The two of them won no fewer than five prizes last weekend in Belgium. Debbie and Robin, who normally tattoo daily in Zandvoort. They participated in an international tattoo competition with many other strong artists from Europe.
“That’s really cool! I’m very proud!” says Robin Duisterhof (26) enthusiastically. The IJmuiden woman with bright pink hair has had a super tough, but also super successful weekend. She won first place in the ‘Best Colour’ category and came second in the ‘Best of the Show’ category. She has only been tattooing for three years and can already count herself among the international top.
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Last weekend she and her ‘boss’ and trainer Debbie ‘Zandvoort’ (that’s how most people know her, ed.) participated in the Skin Art Tattoo Expo in Putte, Belgium, near Mechelen. “You get your own booth there,” Debbie explains. “That means your own workplace. You sit with all the other participants in a kind of sports hall. And in the meantime there is also an audience walking around,” Debbie explains. The two have to compete against mainly Swedes, Germans and Belgians. A kind of mini-European Championship.
Panther and flower
Robin therefore participates in the ‘Colour’ category. She made a colorful design of a panther and a flower in advance and looked for a customer via social media. In Putte the two start a battle of attrition. The customer, a Dutch woman, has to sit still for hours. “We couldn’t talk much, because we were sitting next to a sound box. Shouting is a bit exaggerated. Every now and then we give each other a thumbs up and then move on.”
“You get to know each other a bit beforehand, because you spend a lot of time together,” says Robin. “I spent nine hours on Saturday and on Sunday too. It was a battle against the clock, but we were both very satisfied with the end result.”
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Today Robin is tired. Very tired. “My back hurts and mentally it is also difficult,” she says. Yet she is still working on Thorbeckestraat in Zandvoort. Debbie too. Because ‘the Zandvoort show’ must also go on.
A whole leg for Debbie
Debbie even won first prize in the ‘Best of the Show’ category on Sunday evening. In other words: the best of all participants. She participates in Putte in the categories ‘Leg’ and ‘Black&Grey’. She already knows her customer. “She is from Hoofddorp and was in the shop last week. She thought it would be fun to participate.”
Debbie’s task is to tattoo both the lower and upper legs. Naturally, in consultation with the customer, an eagle is placed on the upper leg on Saturday. “That took more than seven hours.”
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On Sunday, Debbie tattoos a shark and a turtle on the lower leg for the ‘Black&Grey’ category. Also a job of more than six hours. “You will really feel that in your back. You are focused on your work, talk to each other a bit every now and then. But she also had headphones with her and could watch Netflix,” Debbie explains. “In the meantime, she had to take paracetamol every three hours, because she could get a fever from tattooing.”
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“I was destroyed at the end. And then you also have to finish. You don’t feel like doing that for a while.”
But Debbie and the Hoofddorp native are both very happy with the end result. “I try to challenge myself every time and that has worked out well again. I am very proud, but especially of Robin. Because she has only been working for three years.”
Prices in store
Debbie now has her prizes in the window of the store, among all the other prizes. Robin later takes them to Zandvoort. “They are still at home, because I want to show them to my family and friends first and then I will hang them here at my workplace.”
Joy in Zandvoort, but their ‘suffering objects’ now have to bite through the pain. “It will be tough for them, especially tomorrow.”
We previously made the report below at Debbie’s store. Because Zandvoort has relatively the most tattoo shops in the Netherlands:
Zandvoort now has nine tattoo parlors in the village – NH News