Winnipeg, MB, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A Canadian man known as "The Human Pincushion" will pay tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks with 3,000 piercings on his body.

Brent Moffat, 35, said four tattoo artists in Winnipeg will begin piercing his skin at 9:46 a.m. -- the time the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center -- this coming Sept. 11.

"This is done as a memorial to the people who lost their lives in the Twin Towers that fateful day," Moffat said. "This is in no way a financial or political statement, but a remembrance of the lost men and women due to a senseless act of violence."

He set two Guinness world records, beginning with 700 needles in seven hours, performed in January 2003, which he broke that December with 900 needles in 4 1/2 hours.

On their Web site, Guinness officials attempt to explain Moffatt's affinity for pain.

"Moffat has endured half a lifetime of pain since accidentally shooting himself in the stomach with a .22 caliber rifle as a teenager," the site says.

washingtontimes.com

Morro Bay tattooist makes a statement and a living leaving bold and permanent artwork on the backs (and fronts) of his customers




Swirls of color cover Brent Falsetti's body -- stretching from his neck to his toes.

As owner of Velvet Ink tattoo shop in Morro Bay, he shares his love of color and custom designs with his clients. His artwork is vivid. His canvas is his customer's skin.

For a minimum of $60, customers can leave the shop with permanent body art. Larger and more elaborate tattoos (like back pieces) are done in segments. Some take as long as six months to complete.

"Sometimes I still get butterflies in my stomach," said Falsetti, who gives as many as 10 tattoos during a typical summer day. "When you give someone a tattoo, you are changing their life."

What you see: A black and white checkerboard floor contrasted with maroon walls and black trim. Framed tattoo designs, known as flash art, hang on the walls for customers looking for ideas. Traditional designs like suns, moons, roses and Celtic bands are among the thousands of samples. Nearby is a portfolio of Falsetti's original tattoo art. Laminated photographs display the artwork. The multihued images are vivid and often stray from the more traditional designs. For example, a purple candle burns against a red and yellow sun entwined with green vines. A bowling ball, centered with a searching eye, is surrounded by flames. "I would describe my work as neo-traditional. I like bold colors and unusual designs," Falsetti said.

What he sees: Name a design and Falsetti has tattooed it. He has done everything from matching butterflies on mom-and-daughter pairs to elaborate back pieces on dedicated tattoo enthusiasts. His only restriction is blasphemous tattoos. He won't tattoo racial slurs or satanic themes. His art is important to him, and he doesn't want his name attached to offensive intentions, he said.

He got his first tattoo more than 15 years ago and has been giving them for almost as long. He can spot a jittery customer and does his best to keep them calm. The more movement during a tattoo, the longer it takes. A 2-inch black scorpion can be done in less than 10 minutes if the customer sits still.

Falsetti, who hopes to cover his entire body from the neck down in tattoos, compares the pain of the needle to a long cat scratch or the burn from a hot match flame.

"You gotta want it," he said. "The pain is part of the experience. It's about seeing what you can handle and being proud of it."

What he likes: Falsetti, 32, worked numerous jobs to pay the bills before he opened his own shop in Morro Bay three years ago. He threw pizza dough, bagged groceries, stripped motel beds and waited tables.

"I like the tattoo business because I can do what I love in life," he said. "Even if you work in a shop that you don't own, you are still your own entity. You create tattoos from your mind. The best pay in the world is to see the customers satisfied."

What he would change: Falsetti, who spent two weeks and $15,000 remodeling the shop before opening for business three years ago, hopes to add space to paint. Each year, he attends art shows and tattoo conventions to display his artwork.

He also plans on working in a friend's upcoming South County tattoo shop to expand his clientele.

www.sanluisobispo.com

Morro Bay tattooist makes a statement and a living leaving bold and permanent artwork on the backs (and fronts) of his customers




Swirls of color cover Brent Falsetti's body -- stretching from his neck to his toes.

