Staff
Sunday October 7th, 2007 @ 12:46 AM by AskBME | Permalink
Panel Members
Shawn Porter - Philadelphia, PA
http://iam.bmezine.com/?shawnporter
Among other things, I am the co-creator of the ModCon events and the host/creator of the Scarwars Scarification events.
I have been known as a community archivist and ran the SPC website from 1995 until 2004, focusing on the contemporary history of our subculture. I’m about to enter my 20th year in the community- and can say in all honesty that some of the best and some of the worst people I’ve ever met have come from this subculture.
I may be the longest running member of the QOD still active, after returning from a brief hiatus.
I live in Philadelphia, enjoy being adorable and hush puppies. Feel free to ask me questions related to the history of Body Modification, scarification, tattooing or culture. Rachel wrote most of this.
Lori St. Leone - Darwin NT, Australia
http://iam.bmezine.com/?spikesandstuds
I own and operate Vogue Body Piercing in Darwin, Australia. I began my piercing career in 1995, and am extensively experienced in all aspects of body piercing. As the senior piercer at the shop, I primarily specialise in advanced procedures, such as scarification, punch and taper method surface piercing, dermal punching cartilage, lobe scalpelling, genital beading, and placing and removing microdermals. I am originally from Alaska, and am a dual citizen of Australia and the USA (and thusly am proficient at both translating Browne & Sharpe gauges into metric, as well as translating Australian slang into English).
I joined the QOD staff in 2003 because I genuinely enjoy helping people and sharing my knowledge and experience, and because, quite frankly, this sausage party needed a little estrogen to balance things out. I’m really excited about the new AskBME layout and think it’s a fantastic step in the right direction for this great resource! I have a fairly offbeat sense of humour and don’t tend to suffer fools gladly, but I’m also really nice to the newbies. I’ll have a crack at almost any type of question submitted, so fire away. 
Ryan Ouellette - Nashau, NH
http://iam.bmezine.com/?The+Fog
I own and operate Precision Body Arts in Nashua, NH where I manage several tattoo artists and handle their clients’ questions. I myself perform body piercing and scarification primarily. My piercing technique includes forcep as well as freehand piercing, dermal punching cartilage and soft tissue, punch + taper piercing, micro-dermal anchoring, beading, and stretching. I travel internationally as a scarification practitioner, my cutting technique is heavily based on complex and intricate flesh removal. I also have limited firsthand knowledge of heavier mods such as tongue splitting and implants. I perform several hours of continuing education yearly, primarily at the Association of Professional Piercers annual conference. I’ve completed numerous courses in the areas of blood borne pathogens, anatomy, and equipment management.
Sean Philips - Fairfax, VA
http://iam.bmezine.com/?lextalonis
I have been a professional piercer for around twelve years now. I have been involved in the heavy mod community for over eight years and consider myself lucky to have gotten involved when in a time when things were far more underground. I am also a founding member of the M.O.M Suspension Crew and involved deeply within the tattoo industry even though I myself am not an artist.
On QOD (now AskBME.com) I am more likely to answer questions pertaining to heavy or rare modifications. However, don’t hesitate to ask me tamer question if you like.
I can currently be found at Starlight Tattoo in Las Vegas, Nevada: www.starlighttattoolasvegas.com.
Warren Hiller - Darwin NT, Australia
http://iam.bmezine.com/?vex+hecubus
I started my piercing apprenticeship in 2001, shortly after finding/joining BMEZine.com. I became heavily involved in the Body Modification community by going to various BME BBQ’s, Body Suspension Events,etc. I also started an online forum where Professional Piercers and Apprentices can network and learn from each other, thanks to all who take part it’s become quite successful.
My views on Body Modification, are what many will consider as “conservative”. Meanwhile I simply stand by the fact that we as Modification Artists (piercing / tattooing / implants / scarification) need to work towards providing consistent quality work for our customers. First and foremost we should not put the modifications ahead of the client. I’m a fan of all modification’s so long as they are performed by experienced artists, or with the help of experienced artists.
Derek Lowe - Minneapolis, MN
http://iam.bmezine.com/?amorphous
I’ve been piercing professionally for almost 13 years after serving a not-so-perfect apprenticeship. I consider myself about 50% self-taught with the rest of knowledge up to this point coming from doing guest piercing spots, networking with fellow piercers, attending the Association of Professional Piercers conference for 11 years and absorbing everything I can find related (directly and indirectly) to piercing. The World Wide MegaWeb Hypernets have played a large role in helping me stay in touch with other piercers and have allowed me to continual learn new things..
