What do Jimi Hendrix, dolphins, and Big Boy have in common? They’re all coming alive at the Chattanooga Tattoo Arts Festival — on arms, chests, and any other body parts ink lovers choose to adorn.

Staff Photo by Gillian Bolsover
Judges Angi Brooks, Greg Griffin and Kim Kruseman, from left, examine Jennifer Canipe’s tattoo during the Best Large Color tattoo competition at the Chattanooga Tattoo Arts Festival today. The festival, which is now in its second year, was held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel.

The three-day festival is in its second year at the Holiday Inn at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Organizers said about 1,700 people attended last year to celebrate body artistry and check out the 60 or so artists on hand.

“They’re amazed by the colors, the realism,” said festival founder LaLa Hartline, owner of Evermore Galleries on Shallowford Road. “That itself takes it to another level.”

Tattoo artists came from all over the nation, and Marshall Bennett, Deano Cook and other well-known artists were discussed today in casual conversation amid the drone of the ink guns.

The body art festival comes at a time when nearly 5,000 visitors are in Chattanooga for a variety of conferences, including the Quality Deer Management Association, the National Association of Negro Musicians, and Chattanooga’s Amerivespa 2008 rally.

For complete coverage, read tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.