As owner of Velvet Ink tattoo shop in Morro Bay, he shares his love of color and custom designs with his clients. His artwork is vivid. His canvas is his customer's skin.

For a minimum of $60, customers can leave the shop with permanent body art. Larger and more elaborate tattoos (like back pieces) are done in segments. Some take as long as six months to complete.

"Sometimes I still get butterflies in my stomach," said Falsetti, who gives as many as 10 tattoos during a typical summer day. "When you give someone a tattoo, you are changing their life."

What you see: A black and white checkerboard floor contrasted with maroon walls and black trim. Framed tattoo designs, known as flash art, hang on the walls for customers looking for ideas. Traditional designs like suns, moons, roses and Celtic bands are among the thousands of samples. Nearby is a portfolio of Falsetti's original tattoo art. Laminated photographs display the artwork. The multihued images are vivid and often stray from the more traditional designs. For example, a purple candle burns against a red and yellow sun entwined with green vines. A bowling ball, centered with a searching eye, is surrounded by flames. "I would describe my work as neo-traditional. I like bold colors and unusual designs," Falsetti said.

What he sees: Name a design and Falsetti has tattooed it. He has done everything from matching butterflies on mom-and-daughter pairs to elaborate back pieces on dedicated tattoo enthusiasts. His only restriction is blasphemous tattoos. He won't tattoo racial slurs or satanic themes. His art is important to him, and he doesn't want his name attached to offensive intentions, he said.

He got his first tattoo more than 15 years ago and has been giving them for almost as long. He can spot a jittery customer and does his best to keep them calm. The more movement during a tattoo, the longer it takes. A 2-inch black scorpion can be done in less than 10 minutes if the customer sits still.

Falsetti, who hopes to cover his entire body from the neck down in tattoos, compares the pain of the needle to a long cat scratch or the burn from a hot match flame.

"You gotta want it," he said. "The pain is part of the experience. It's about seeing what you can handle and being proud of it."

What he likes: Falsetti, 32, worked numerous jobs to pay the bills before he opened his own shop in Morro Bay three years ago. He threw pizza dough, bagged groceries, stripped motel beds and waited tables.

"I like the tattoo business because I can do what I love in life," he said. "Even if you work in a shop that you don't own, you are still your own entity. You create tattoos from your mind. The best pay in the world is to see the customers satisfied."

What he would change: Falsetti, who spent two weeks and $15,000 remodeling the shop before opening for business three years ago, hopes to add space to paint. Each year, he attends art shows and tattoo conventions to display his artwork.

He also plans on working in a friend's upcoming South County tattoo shop to expand his clientele.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Need a skull, a dragon or a naked woman? Descend a flight of steps to a dingy corridor and step into Baghdad's only tattoo parlour.

In a city better known for bombs than body art, a self-taught Iraqi tattoo artist is pioneering a new style of designs forbidden under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

Working with a home-made needle and architect's ink, Sarmad Shamael says his Celtic crosses, screaming eagles and death's heads are catching on among a small circle of youths.

"Now people have more freedom, people have a choice about what they do, there's no laws to restrict them," he said, speaking in his shop where pin-ups of bikini-clad models adorn the pastel pink walls.

"A lot of people ask me, why are you so strange? Why are you so Westernised? I tell them: because I like it," said Shamael, a softly-spoken 29-year-old who began painting as a child.

For Iraqi teenagers, the almost guilty pleasure of tattoos provide a moment's respite from life in Baghdad where car bombs can explode at any moment, militiamen run riot in the slums and the chances of finding a job are slim.

Advertised by word of mouth, Shamael's parlour has had about 100 clients since it opened after Saddam's fall in April last year, with dragons proving the most popular of the designs he copies from a well-thumbed book imported from abroad.

Himself a walking advert for his art, Shamael has drawn a lion and a dragon on his forearm, while a friend helped print the motto "I want kiss you" in English on his upper arm.

He says there's no need to worry about health risks -- he always dips his needle in antiseptic.

