Making a Mark An Ethnography on a local Tattoo Shop and its Artists ...

Laven 8of people. More and more people are coming to accept the idea of tattoos because they’rerealizing that it’s a more accepted concept.As I checked out the other rooms, I noticed each room had a Craftsman tool box; somered, some black, and some with flames. I thought it went well with the flow and personality ofthe shop. The shop had a more relaxation-meets-punk feel. The tool boxes added flare, but yetwere totally functional and provided that uniqueness factor to the shop. Each tattoo room hadmultiple mirrors of different lengths, paper towels, a stainless steel sink, and trays to hold thetattoo supplies. The piercing room was set up like the others with an extra big mirror and an oldorange dentist chair smack dab in the middle.We left to the sounds of a Lucy Poured CD and Nick saying, “Dude, my grandpa wants‘flippin the bird’ tattooed on his head,” and Ben responding,”Your grandpa’s fucked up man!” Iwas confused, relieved, and intrigued as I left this fascinating place.To experience more of this subculture, I made my second trip to Good Clean Fun. It was2:45 p.m. when I pulled up a week and a half later. Two girls were looking at the piercings in theglass case when I walked in. I was surprised that I knew these two girls from school. Sam, one ofthe girls, informed me that she would be getting a tattoo that day and was very excited. Sam, atypical 18-year-old brunette, dressed in pink sweatpants and a tan sweater doesn’t seem like theusual person who would come in and get a tattoo. She was going to get a lotus, (flowersymbolizing purity of the heart and mind) on her lower back and wanted it to look likehenna,(flowering plant producing red-orange dye used on skin to create temporary designs). “Ialways got henna when I was younger, and I wanted to get it permanent and have been thinkingabout it for almost a year.” She had to fill out a bunch of paper work and show her license.