Fans of the reality television series LA Ink got a chance to see their favorite tattoo artists at the recent Tattoo Arts Festival of Calgary, which took place in Alberta, Canada. The yearly event took place at the Westin Hotel and was comprised of numerous informative seminars. There were a number of live talk sessions, not just with the cast of LA Ink, but also with other guest tattoo artists. Kat Von D, who stars in the TV series, stated enthusiastically in an interview with the Calgary Sun that she loved the annual show. She cited how welcoming she felt the city was, and that it was the only convention she ever really felt like attending.

She explained that at many other conventions, there was often a lot of criticism and negative, egotistical feedback from her peers in the industry. Kat Von D said that many of her critics or opponents still remained unhappy at the fact that she was getting to do her own TV show. LA Ink is a spin-off of the previous TLC reality series Miami Ink, which likewise focused on the day-to-day business of running a tattoo parlor. However, after Kat Von D got into several heated arguments with shop co-owner Ami James, Kat Von D moved to Los Angeles instead.

In Los Angeles, she went about opening up and managing her own tattoo business, which eventually became the subject matter of LA Ink. She also stated during her interview with the Calgary Sun that what happened to her on Miami Ink was very personally sad for her, and that the conflict shown on TV in Miami Ink was just the tip of the iceberg. She has called the tattoo business seedy, and that if she had a daughter of her own, she wouldn’t want her or any other little girl to enter into it alone. Instead, she wants them to learn empowerment and independence by functioning as a learning team with other trustworthy body artists.