Costing anything from about $15 upwards, the quality of his tattoos has some way to go to match the intricate designs shown in pictures from foreign magazines pasted on his walls, but Shamael is building on a rich tradition.

Iraq's tribes have long pricked their skin with designs to cure disease, work as love charms or ward off the evil eye, although city teenagers who dare break what is still a taboo for many people are risking their parents' wrath.

"BURN THEM OFF"

Mohammed Jasim, 19, said he had no regrets about the scorpion and native Indian chief emblazoned on his upper arms a couple of months ago -- despite his father's reaction when he realised they would not wash off with soap and water.

"He told me to burn them off and brought me some acid," he said, speaking in the shop where Shamael inscribed them.

"I got into a fight with him, then my mother and brother got involved and said the damage had been done, and that if he poured acid it would just disfigure me."

It's not just the risk of parental outrage that may make some Iraqis think twice about depicting a serpent on their calf or scribbling their lover's name on their forearm.

Many Iraqis associate tattoos with prison, where convicts would give each other crude designs like heart shapes to while away the years. Others simply regard them as vulgar.

Iraq's tiny community of heavy metal fans are big customers at Shamael's shop and some policemen are also keen. Three officers came in the other day to have the same winged skull design tattooed on their arms.

In tribal areas, women are the guardians of arcane tattoo lore, sometimes using the breast milk of a mother nursing a baby girl to mix the pigment for medicinal patterns.

Women, though, are a rarity in the parlour -- not because they don't want tattoos, Shamael says, but because they are too scared to venture out amid Baghdad's surge in crime.

Speaking in his guitar studio a few doors down the corridor, Shamael's cousin Saad Sada, 35, believes his relative's work could one day win much wider acceptance.

"I think tattoos are going to become more popular," he said. "Now it's turning into an art form."

www.reuters.co.uk

Lisbon - When 26-year-old Nuno Caria got a lizard tattooed on his shoulder the only person to disapprove was his mother. But even that reaction was short-lived.

"Today it is she who sometimes raises the topic of the tattoo and asks me to raise my shirt to show it to people," the athletic project manager at a telecommunications firm said.

Caria is one of a growing number of young professionals, from doctors to football players, who are getting tattoos as a fashion statement in Portugal, a nation of just over 10 million people.

Once seen as the preserve of sailors, prisoners and rebels, body art has lost its stigma in recent years and moved into the mainstream thanks in large part to media coverage of international celebrities and their increasingly decorated bodies.

'It is especially common among the young ones'
"Before tattoos were seen as marginal, sub-human even, but today movies and music video clips have changed mentalities," said one of Portugal's best-known tattoo artists, Joao Paulo Fontinha, who opened one of the nation's first body art parlours more than a decade ago.

Fontinha said his central Lisbon tattoo parlour gets up to 10 customers per day, with demand for his services picking up when summer beach weather arrives.

Earlier this month the Sabado newsweekly included tattoos on its front page report on the "thirty people, tendencies and fashions which are heating up the country" this summer.

A government study on youth habits carried out in 2000 found nearly a third - 31 percent - of all 15 to 29 year-olds were open to getting a tattoo while nearly four percent already had one.

Men with barbed wire designs round their biceps or arab lettering on their forearms and women with swirly designs on their lower backs have become a familiar sight on Portuguese beaches and nightclubs.

'I think it looks good'
Body art has even become more common among models who help set fashion trends and are, for professional reasons, cautious about their image.

Vitor Roque, a booker with the Portuguese branch of international modelling agency Elite, estimates that up to 10 percent of the bureau's models have a tattoo.

"It is especially common among the young ones, the kids between 16 and 20," he said.

Most people however avoid getting their body ornamented in places, like the back of the neck or lower arm, which could be seen in a day-to-day office situation.

"I think it looks good, it decorates the body," said agricultural engineer Pedro Sousa, 34, who got a tattoo of an African tribal symbol on his back earlier this month.

