoos, except for Vyvyn. She had three-quarter sleeves. The old school tattooists had the larger work with the exception of a few ground-breaking new guys. Lyle Tuttle showed up and was as cool then as he still is now. The old group was given respect, as they had been there, done that, and the rest of us were just a bunch of young wannabe knuckleheads. The art was still important, but the stories of tattooing past is what I was all about. When do you get a chance to talk to real pirates, especially when you’ve been pretending to be one? It certainly was a highlight in my career, making old friends for a lifetime. Man, do I like those old stories.
Until next time, see ya in the funny papers!
—Dana
PHOTO CAPTIONS
1. This machine was a gift from Danny Danzel to Dave Yurkew for the 1976 convention, which is now part of Dana’s collection.
2. Cliff Raven and Dana with Dana’s convention T-shirt.
