Tattoo flash 1 - the seed
Hello and welcome to the Balloon Ace tattoo studio.
Check out this month's tattoo flash for some Balloon Ace inspired ink!
The seed
What is the Balloon Ace tattoo studio you may be asking? However, the more pertinent question is 'when ?'.
Let us take you back to the mid 1980's. As a teenager in a working class family in northern England during the mid 1980's life was dull. The expectation was that you left school, got a job, got married, had a family and then died. Overseas, travel was for the more affluent people and a dream for many. Expanding your cultural horizons was limited, it didn't fit the norm, and opportunities to expand your exposure were limited to what could be seen on the sole three TV channels.
My only solace was occasionally buying a low cost balloon (this is the exact balloon that we could buy back then Fantasia 12” marble) with my sweets (candy, for you non brits) when I could afford it. My independence was restricted to trundling along on my cheap plastic skateboard as someone had stolen my BMX!
Life sucked! or at least that's what I thought.
That all changed when I watched the movie Police Academy 4. Police Academy 4! Life changing! Hear me out!
Unbeknown to me skateboarding was seeing a resurgence in popularity and as such the 'Bones Brigade' were featured as a bunch of hoodlums skateboarding in the movie. Hoodlums yes! but they we performing all kinds of tricks and demonstrating that skateboarding was more than a kids toy.
That was the planting of seed!
I had finally seen life beyond the humdrum of northern England. The punk rock attitude of Southern Californian skateboarding, the rebellious fashions and loud music had drawn me and my group of friends in. It was the break we had yearned for. It was our chance to escape.
Skateboarding is a lot different now to the mid 1980s. Skateboarding is now an olympic sport, its mainstream cool, ultra commercialised and acessible. Back in mid 80s England skateboarding was raw, skateboarders were social outcasts, it wasn't cool.
There was no internet to buy gear, there was no YouTube to learn tricks and there were very few dedicated areas to skateboard. Accessing our new found life was often a struggle and appeared to be the 'gift that kept on taking'. We would be harrased, bullied, beaten up, arrested and often end up in hospital with injuries.
Man! this new
Little did we know that skateboarding was developing, it was maturing and expanding beyond the idealistic portrayal from Southern California. It was surging with outcasts like us all across the world. Skateboarding was becoming a subculture. Morphing and growing from absorbing a multitude of music, fashion, lifestyle and other subculture influences.
So what has this got to do with Balloon Ace? Skateboarding has nothing to do with balloons.
I said it was the seed! and the seed it was.
Skateboarding was my ephipahy. It showed me that you can have your own style and that you can express yourself in a variety of ways. And through this expression I had developed a strong interest in art (tattoos and graphic art) and music (three years at music college - maybe that's for a different blog?). My cultural horizons were continually shifting.
I was thirsty for knowledge, I was eager to experience new things and I had developed a strong urge to pull myself out of the humdrum of Northern England. I had developed aspirations and was no longer content with the expectation of leaving school, getting a job, getting married, having a family and then dying. I no longer wanted to fit into the mould. I was fully embodied with the punk rock attitude of DIY. I was going to make something of my life!
“Punk music sucks!” You say!! “Why punk rock?”, “Why’s punk rock so special?”
Skateboarding got me into music beyond pop music and the ‘Top 40’ artists played on the radio. The first non-mainstream band I got into was The Red Hot Chili Peppers (yes, they are mainstream now, but in 1988 they were far from cool or mainstream). The Red Hot Chili Peppers early material bridges the gap between rock, funk, punk and rap. However, the genre was irrelevant to me. The idea that music was a form of expression is what resonated with me.
As time past I had used the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ influences to educate me about the ‘family tree’ of music. But the mid 1990’s my depth of music knowledge had exploded. I had expanded my listening repertoire to include everything from 60’s rock, metal, funk, punk, jazz, Motown, classical music, folk, acid jazz, blues, ska, reggae. Skateboarding had ignited my love of music that I never knew that I had. So much so that went to music college for three years in the hopes of becoming a professional musician. More than 30 years later I am still a musician. However, that journey may be the focus of another article or blog or whatever.
I will say that through my journey through music, punk stuck with me. Punk is about being yourself. Punk is about doing things for yourself. Punk is about looking out for people. Punk attitude isn’t about being cool, it isn’t about being fashionable, it’s about doing what you think is right! Punk is accessible to everyone, as it is based on your attitude. There are no rules in punk rock.
That is why we are punk rock!
Yeah! this is all great but WHAT does it have to do with balloons?
It has nothing and everything to do with balloons!
Fast forward a few years, or decades, or whatever! Who knows another blog or two may fill in our journey through those years?
In 2019, when Nicky and I started Balloon Ace we didn't do it to make money, we didn't do it for any reasons of self gratification. Balloon Ace was designed to be our creative outlet, give us a new challenge and allow us to share our love of balloons with the world.