As demand has increased, tattoo parlours have sprung up across the country and are increasingly found on main streets or in shopping centres rather than in seedy neighbourhoods as was the case a generation ago.

But the explosion in parlours has led to health concerns since the practice continues to be largely unregulated in Portugal.

Fontinha and a handful of other long-established tattoo artists are lobbying the government to pass legislation requiring body art parlours to pass inspections and be licenced or face charges.

"There have to be hygiene rules," said Fontinha, adding the ideal guidelines should require that equipment is sterilised, needles are changed and each customer has a separate ink cartridge. - Sapa-AFP

www.iol.co.za

HUNDREDS of multicultural performers took to the stage yesterday in a free mini-Tattoo in Edinburgh.
Around 2000 spectators enjoyed the one-hour event involving 280 artists from the main Edinburgh Tattoo.
The midday concert, at the Ross Theatre in Princes Street Gardens, included performances from the South African Navy Band from Cape Town; Club Piruett, an elite gymnastics group from Estonia; the Cheraw Cultural Dance Troupe from North-east India and the OzScot Highland Dancers from Australia.
Sir George Mathewson, the chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland group, main sponsor of the Tattoo and host of yesterday's event, said it had been the biggest mini-Tattoo to date.
He added: "For the last two years we have hosted mini-Tattoos, but on a smaller scale. This year we are delighted to move up a gear by bringing the highlights of the main show to the Ross bandstand."
Brigadier Melville Jameson, chief executive and producer of the Edinburgh Tattoo, said: "I wish to pay tribute to the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Arts for Life Festival for making this second complimentary show possible."
HUNDREDS of multicultural performers took to the stage yesterday in a free mini-Tattoo in Edinburgh.
Around 2000 spectators enjoyed the one-hour event involving 280 artists from the main Edinburgh Tattoo.
The midday concert, at the Ross Theatre in Princes Street Gardens, included performances from the South African Navy Band from Cape Town; Club Piruett, an elite gymnastics group from Estonia; the Cheraw Cultural Dance Troupe from North-east India and the OzScot Highland Dancers from Australia.
Sir George Mathewson, the chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland group, main sponsor of the Tattoo and host of yesterday's event, said it had been the biggest mini-Tattoo to date.
He added: "For the last two years we have hosted mini-Tattoos, but on a smaller scale. This year we are delighted to move up a gear by bringing the highlights of the main show to the Ross bandstand."
Brigadier Melville Jameson, chief executive and producer of the Edinburgh Tattoo, said: "I wish to pay tribute to the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Arts for Life Festival for making this second complimentary show possible."
HUNDREDS of multicultural performers took to the stage yesterday in a free mini-Tattoo in Edinburgh.
Around 2000 spectators enjoyed the one-hour event involving 280 artists from the main Edinburgh Tattoo.
The midday concert, at the Ross Theatre in Princes Street Gardens, included performances from the South African Navy Band from Cape Town; Club Piruett, an elite gymnastics group from Estonia; the Cheraw Cultural Dance Troupe from North-east India and the OzScot Highland Dancers from Australia.
Sir George Mathewson, the chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland group, main sponsor of the Tattoo and host of yesterday's event, said it had been the biggest mini-Tattoo to date.
He added: "For the last two years we have hosted mini-Tattoos, but on a smaller scale. This year we are delighted to move up a gear by bringing the highlights of the main show to the Ross bandstand."
Brigadier Melville Jameson, chief executive and producer of the Edinburgh Tattoo, said: "I wish to pay tribute to the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Arts for Life Festival for making this second complimentary show possible."

www.theherald.co.uk

TATTOO fans will have a second chance to catch military bands and dance troupes at another free mini-Tattoo concert in Princes Street Gardens.

The one-hour concert at the Ross Bandstand showcases 280 performers from the sell-out spectacular at the Castle.

