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I’ve spent the past week staring at eBay auctions trying to figure out which piece from The Sugar Project I should try to make my own.

I was turned on to the auctions by Skin Deep Magazine via their Twitter account. From there, I found an article in the recent edition of Total Tattoo Magazine, and contacted Lisa Bolton to ask a few more questions about the project.

Tattoo Snob: Can you tell us what exactly the Sugar Skull project is?

Lisa Bolton: Essentially, The Sugar Project is an annual tattoo-art auction raising money for charity. 70 leading tattoo artists from around the world have been hand painting and crafting skulls to sell at auction to raise money for The Woking Hospice. 10 were given away in the raffle at The Brighton Tattoo Convention, the remaining 60 are currently being auctioned on eBay. All the proceeds from the sale of the skulls will be donated to The Woking Hospice which urgently needs funds to prevent it’s closure; a charity close to my heart as I lost my father there last year… but inadvertently, The Sugar Project is very much more than that. It is a celebration of tattooing as an art-form, recognising the extensive skills of these artists. It is a completely unique chance for people to own an exclusive piece of art by some incredible artists. It is also an opportunity to show the non-tattooed folk what a generous and caring bunch we really are.

TS: Where in did you find all of these skulls?

LB: When I first cracked this idea open, it was a week after Halloween… ever tried to buy a skull a week after Halloween?! I had initially planned to buy 20 to distribute amongst tattooist friends, but after much ringing around I learned that those who stock skulls do so with the intentions of selling out by 31st October… even the stockists of the stockists were drawing a blank and in the end I had no choice but to go direct to the factory in China. It was a bit nerve wracking… I don’t run a business, I’m a stay-at-home mum selling art by day and waitressing at night! I also had to really increase the size of my order which meant suddenly The Sugar Project was a lot bigger than I had expected.

TS: I know a number of auctions have already ended, are they raising a lot of money?

LB: So far, 17 auctions have ended and have raised £2,600… but including the bids for the remaining auctions that are still active, The Sugar Project has raised £4,200 and that figure is still rising!

I am truly amazed and touched by peoples generosity… not only by those who have bid for the skulls but by the artists who have donated their artwork. Many of these artists would ordinarily sell their original paintings for 100′s of pounds. They have participated in the project knowing that it is a small community charity and the art will be auctioned, so there is no control over the figure they raise but it will all go to help The Woking Hospice.

TS: How exactly did you choose which artists got to participate?

LS: I opened the idea up to artists on the Skin Deep forum to begin with. I post there as a moderator and have made many friends through the forum and conventions. I use the forum to organise a lot of tattoo-art competitions and knew that there was plenty of talent there. I also knew that my friends would want to help a charity so important to me, the tattoo community is the most supportive I have ever been involved with. When the project got a lot bigger though, I made a list of 100 of my favourite artists and started contacting them directly asking for their help, I was amazed by how many said yes. Guy Aitchison replied to my email within 24 hours, I knew then that The Project was going to be big. Over time, sadly a number of artists that I originally billed dropped out, but in the end the turn out was far better than I expected. With more publicity on Facebook and Myspace and through recommendation by the artists, people started contacting me and I ran out of skulls very quickly. A week before the auctions started, Guy Aitchison emailed to ask if he could have an extra one for his friend who also wanted to take part and due to having none left, I had to say no to Juan Salgado! I admit to being quite picky though, not just because I wanted to raise as much money for the charity as possible, but also because I strongly believe in pushing forward the artistic element of tattooing and I wanted The Project to be taken seriously.

TS: Are all these artists involved in the tattoo community?

Not all of the artists are tattooists, but all are involved in the community… a few of us, including myself, produce artwork heavily influenced by tattooing and we have all been involved in exhibiting our artwork at conventions, but we don’t tattoo. I think non-tattooing artists are an important part of the community. It’s good to show that you don’t have to pick up a shit kit from eBay and start scratching on your mates to be involved in tattoo art… and not everybody who can draw has to tattoo!

TS: Do you have a personal favorite Sugar Skull?

LB: Lots of people have asked me that… it’s so hard to choose. I love Amanda Ruby’s “Gladys”, which so far has sold for the highest amount. It’s one of the few that retains the conventional Sugar Skull inspiration for the project. I also love the pirate ship done by Dai Cann, it made me cry when I first opened the box because I knew my dad would have loved it! There’s so much detail in it that you couldn’t possibly see in the photographs, tiny little frogs and star fish and skulls hiding amongst the moss, whoever wins that one will be thrilled by how much more there is to the piece when it arrives. Scarlet Hell’s “Doe of the Dead” is the only one I haven’t packed away yet because I’m not finished admiring it! I live in a deer park and it just feels like it belongs here. Thankfully though, my house is very small and has looked like a very colourful graveyard for too long, which makes parting with these beauties just a little bit easier.

TS: Any last minute plugs?

LB: Aside from GET BIDDING?!

Brim is currently very busy opening Nu Rose Tattoo in Cardiff, but he has been kind enough to sponsor The Sugar Project Skeleton. “Juxtapose” is a full-size skeleton that has been ripped apart limb by limb and sent to all ends of the UK to be painted by different tattoo artists. This has not been an easy part of the project to organise and sadly not all of the artists I chose were committed so Juxtapose did not make it back together in time for this years auctions. Thankfully Gerry Carnelly, Phil Kyle, Tommy Higgins, Paul Naylor and myself have all been working hard to get “Juxtapose” suitably attired in tattoo inspired art and he will be making a number of guest appearances at studios across the UK advertising next years Sugar Project before being made available for sale.

A big thank you to Woody at the Brighton Tattoo convention who has promised exhibition space for The Sugar Project each year and also to Total Tattoo Magazine who made a donation to help me fund the project.

Tags: Billy Hay, Brighton Tattoo convention, Brim Cardiff, Catherine Scott, Cilla North, Dai Cann, Dave Budda Ashton, Drew Elish, Gary Wiedenhof, Gerry Carnelly, Guy Aitchison, Hazel Nicholls, Jamie Eskdale, Jin Suk O, Juliet Preston, Katriona Godward, Lee Vogelrok, Leigh Oldcorn, Lisa Bolton, Mat Bone, Morag Sangster, Nico Trsl, Nu Rose Tattoo, Paul Naylor, Paula Hardy Kangelos, Samantha Leigh, Scarlet Hel, Sergi Besa, Simon Erl, Skin Deep Magazine, Steve Vinall, Syman Kaye, Taylor Cort, Thomas Higgins, Total Tattoo Magazine, Xam

This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 7:45 am and is filed under Art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.