Needles and narratives: a tattoo artist’s perspective
Bellevue Tattoo logo, courtesy of @bellvue_tatoo on Instagram
Under the greatly lit confines of Bellevue Tattoo on Main Street, the atmosphere buzzes to the sound of Scottie Raymond’s needle. A seasoned tattoo artist, Raymond, 48, crafts another masterpiece, a tamarack pine branch, on a willing canvas.
Raymond hadn’t always planned to be a tattoo artist. Born in the Bronx, he traveled to Philadelphia to the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. But his heart called for the mountains, so he moved to Vermont in the 90s. He spent most of his 20s and early 30s hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking. Then he got back into painting, started working on murals and, just in the past five years, he came to the world of tattooing.
We asked him to share a few insights from his artist’s perch.
You’ve been at this for five years, how has the stigma around tattoos changed with time?
Massively. If you were to walk around the UVM campus today you would probably see more young women with a tattoo than without. And that’s partially due to movie stars, basketball players, all of these famous people who are covered in tattoos. Shows like Ink Masters, kind of destigmatized the process, letting people see anybody can get a tattoo.
But I think as an overall society we’ve learned to accept that it’s a way people want to decorate their bodies. It’s like putting stickers on a water bottle. To me this is just a vessel that carries me around the earth and I would rather have it decorated.
Are there specific tattoo designs or themes that seem to be particularly popular?
Infinity symbols, hearts and kind of really basic stuff that you see a lot on Pinterest. Baby footprints, the names of loved ones, that sort of stuff. I also think more American traditional type of tattooing is making a comeback right now where a lot of people really want those bold simple colorful types of work. Floral work is super popular-- who doesn’t love a good rose?
Are there any tattoos that bore you?
I take every opportunity that someone gives me to mark their body as a true honor and so I try to approach every single tattoo from that perspective. Even if it is not my favorite. That said, I am kind of bored of tattooing babies’ footprints, infinity symbols, hearts and things like that. You know, just basic one-line, simple, kind of boring tattoos. But I take them all as seriously as any other tattoos.
What was the hardest tattoo you’ve ever done?
Anything that is within the neck, shoulder, collarbone, chest vicinity is very difficult. It is difficult skin to get to, you are over the client’s face, it is just an awkward situation. I recently did a tiger that went all the way down the back of a guy’s thigh. It was really big and took a lot of mapping it out. That one was difficult.
Do you have a lot of older customers?
One thing that really has been interesting, especially since moving into this space, is we’re seeing a lot of people in their 50s and 60s coming in to get their first tattoo. Which is an unexpected trend to see so many people later in life getting into and accepting something that probably when they were in their 20s was so heavily stigmatized.
What advice do you have for people who are considering getting their first tattoo?
People have sort of developed unrealistic expectations around what’s possible. How a tattoo is going to look in 10 years is very different than how it is going to look in 10 minutes. So, listen to your artist, and trust people who’ve spent a thousand hours learning how to do the job.
Are there any precautions or aftercare tips that clients should be aware of when getting a tattoo?
Don’t go swimming in the lake with a new tattoo, don’t go in a hot tub with a new tattoo, don’t oversaturate or over-handle a new tattoo. You know, it’s an open wound, you need to be careful with it, you need to keep it clean and other than that you kind of need to leave them alone.
Sofia Mendes studies journalism at Saint Michael’s College, volunteers weekly, and reads romances daily.