Millions and millions of people all around the world have tattoos and piercings. This is not news to you, I'm sure... In fact, tattoos have been found on mummified human remains dating back as far as 5,200 years ago.
Body modification is a type of self-expression, where a person puts their trust into an artist to create a work of art on their body. Tattoos come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and forms, and with today's technology and a talented artist, the possibilities are literally limitless! Oh, and they can be addicting (in the best way)!
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| My latest tattoo (December 2014) |
Whether you're creating a large artistic piece, or just a small, random image, it's wise to put some thought and meaning into your to-be-inked concept. So far, I personally have collected 5 small-ish, all-black tattoos, spread on various parts of my body, all with a specific meaning or story behind them, and I'm proud to say that I already have my 6th tattoo in the works for an August appointment (@ Stingray, of course!).
I'm so grateful, blessed, and proud to have Stingray Body Art as one of the sponsors of my pride parade float for the second year in a row! The owner of Stingray, Scott Matalon, is a dear friend of mine, and has graciously taken the time to answer a few fun questions I have always wanted to ask about Stingray, and I'm excited to share all of that info with my readers!
J-So: When was Stingray Body Art founded and what is the mission behind it?
Scott: 2005, this August will be our 10th anniversary! Our mission is to be a friendly and welcoming tattoo, piercing & permanent makeup shop by offering quality, service, selection and guarantees to every one of our customers.
J-So: Obviously Stingray is conveniently located in Allston, MA at the corner of Harvard Ave. & Cambridge St.... Was there any specific reason you chose this location?
Scott: Having lived in Allston since the 80's, I have always loved the neighborhood and the old antique furniture shop that used to be in our building. That building just happened to be in the middle of a total renovation and up for rent just as we decided to open Stingray, so I truly believe it was fate that brought us and our amazing location together.
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| By Josh "Chico" Torres @ Stingray |
J-So: What sets Stingray apart from other tattoo/piercing shops?
Scott: I think the most important thing is that we always remember that we're in the happiness business. To do that we've always had to stay flexible and open-minded...which includes listening to our customers and taking our online reviews seriously, by employing only the best, most professional people and by constantly trying new things and adopting the best new practices.
We started with just 2 tattoo artists and piercing; and by staying creative, open-minded and constantly expanding we've grown to now have 9 artists and 2 piercers, we're the only tattoo shop in Boston fully licensed for both beautiful permanent makeup and laser tattoo lightening (for coverups) and laser tattoo removal; we've stopped using boring old-school 'starter jewelry' and instead switched to the newest lines of mix-and-match, gemmed and color-anodized jewelry so you have dozens of options from day one, and we've gone from using a computerized library of 'flash' to the new iPads with online access to billions of images, digital artist portfolios and thousands of fonts to help our customers find exactly what they want to use as source material, and for them to be able to freely speak with the many artists whose styles and artistic originality best suits their personal taste.
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| By Chris Debarge, Tattoo Manager @ Stingray |
Tattoos are permanent, hand crafted pieces of art which reflect upon both the tattoo artist, in varying styles & areas of expertise, and the person getting inked, choosing an image of significance to permanently add to their body.
Every tattoo artist at Stingray is extremely talented, but I'm sure many people come along asking "who is who" around the shop, looking for specific types of artwork such a portraits, traditional, colorful, modern....
J-So: Tell me a little about some of your artists at Stingray.
Scott: We always match up the customer with the proper artist for the style work they want; in fact, we consider that the most important step of all, and it happens right at the beginning. For example, if you're looking for black-and-grey realism, religious pieces or portraits, then Josh Torres is your man. For traditional work, you'd want to see our tattoo manager himself, Chris Debarge. For Japanese and more "playful" work, Nate Stevens....all of our artists, Alestair Cameron-Hodges, Aaron Gerard, Bosco Layne, Matt Parc, Ray Roberge and Devin Coley all have unique styles including high-color work, neo-traditional, grafitti-style, dark and mysterious and much more...and many of them have been with us since the first year we opened, including Nate, Josh and Chris.
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| By Josh "Chico" Torres @ Stingray |
J-So: In what other ways does Stingray reach out to the community?
Scott: Adam (my marketing director - yes, we have a full-time marketing and social media director at Stingray!) and I both serve on the Board of Directors of Allston Village Main Streets, which I am the current President of, and I also serve on the Board of Directors of the Allston Board of Trade which Adam volunteers for. In addition to great donations of gift certificates, raffle items and cash donations to many local charities, we both spend a lot of our time working to help make Allston a better place to live, work, dine, shop and play! And, Adam and I used to carry 2,000 lbs of canned and boxed food to the Brighton Food Pantry every month for years, and last weekend I was sweeping, mulching and planting flowers as part of Boston Shines! Giving back to our community is not only rewarding, it's also good business because this is our neighborhood and we take pride in being part of it.
J-So: What is one of your favorite/most memorable moments at Stingray Body Art?
Scott: Not counting our grand opening party, I'd have to say just about 4 years later - the day I was able to sit down with the entire staff and announce to them that after our long startup years of really hard work and a lot of sacrifice (and I mean a LOT) we had finally grown to the point where we were operating 'in the black.' This meant that we had managed to build a successful business - and a shop reputation - for quality, service, selection and guarantees that not only brought customers to us but kept them coming back for more, and bringing their friends and family with them. That meeting was a really great moment for all of us...not only because it truly validated our new, friendly approach to what we thought a tattoo shop should be, but also because we had done it on our own terms and our customers loved it. Being able to make a living doing what we love, and making people happy at the same time, is a blessing we are very thankful for every single day at Stingray Body Art.
It is always a pleasure to be at Stingray and hang out with Scott and the people of the shop. I'm so thankful to work with them and to be able to share this fun interview with the people who follow my blog!
MENTION *** "CODE PINK" ***
TO RECEIVE A 15% DISCOUNT AT YOUR NEXT VISIT TO STINGRAY BODY ART!!!!
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| By Nate Stevens @ Stingray |
Stingray Body Art is located at the corner of Harvard Ave. & Cambridge St. in Allston.
(1 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA)
Visit their website (www.stingraybodyart.com), follow Stingray Body Art on Facebook, and on Twitter @StingrayBodyArt
Stop by and pay them a visit, get some new ink, and tell them Jackie/Three Strange Women sent you!
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