The show, which will feature performances from the South African Navy Band, Estonia’s elite gymnastics group, Club Piruett, and the Cheraw Cultural Dance Troupe from north-east India among others, is the second in the series of Royal Bank of Scotland mini-Tattoo concerts.

news.scotsman.com

You've heard of body art right? Well, how about road art?

New York City artist Steed Taylor was in Troy Sunday with several volunteers creating what he calls a "road tattoo."

The piece is part of the Space Invaders exhibit at The Arts Center. Taylor said it's meant to honor the many Capital Region residents living with HIV and AIDS.

Taylor has been living with the disease for about 20 years.

He said, "Just to show that people who may be struggling with health issues or that kind of stuff are still kinda viable parts of the community, that we still want to participate and be a part of everyone's lives."

If you want to see the art in person, there's no rush. Taylor said the tattoo should last for about six months.

www.capitalnews9.com

The coastal city of Varna has relished in the two-day festival of tattoo and piercing adn alternative music started on Friday.

Eight tattooing studios from Varna, Sofia, Albena, Golden Sands, Sunny Beach, and Cyprus participated in the contesting festival, where winners were awarded in 5 categories.

The festival have passed under the slogans of an anti-drug and anti-AIDS campaign, with numerous local and foreign musicians staging during the unique event.

www.novinite.com

Ella Adler's left arm still bares the tattoo, A27331.

A is for Auschwitz, explains Adler, of north-central Phoenix.

After the Holocaust, when she immigrated to New York, friends told her she should get rid of the tattoo.

"You know, it's a part of my soul," she says. "I was 16, it will never go away."

At 81, she said she still has an appreciation for being alive.

There's a lilt in her voice when she quotes a line from an old ballad, "I'm glad I'm not young anymore."

"I was completely without soul," she says of the five years spent in concentration camps. "Without feeling."

Her mother was shot in Krakow, Poland. Her father killed in a concentration camp. Adler herself narrowly dodged death.

But it was the loss of her sister Ida that hit her hardest.

"This is probably a person I cry for most," says Adler, a retired social worker.

To save herself, 19-year-old Ida became a Christian and was able to get false papers.

But she couldn't hide her dark hair. Her boyfriend's parents turned Ida in to the Nazis to save their son.

"If he were involved with a Jewish girl, he would have been killed," Adler explains.

Before the Nazis liquidated the Krakow ghetto, Adler received a pair of slippers that Ida made in prison and a letter that had been smuggled out.

She held the slippers every night in the ghetto.

"I learned after the war she was killed, but never found out where and how."

In the letter, which the Nazis took in Auschwitz, Ida wrote that she loved Adler and hoped that they would see each other again.

www.azcentral.com

Tattoos and piercing studios have become a topic of discussion as Gilbert works on changes to its land development code.

According to a document distributed at the town's Redevelopment Commission meeting Thursday, the Planning and Zoning Commission last month questioned such businesses' presence in some parts of Gilbert, including the downtown Heritage District. And, it directed staff to develop proposed regulations on hours and locations.

A town official says he does not know of any tattoo or piercing parlors in Gilbert.

Mary Ellen Fresquez, chairwoman of the Redevelopment Commission, said Friday that her group wants to know more about the specifics of the Planning and Zoning Commission's concerns. Changes to the code and the tattoo and piercing studio issue were discussed at Thursday's Redevelopment Commission meeting.

"I just don't see it as anything that we need to try to regulate heavily," Fresquez said. "I hope it's a non-issue."

Changing the development code will be a good thing, Fresquez said, adding that it will be easier to use and understand.

Greg Tilque, the town's economic development director, said changing the code is "just part of the growth process in a community."

The public will have a chance to comment on the town's rewriting of the development code at five public meetings.

www.azcentral.com

Rachod Mildton was only a runner-up in our recent "Tattoo Tales" contest. But he might be able to banish the devil from his cheek after all.

Earlier this week, I heard from Keith Tharp, director of marketing and patient relations for Lansing Ophthalmology.

