Stephani Warner is considering adding a sunflower to her tattoo collection. She originally wanted a dragon but decided not to because that would require too much time under the electromagnetic pulsating tattoo machine. Hinton only took about 15 minutes, and was paid $75, to create the bug artwork. More intricate designs can take dozens of hours and require multiple sessions to complete.

But Warner said she isn't about to become one of those people who "like to be a walking billboard."

And there were plenty of those at this colorful convention. The walking billboards showed off everything from flowers, butterflies, skulls, cartoon characters and tortured souls to religious symbols. Name a mentionable body part — shoulders, thighs, chests (men's and women's), calves, wrists, etc. — and it was being punctured with a rainbow of pigments at the show. Artists and vendors came from as far away as Amsterdam, Japan, Switzerland and Hawaii and as close as 511 W. 200 South, Room 135.

Colby Burleson, co-owner of Good Times Tattoo, claims the old tattoo stereotype is no longer valid, a point made by the fact this event is being held (through Sunday) in conservative Utah. The popularity is based partly on cultural icons such as professional athletes wearing them, but he believes the proliferation is based more on people's desire to express their individuality in a visually stunning manner. That tattoos look better than they used to and that helps, too.

"You can have art pieces on you, it's another art form," he said. "The individuality of it, the uniqueness. It's a way to be different."

But even the tattoo artists have ways of being different. While most used buzzing machines (the hall sounded like crickets chirping on a summer's night), a few Polynesians used an old-school form that's been practiced for centuries.

Instead of an electrical tool, the Islanders used two pieces of whale bone to perform "ta ta tau." One piece has tiny needles in it, and the other is used to tap the sharp edges into the skin in a process called "kakau." Keone Nunes traveled from Oahu (Waianae) to give conventioners the old Polynesian treatment.

Sam Mafua of Salt Lake City was biting his lips in pain while Nunes printed a hand-drawn Tongan family symbol or crest into his calf. Mafua has about 20 tattoos, both conventional and traditional.

"This has more meaning, but the other is less painful," he said. "I'm really proud of these."

The guy with the mermaid ripping the heart from a merman's chest would probably say the same thing.

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E-mail: jody@desnews.com