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House of Tattoo
253.274.TAT2
2701 6th Ave., Tacoma
myspace.com/houseoftattoo
Open noon to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday
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From classic and urban painters to graphic designers and glassblowers, art can be found everywhere. However not all art is truly accessible to everyone. Some people cannot afford to buy it. Others spend hours creating it and cannot sell it fast enough to make a decent wage. Many will never experience awe while in the presence of an original Van Gogh or Monet and most will not enter Rome’s Sistine Chapel to gaze at the work of Michelangelo. But there’s art people can afford, appreciate and earn a living creating. It’s the historic art of tattoo.
“Tattoo art is right there on the street for anyone to appreciate,” said Mike Flanagan, tattoo artist at House of Tattoo in Tacoma. “Tattoos truly are the gateway between intangible and tangible art. Anyone can have one and anyone can appreciate its beauty if they choose to.”
Flanagan is like a walking art museum. Women constantly ask about his ear-to-leg tattoos and kids want to look and touch to see if his skin feels different. Others simply stare. Some people find the art of tattoo repulsive while others become especially drawn to it.
People have been fascinated with tattoos for thousands of years. The Smithsonian shares that the earliest tattoo found was on an Iceman that carbon-dates to about 5,200 years old.
Today, people across the globe continue to mark their bodies with permanent designs. Tattoos serve as symbols, rites of passage, levels of honor, story tellers, offer personal declarations, share religious beliefs, and for some, simple decoration. Historically, tattoos also were used as amulets to represent royal status and even as punishment for criminals.
Tattoo culture in America began with naval sailors who got tattoos on their chests, arms, backs and legs in foreign ports, bringing home different motifs representing various cultures. A dragon, for example, meant a sailor served in Japan or China. Additionally, thanks to the American military, tattoos have long been a “man’s mark.”
In the early years, the only women in America famous for tattoos were part of the circus. More recently, both tattoos and women with tattoos have become a larger part of mainstream pop culture thanks to reality TV shows like “Miami Ink” and “L.A. Ink.” Such shows feature a large, creative subculture and the women putting dents in it.
House of Tattoo owner, Katie Williams of Tacoma, knows the art and the industry well. She has a degree in art and has been working in the tattoo business for more than 15 years. “It’s still a pretty male-dominated field, but a lot less than it used to be,” Williams said. “The economy changes the people, but not business. The only difference is the type of clients we see. Now we get people with more consistent incomes — less ants and more grasshoppers — we’ve been fortunate. I think this is a testament to the quality of work we do.”
The typical going rate for a good tattoo artist in Seattle will cost you about $150 to $160 per hour. The average hourly rate in Tacoma is about $120. Further south in Portland, the price is more like $200 per hour. Most parlors also require an art set-up fee. Flanagan says he makes between $40,000 to $50,000 per year working four 10-hour days per week, leaving plenty of time for his family, which he sees as a real perk.
Even with a shift in pop culture and improvements in application, the tattoo industry continues to battle old stereotypes. Women with tats were historically characterized as prostitutes and drug addicts, while the typical judgment against men remains that they “probably did prison time.”
Williams said you can tell a lot about a person by the tattoos they choose, but that most people aren’t that observant. She enjoys creating funny tattoos and doesn’t understand why people get negative ones. “Why would you want to go around with all that negative energy? It just promotes stereotypes about people with tattoos — that they are angry and have less-than-desirable personalities,” Williams said.
Tattoo-bearing Andy McGee of Portland recently returned to Tacoma to get an addition to her veggie tattoo collection from Katie Williams.
“Tattoos are beautiful. Some of mine have meaning attached to them, but not a lot. It’s just fun to decorate myself in different ways, except this is permanent,” McGee said. “Hopefully I will still like it when I’m old. After all, how could I not love broccoli more than I love it now?”
Artists agree that like any painting, excessive amounts of ultraviolet light from the sun will fade tattoos over time often at about the same rate skin degrades from exposure. The application of the tattoo can make a difference, as well as how the tattoo is cared for during the healing process after application.
“Personal health and sun exposure really affect how long your tattoo lasts or holds color,” Williams said. “The types of ink used also affect it. Metal, salts or acrylics suspended in hypoallergenic liquid have more staying power.”
Serious tattoo lovers transform their bodies into walking, talking multicolor canvases. Everything from pets, symbols and words, knives and daggers, skulls and dragons, flowers and vines, angels and demons, pin-ups and portraits to schools of fish adorn the body and in some cases, shock the eyes. If you can imagine a design, it likely can be done.
Unlike traditional art, passersby will have the opportunity to enjoy it and those who create it will remain employed and those adorned with it will continue to express themselves.
Sonja M. Hall is a writer who lives in Tacoma.
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