Tharp wanted to know how he could reach Mildton because Charles Rice, one of the doctors for whom Tharp works, hopes to help Mildton erase a regrettable part of his past - free of charge.

As Rice saw it, Mildton appeared to be a perfect candidate for a new look.

Said Tharp: "After reading your story, Dr. Rice came to me and said, 'Gosh, we have to see if we can do something to help this guy who turned his life around.' "

Rice is an ophthalmic plastic surgeon, meaning he specializes in plastic surgery in the vicinity of the eyes. Since Mildton's tattoo is just below his left eye, it might be a good match.

Mildton, who lives in Lansing, said Friday he would welcome the chance to shed the burden of his tattoo.

He plans to arrange a meeting with Rice as soon as possible.

Free removal

A column published last month about a tattoo temptation in my checkered past drew an offer from Dr. Greg Shannon of Haslett.

Shannon agreed to provide a free tattoo removal (a $600 job) to the person who could make the most compelling case of regret.

We published the contestants' personal essays on our Web site and let readers vote.

They chose Kristi Doe of Lansing, whose left shoulder sports a skull wearing a top hat.

Mildton, 27, placed third in the poll, with 560 votes.

He got the tattoo when he was 21 and soon grew to regret it. Here's part of what he wrote:

"I was a different person back then. In my younger days, I was with the wrong crowd, abusing alcohol and hanging out in the streets. To show them how different I could be, I had a tattoo of a villain placed on my face, underneath my left eye.

"The moment I got the tattoo, I regretted it. However, I wore it as a badge of honor, knowing in my heart that it was something ugly.

"Since being sober, mature and more positive, the tattoo is something that I carry as a horrible scar and an awful reminder of my past misdeeds.

"I have to be a positive role model for my daughters. The tattoo is not a representation of the person I am now. Having it removed will help me gain the confidence I need to ensure a better life for my children and me."

I'll let you know how it works out.

Bogus sales pitch

A word of warning from Sandra Kowalk, director of development for Boys & Girls Club of Lansing:

If somebody knocks on your door selling magazines and tells you that your purchase will benefit the Boys & Girls Club, they're lying.

Kowalk said her office staff has fielded six or seven inquiries from people wanting to know if the pitch from magazine salesman is legitimate.

IT'S NOT, Kowalk said.

The Boys & Girls Club never has sold magazines as a fund-raiser.

www.lsj.com

BRUSSELS – Two lots of ink used in tattoos have been withdrawn from the Belgian market after they were found to contain a bacteria known to cause infections and skin irritations, it emerged Thursday.

The bacteria, identified as Pseudomanas, was found to cause infections when it comes into contact with small wounds or if it passes into the blood.

Dutch authorities alerted Belgium to the problem earlier this week about the damaged lots, marketed under the brand “Starbrite Colors.”

Tattoo artists, professional organisations and vendors in Belgium have been informed by public authorities about the problem and have been asked not to use the ink in question.

The Belgian health ministry has already opened an inquiry into the matter.

www.expatica.com

Wichita police Officer Kelly O'Brien and physician Mike Stevens are improving former gang members' futures by removing the tattoo ink binding them to their past.

Operation Fresh Start, a program that removes gang-related tattoos from former gang members, began this month.

The cost to each individual is an allotment of community service and a one-time $25 fee to cover anesthetic, gloves and advertising for the program.

Shaun, a 23-year-old college student who is one of the first to go through the program, has been pulling weeds and doing other landscaping projects for several weeks in exchange for getting his tattoo removed.

Shaun, who asked that his last name not be published for safety reasons, said he is not the same person he was years ago as a gang member.

Shaun said he was 14 when he started hanging around gang members who lived in his neighborhood. One year later he was initiated and started down a path of drinking, smoking and crime.

His family moved to a different Kansas town before Shaun realized he needed to change.

"Nobody knew I was in a gang" in the new town, he said.

A new set of friends, probation and a few years of maturity caused Shaun to re-evaluate his status with the gang he had been with for two years. He started looking for a program to remove a large tattoo on his right arm.