There are many balloon shops out there. Some pretty good ones too! But there are no balloon shops with a punk rock attitude! There are no balloon shops that are as hard working with a DIY ethic like Balloon Ace.
Why tattoos you ask? Why not? We say!
Tattoos have been used as a means of personal expression for thousands of years. They have various means, associations and connotations associated with the wearer. It is likely that you as the reader of this blog has a tattoo with a meaning or memory associated with it for your own personal reasons. Tattoos are forever, like Balloon Ace. Tattooing is the underdog of creative art forms. Tattoos can be polarising. Some people love them, some people hate them. You could say that of us. We may be your favourite balloon shop or we may not, and that is cool. Variety and choice is the spice of life.
To reflect our personalities and bring something different to Balloon Ace, tattoos have been part of our brand image since we first opened. Our theme of punk rock is brought to life through our tattoo imagery.
Balloon Ace is punk rock, our attitude our style and our ethos!
Over the years we have brought tattoo inspired balloons, low cost balloon saver packs, balloon subscription services, the most model collaborations, the BATs, the BAT Punks, the lowest cost balloons, the most balloon designs, the most free balloons, the most social media posts.
Balloon Ace's branding is cohesive across everything that we do. In true punk rock style everything is done in-house. Our artwork is hand drawn by us, our website is built by us (using a mainstream platform to ensure that security is paramount - banking and internet platform is our only reliance on the corporate world), packaging is designed by us, social media is managed by us, orders are packed by us etc.
We are far from corporate and will never be. We are small, family run and still the hobby business that we started out as in 2019. Our only difference is that we now have more friends in the balloon community than when we started and we now sell a bigger variety of balloons.
Without skateboarding I would have fallen into the humdrum of a normal life and Balloon Ace wouldn't exist. So skateboarding has everything to do with balloons!
Everything that we do is inspired by skateboarding of the 1980s and the careful curation of a brand on a budget.
Our attitude is full on punk rock! Inclusive, anti corporate, family and friend focussed and welcoming.
So, in true Quentin Tarantino style we are back to the beginning of this blog.
What is The Balloon Ace tattoo studio? In Tarantino style there is a plot twist. Do you remember when we released The BATs and BAT Punks in August 2023? Do you remember the tattoo styled Aussie Looner balloon and our tattoo fiver year anniversary balloons earlier this year?
Spoiler alert! We have hidden things in plain sight for the last year. The seed has been growing over that time!
BATs = Balloon Ace tattoo studio.
As part of our community focussed approach The BATs and BAT Punks is our project for the closer integration of our fans and our customers. The launch of this blog series is another part of our means to join together the balloon community. It is our way of being a different kind of balloon shop. We are more than a balloon shop, selling the best balloons on the internet is only a small part of what we do.
No other balloon shop is THE full package like Balloon Ace.
When you buy your balloons from Balloon Ace you are not helping some rich corporate dude buy a new Range Rover, you are helping a small hobby business sell the balloons that you like whilst keeping them at the lowest prices possible.
We ain't in this for the money and never will be!
Balloon factoid
All of the balloons that we sell are manufactured from 100% natural latex. It is in fact completely organic being the sap from a tree called Hevea Brasiliensis.
As our balloons are manufactured from plant based sources they are completely biodegradable.
We have enquired with the manufacturers of the balloons that we sell and have been advised that they contain no known animal byproducts and to the best of their knowledge the latex used is harvested using sustainable forest practices.
Some lower quart balloons are manufactured using chemical additives and fillers such as neoprene. Neoprene is a petroleum based byproduct and is much less biodegradable than latex.
Balloons made with neoprene additives are lower quality, less durable and inflate much smaller than 100% latex based balloons.
When you buy your balloons from Balloon Ace you can rest assured that they are the highest quality balloons available, they are environmentally considerate and inflate the biggest!
Until next month
Over the life of this blog series we will publish monthly articles which will feature all kinds of content ranging from interviews, general balloon knowledge, giveaways, Balloon Ace news & updates and general ramblings from the team. We will also feature a new tattoo flash sheet, for no other reason than we like drawing tattoos. Although should we get enough requests we will feature some of the tattoo designs on balloons for purchase from us.
To celebrate the launch of this blog we have released a new limited edition 'skull tattoo' logo balloon which features the official logo of The Balloon Ace tattoo studio.
The Balloon Ace tattoo studio is a work in progress and will develop and change over time.
Next month our plans are to include the following:
- More balloon related tattoo flash
- An exclusive interview with a balloon model
- More balloon related factoids
- More musings from the team behind Balloon Ace
As always, we welcome everyone to participate and get involved at Balloon Ace. We exclude nobody!
As a reminder keep sending your photos with Balloon Ace balloons so that we can feature them on our BAT Punks Instagram.
Pump some punk rock into your balloons!
We are Balloon Ace!
Thanks
Nicky & Glen