I don’t do a lot of “heavy” procedures, but I’m definitely no stranger to dermal-punching, punch-n-taper surface piercings and microdermals. Over the years I’ve done a bit of cutting as well, although it’s not my specialty.
I’m currently a piercer and general manager at Saint Sabrina’s in Minneapolis, MN.
Russ Foxx - Vancouver, BC
http://iam.bmezine.com/?russfoxx
I am an artist of multiple areas of body art, modification and ritual experience. My arts include body piercing (freehand & conventional), adult piercing, surface piercing (punch & taper), pocketing (microdermal anchors & staples), large-gauge punches, scarification, body suspensions and pulls, subdermal implants, splits, ear sculpting (pointing, lobe scalpelling and corrections), etc. I also have a love for custom-shaped industrials and any type of ear projects.
I am a progressive artist and uphold that safety is paramount in the body art industry. I have been working in this industry since 2000 and completed a training seminar with the Association of Professional Piercers in 2003. I owned and operated my own tattooing & piercing studio in Alliston, Ontario for about 5 years before moving to the beautiful province of British Columbia. I am currently working toward a degree in medicine.
Body suspension plays a major role in my life and also who I am today. I have personally experienced over 30 suspensions of different types with varying amounts and sizes of hooks; including vertical, horizontal and modified suspensions. I frequently host public and private “SusCons” (Body Suspension conventions and seminars) indoors and outdoors in the lower mainland. I am a founding member of “Modern Body Suspension”, a Vancouver-based body suspension team. Some of my hobbies include sideshow and performance art as well as being a musician and adrenaline junky.
My studio is located at The Fall Tattooing & Artists Gallery at 644 Seymour Street in downtown Vancouver, BC. I’m available for work there 7 days a week.
Tiff Badhairdo - Brighton, UK
http://iam.bmezine.com/?badhairdo
I am a piercing practitioner and scarification artist based in the UK and as such, am very much committed to furthering the industry with regards to standards and best practice. In my quest for advancement, the internet has proved an invaluable resource allowing me to liaise and swap notes with others within the body modification sphere. My reason for joining the awesome AskBME team is simply to live up to my commitment.
I apprenticed in 2004 in London before moving back to my beloved Yorkshire to take up a position as a piercer at Eternal Ink in Sheffield. I have recently relocated to the south of the country where I now work as part of an amazing team that makes up Magnum Opus in Brighton. I also help facilitate suspensions with the Norfolk-based Body Evolution crew and more recently, the London-based Constant Elevation crew. I love surface work, with a preference for the punch and taper method. For other work I use both freehand and conventional techniques - which ever fits the job best. I have played an active part in other modifications too but my real passion lies with scarification. My particular developing style tends to be quite organic and I love working with symmetry, geometrical shapes and texture. The majority of my work draws heavily on linework with the odd bit of skin removal used to good effect.
Efix Roy - Quebec City, Canada
http://iam.bmezine.com/?efix
After having learnt everything I could on BME and experiencing quite a bit on myself, I began my apprenticeship in March 2002. I began piercing professionally in late 2002 and then, after feeling the need to make things better, helped open D-Markation with my friends in December of 2004 where I am still the full time head piercer. I am 100% freehand although I learnt with forceps at first. I also work with scalpels and dermal punches if the results can be enhanced by their use. I now mostly focus on scarification as well as a wide range of more extreme body modifications.
On AskBME, I’ll mainly focus on answering french questions.
Après avoir appris tout ce que je pouvais sur BME et avoir expérimenté beaucoup sur moi même, j’ai commencé mon apprentissage en mars 2002. J’ai débuté ma carrière de perceur corporel professionnel vers la fin de 2002 et puis, voulant changer les choses et les améliorées, avec quelques amis, nous avons ouvert les ateliers D-Markation où je suis toujours le perceur. Je suis 100% main libre, mais j’ai tout de même appris avec les forceps. Je perce aussi avec des scalpels et punch dermiques si ça peut améliorer le résultat de certains perçages. Je me concentre maintenant principalement sur la scarification ainsi que sur une large variétée de modifications corporelles plus extrêmes.
Sur AskBME, je vais principalement répondre aux questions francophones.
Lexci Million - Edmonton, Canada
http://iam.bmezine.com/?Lexci+Million
I have been piercing professionally after apprenticeship for 6 years now and currently work at Shambhala Tattoos in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
I focus on carrying out successful body piercings from nostrils to genitals and am co-founder of the Local Hookers suspension team.
I am an advocate for safe body piercing practices, acceptable body jewelry and aftercare and progressive techniques and ideas. I’ve attended the Association of Professional Piercers conference each year I’ve been piercing and continue to further my education for the benefit and safety of my own clients both there and networking online with other body modification practitioners around the world.
