Local tattoo artist dishes on crazy tattoo stories
SYDNEE FLOTRON- ODDITIES EDITOR
Have you ever wondered what crazy stories your favorite tattoo artist has? Have you ever actually taken the time to ask? Luckily for you, I did. Grand Junction is full of many great tattoo shops, all of which employ dozens of artists who do thousands of tattoos every year. So yeah, they’ve had some pretty interesting interactions.
First Street Tattoo Parlor is a hidden gem in Grand Junction. Artist Tobias Peltier has been tattooing for eight years and has found his home at First Street; but he still deals with plenty of odd requests.
“One tattoo I’ll always remember was a few years back… some kid and his mom walked in wanting matching Care Bear tattoos on their buttcheecks. That was interesting enough, but then I saw that the kid brought all of his friends with him to come watch. That was the weirdest part,” Peltier said.
While some tattoos may seem a little out of pocket for one artist, it may be a fun challenge for another. Sometimes the weirdest requests can turn into the most beautiful pieces of art.
“I’m game for a lot of things, honestly. I feel like tattooing is just far enough into the fringe that you can’t be too picky about those things,” he said.
However, tattoo artists do have personal boundaries just like everyone else in the workplace. It’s their choice what projects they take on, and they aren’t required to accept every request thrown their way. Sometimes artists will deny tattoos based on either the shop or their own personal moral boundaries.
“Sometimes we have some really rough-looking people come in wanting a Nazi Swastika tattooed. Obviously, we won’t do that. Any genitalia tattoos can be a little concerning as well,” Peltier said. “Just recently a girl wanted her first tattoo on her neck and she wanted us to do a huge Betty Boop. I just looked at her and was like….I don’t know about that, maybe not.”
In fact, this is actually a common occurrence among tattoo artists. Many artists regularly deny any hand, neck, or face tattoos because they are in such a visible place and are very difficult to cover.
“Who really needs face tattoos? I’m sorry but I don’t want to be responsible for some 18 year old SoundCloud rapper who can’t get a job because I tattooed their face,” he said.
Karen Hudson, writer for Live About Dot Com, explained that not only do those areas fade badly over time, but many people aren’t ready to face the consequences of those tattoos. If a customer wants a neck, face, or hand tattoo and they already have full sleeves, it shows that they are committed, and that’s usually a different story.
“It’s permanent, and it’s not in a place where you can cover it up easily. It’s always out there, always visible. And no matter how society’s acceptance of body art grows, you will still have problems being accepted in many places and by many people. If you are not ready to handle that, it’s best that you hold off on the tattoo until you are—and a reputable tattoo artist will tell you so,” Hudson said.
Many people also don’t consider the physical toll getting a tattoo can take on their body. With any size, shape, or color of tattoo, there’s often bleeding, scarring, and plenty of overlooked physical reactions that could happen. Artists usually encourage customers to come hydrated, sober, well-rested, and with a full stomach. But sometimes, this isn’t the case
“My favorite story to tell is about this one guy from a few years back. It was probably his second time coming in so we already knew him, but this time he came in and he was a little hungover. Not a big deal, he seemed fine, right? Well after getting halfway through his tattoo, he suddenly stood up and raced to the bathroom. All I heard was a crash, and he had passed out in the bathroom. He was okay, but it was a huge deal. His wife was there and she was freaked out. The ironic part is that he still comes in to get tattooed and we all make fun of him. Everyone knows that story- his wife, kids, everyone laughs about it still,” Peltier said.
The shop does have plenty of safety precautions in place in case anything like this does happen, so don’t let that story discourage you from getting the tattoo of your dreams. It happens more than you may think, but most people will tell you it’s more than worth it.
“We crank out a lot of tattoos. Probably we get one person a month who passes out, but you know, when you’re doing 100 tattoos in a month that ratio is pretty good,” he said.
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