"It looks ridiculous," he said.

The trade-off is worth it, he said.

Operation Fresh Start applications are available at any police substation or on the Wichita Police Department's Web site. An interview or series of interviews is conducted by O'Brien, who also takes pictures of the tattoos.

Community service hours are assigned based on the size of the tattoo and the number of treatments required for removal.

Professional tattoos take six to eight treatments, on average, and home-made tattoos require four to five treatments, Stevens said. All treatments are spaced six to eight weeks apart.

The procedure is painless and can remove tattoos without scarring skin --even on people of color, Stevens said.

O'Brien said the program is a service to the community, and he is looking for volunteers to screen applicants and assist in managing the program.

"If we can help out others," O'Brien said, "we can reduce senseless crime."

www.kansas.com

Many people feel queasy when an ink-filled needle comes into contact with tender skin, but for a tattoo artist, it’s a way of life.

Brandon Layne, 27, has been inking art on skin for three years and loves it.

"I wanted to do this since I was 15," Layne said.

He said he was first inspired to become a tattoo artist when he saw a professional tattoo of a Japanese dragon.

"I saw this biker guy who had a really cool one, and I just wanted to be able to do something like that," he said. "All I’d ever seen before were those really bad jailhouse tattoos."

Layne said he attended Marshall University for three and a half years as an art major and worked as a manager for a telemarketing firm before pursuing a career as a tattoo artist.

Opportunity finally knocked when Layne got his lip pierced at Living Art Studios on 4th Avenue, owned by Kevin Ankeny. He said he applied for an apprenticeship and was hired the next day.

Layne said an apprenticeship usually lasts six months to one year. The novice is taught basic tattooing skills, sterilizing and preparing needles and tracing and transferring designs.

Layne said he remembers how nervous he was when he did his first tattoo on one of his best friends.

"It was pretty comical, I can tell you that," Layne said, "I was sitting there putting in a line, and my friend was like, ‘Dude, the needle’s not even touching my leg.’ My hand was shaking."

Layne said that creating tattoos comes naturally to him now, and he’s thankful to have a job.

"I like doing tattoos," Layne said, "It’s a different medium, and I get to work on a different canvas every time."

Layne’s parents weren’t pleased when they found out what he was doing for a living.

"Yeah, my mom’s not into tattoos. My dad is a little more accepting of it. He sees that I’m happy, so he’s not complaining too much. My grandmother likes tattoos, but both my mom and grandmom don’t like piercings."

Layne said he prefers doing lettering and enjoys working in black and gray. His favorite theme is memorial tattoos.

"When someone passes away and they want to put something to remember them permanently on their body, it means a lot to me because I know what it’s like to lose someone," he said.

Depending on size and detail, a tattoo can take anywhere from 45 minutes to one hour at a price of $40 and up.

Layne said he doesn’t fit the stereotypical "bad guy" image that people have of tattoo artists. He said he is just an ordinary guy with an interesting talent.

As a professional tattoo artist, Layne works 10 to 15 hours a day. He said the worst part of his job is getting out of bed in the morning to go to work.

"I like to sleep in," Layne said. "I’m a night owl."

Being a good tattoo artist takes practice, but there aren’t any special requirements needed to get into the profession.

"It’s our job to make the tattoo what it is," Layne said. "All the outlines we do are just guidelines. You have to know how to incorporate depth and shadow to bring it to life."

The best part of being a tattoo artist, Layne said, is being able to draw out customer’s ideas. He said he is flattered when they pick designs out of his sketchbook.

www.herald-dispatch.com

A New York City girl is considering a lawsuit after being burned by a manhole cover that left its mark seared into her skin.
15-year-old Liz Wallenburg was roller-blading on Manhattan's Lower East side when she fell onto the red-hot cover. It was part of a Con Edison steam line.

The utility says it is begun an immediate inspection to make sure manholes are covered with a safety coating to prevent other burns.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/