Local tattoo parlors make their mark

Online Poster

By Kate Gleason

Nowadays, it’s not just sailors and bikers who are getting them.

While tattoos used to be very rare, they are becoming more commonplace, and more and more people are getting tattoos for reasons as varied as their lifestyles.

Nick Wiggins owns The Mark of Cain Tattoo’s, located at 207 W. Green St., a tattoo shop that specializes in customized designs since 1993.

Wiggins said he stresses creativity and originality in his work, and tries to make each tattoo a unique creation. He also said different artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci have inspired him.

Wiggins said it is important for each person to choose a tattoo that is meaningful because tattoos are permanent.

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He noticed a trend a few years ago of customers no longer designing their own tattoos. Rather, they were looking at books and bringing in pictures of other people’s tattoos to get ideas.

“Sometimes people come in wanting a tattoo but they have no idea what they want to get,” he said. “My job is to help them realize what interests them and then create a tattoo.”

Wiggins, who got his first tattoo when he was 21, said that instead of worrying so much about the placement of the tattoo, people should be more concerned with the design.

“People really need to care about the art itself,” he said. “They will be far more happy with a tattoo that is original and pushes boundaries in its medium.”

Andy Bosiljevac, senior in engineering, said he has wanted a tattoo for some time, but he could never decide what he wanted until he found a martial arts symbol that he thought would be a good design.

“I wasn’t going to get one that didn’t have deep sentiment to me,” he said. “When I finally saw this symbol that has great meaning to me, I knew I wanted to get it.”

Bosiljevac said martial arts are a big part of his life, and the philosophy behind the symbol means something to him.

“The red circle in the center represents power and strength,” he said. “It can be said that the symbol means ‘power/strength within, gentleness without.'”

Stump Cogdill, a tattoo artist and co-owner of the tattoo shop Altered Egos, 630 S. Fifth St., said he has been giving tattoos for 12 years, and it is a job that never gets old because each day is different.

“It’s a never-ending learning experience,” he said. “You can never learn everything there is to know (about tattoos).”

Cogdill said he likes designing unique tattoos, such as portraits of people.

“You can go to the library or search the Internet for ideas if you need to,” he said. “Then, when you have your idea, you bring it here and we can draw it.”

Cogdill said his customers are diverse.

Mary Majewski, senior in LAS, was in the shop recently for her second tattoo. She said she was addicted after her first one, but it took her years to decide what she wanted to get for her second tattoo. She finally decided to get a flower and the word “Patience” written on her lower back.

“Patience is something I’ve been trying to learn a long time,” she said. “It holds a special meaning to me.”

Jenna Cramer, a junior in LAS, said she came with her friend Mary for “moral support.”

Cramer, who has six tattoos, said she likes all of them.

“They all have their own stories and they all mean something different to me,” she said. “Ever since the first (tattoo), I’ve been hooked.”

Tiny Freeman, also in the shop Thursday, said he also got hooked on tattoos.

Freeman, who was getting a tattoo design that covered his entire left arm, said he got his first tattoo ten years ago as a Christmas present from his wife. He now estimates he has about 25 tattoos.

“I come here when I have a bad day,” he said. “By the time I leave, I can’t be in a bad mood anymore.”

Freeman, a bassist for Humble Beginnings, a Christian band, said his band encourages him to wear long-sleeved shirts, but he refuses.

He said getting tattoos gives him the same kind of “rush” he used to get when he went running or lifted weights.

“I get an endorphin rush,” he said. “It’s kind of a drug for me,” he said.

Freeman said his next tattoo will be of two evil clowns on his arms, and he has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

“All walks of life get tattoos,” Cogdill said. “I’ve seen doctors, lawyers, cops– even surgeons– get them.”