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Think Bolder Ink

Contributed by: Brit Horvat/YourHub.com on 3/30/2007

About a year ago, I impulsively decided to stroll into Bolder Ink and get the star tattoo I had been wanting for quite some time. Although I told myself it wasn't a
great idea for someone so fickle to get a tattoo - something told me to go for it.

With some so-called confidence in my decision, I entered Bolder Ink with my head held high and was immediately greeted by a burley man with sleeve tattoos. "What can I do for you?" he said.

"Well," I said, laughing nervously, "I want to get a birthmark-colored, disproportioned star on the inside of my wrist - ya know, something that looks natural."

With no hesitation, he blurted, "That's a bad idea. It's gonna look like crap. How old are you?"
"22," I said.
"Imagine yourself in 25 years," he said. "What you're requesting is going to look horrible. It's going to stretch out, the edges will get really fuzzy and it won't even look like a star."

This man was making me nervous, but I wasn't going to back down. He pointed to stars on his own arm and convinced me that a brown, henna-colored, basic star would be the best fit. Because I wanted to get this over with, he gave me my paperwork and we moved to a different room. I hopped into the big, black chair like a scared-silly child at the dentist, and as he was preparing everything he asked, "Why do you want a star anyway?"

"It symbolizes hope for me," I said.
He responded, "So why can't you just look up at the sky when you need to find some hope? Why do you need a tattoo?"
I paused. "It's something I want. The stars aren't always there. It's hard to explain."
He said, "Why'd don't you get 'hope' tattooed on your wrist?"
I quickly snapped, "I'd rather see a symbol."
"I'm just saying it'd look much better if you put the actual word there," he said. By this point, my tears were trying to push their way out, and this whole thing was becoming embarassing. "You don't seem very sure about this. Maybe you should think about it for a while. Look, I don't think what you want is going to look good, and we want you to be happy," he added.

Before the awkwardness could swallow me whole, I agreed with him, thanked him for his time and walked out with a huge lump in my throat. How could someone be so rude to me? Doesn't he want my business?

Although this was painful, I knew it'd make a great story over dinner that night, especially because I almost cried from being interrogated over a tattoo. Obviously, it wasn't time.

A few weeks had passed, and I was grateful for him questioning me to death. This man definitely knew more than me, and to this day I'm glad that a deformed, permanent star is not on the surface of my skin.

When I recently called Bolder Ink for an interview, it turned out that Joe Martinez - the tattoo artist that mocked me for a good reason - was in fact the person who answered the phone. After a quick run-down, he recalled who I was and was happy to know that his prior advice made eventual sense to me.

He said, "I'd rather have someone be mad at me at the time and realize later in life that I cared about their situation, then to have them end up with something they hate. I want to give people the best thing for their money - something that will look good for at least 25 years. And if something's not working out, it's important for us to find a solution."

Joe has been working at Bolder Ink for about a decade now, working as a floor guy and giving piercings. He's been giving tats for close to two years as well. He initially gained interest in tattoos while in the Navy during the Gulf War era. Perhaps that would explain his love for American traditional tattoos: sailors, snakes, panthers, you name it.

Of course tattoo shops bring in quite the eclectic clientele, but different areas bring different trends.

Joe said, "The flavor of the year is 'the tree on the ribs.' I don't understand it, but in the past six months, both men and women have been requesting that almost every week."

When asked about the most bizarre tattoos he's ever seen or done, Joe struggled for a bit."If I had to choose, I'd have to say the weirdest tattoo I've ever seen was a cheeseburger dude busting through a guy's stomach."

"In Boulder, it can sometimes be hard to interpret what kind of tattoo a person really wants," Joe said.

"A lot of people want something that involves their spiritual path. Or they expect me to interpret their thoughts for them. They'll come in and be like, 'Man, I had this dream last night... and I saw this light... and it symbolized something but I can't explain it," Joe laughed.

On the other hand, some folks know exactly what they want - and some know for years. Prior to speaking with me, Joe was working on a 60-year-old CU anthropology professor who was getting his sixth tattoo in a month.

What if you're not happy with the cheesburger dude on your stomach? Don't fret. Tattoo removal can be worth it in the long run if, one, it's handled with the right laser, and two, you can stand the horrendous pain.

Joe describes it perfectly. "Imagine a piece of hot, bacon grease on the end of a 10-ft rubber band... then you let it rip."
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Brit Horvat has posted 401 stories and 10 comments since joining on 2/19/2007. Brit Horvat 's average story rating is 4.82.
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