Catching up on the world of tattoos
Catching up on the world of tattoos
May 6, 2012
Gary Stein
Sun Sentinel
It's not as if I haven't been inside a tattoo parlor before. Of course, I have.
I mean, I'm a wild guy. I'm sure I was in one after a crazy night in college. Or maybe it was after one of those out-of-control parties that I always go to. Or maybe . . .
Or maybe ... I hadn't ever been in a tattoo parlor. I admit it. My life is shallow. I needed to be refreshed about the new world of tattoos.
Which brought me recently to Just Ink Art and Tattoo on Broward Boulevard, after the place found itself in the midst of a controversy involving the appropriateness of having such a so-called "third class" business on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
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Personally, I never realized Fort Lauderdale Beach had gotten so high class and uppity that they would have a problem with a clean, well-run tattoo parlor in their midst, but that shows how out of touch I am.
Seems like some residents near the beach got their shorts in a bunch when they heard Just Ink might occupy a spot on the second floor of Beach Place.
"Do you want a Bal Harbour or a Coney Island?" one beach activist told city commissioners, who eventually agreed last week to allow Just Ink into Beach Place, with a few restrictions.
Another beach activitist type mentioned how the tattoo parlor "is a degradation of our presentation to the public and the tourist."
Interesting. I wonder how many of those complainers actually stopped by Just Ink to witness the degradation.
They might have been surprised at what they would see.
"People here the word "tattoo" and they think bikers, criminals," I was told by tattoo artist Malakai Messina, who has been doing this kind of work for 23 years.
"Some of the places are seedy. There is a difference between a tattooer and a tattoo artist. A tattoo artist can look at your body and know the kind of design that will work well. We all have art degrees here.
"(The tattoo) is our business card, without our name on it. We take pride in it. You gotta put love into the art.
"People will remember (the tattoo artist) for the rest of their lives. I put on something that will be with them 100 years after they die."
Indeed, Just Ink looks like a very clean, sanitary salon inside. Comfortable couches, a flat-screen TV. Art of possible tattoo designs.
And nobody named Bonecrusher giving you a $5 tattoo, like I've seen in the prison movies that I love.
I asked one guy getting a tattoo if it hurt. He said it was more a little annoying than painful ("Like the first sunburn of summer," Messina said). I admit to being a little squeamish watching, but the guy didn't seem to be in any pain at at all.
Tattoos at Just Ink start at $50. Depending on how colorful and detailed you want your body, the bill can run into the hundreds of thousands.
This is not something you do on a whim.
"With a lot of people, I'll talk 'em out of a tattoo....they aren't ready for it," Messina said. "I tell them to go home and think about it.
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