Artist's Oasis

“Permanent scars create a beautiful window into the soul” whispered the ginger-haired man walking into his workplace. Despite all the negative hypes related to tattoo shops, Moonlite Tattoo shows the world its unique abilities with its experienced shop owner, and his young apprentice artist, as they both present affordable ink with remarkable talents.

Tucked away in the middle of the main street block on Market Street in Lewistown, PA, sits the aged glass windows and the old red brick build of Moonlite Tattoo. Walking up to the glow of a neon red and blue sign in the right-hand window displaying OPEN flashing as passersby get closer to the entrance. Above the step up doorway, noticing a jet-black sign with gun-metal grey reading: “MOONLITE TATTOO”. When approaching the tall glass door the sign taped to the inside lets customers know “NO LOITERING ON OR AROUND ENTRANCE! VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED!” The doorway swinging towards the street, surrounded by a tall chunk-glass panel on either side, opens with the ring-a-ling of the bells attached to the handle from the inside. The smells of Vaseline and isopropyl alcohol hit the nasal passages of all who take the first step into such an illuminating place. (Front entrance from the sidewalk shown to right below)

Front view from the sidewalk

To the left of the entrance stands a tall wooden statue of an old Cherokee Indian chief guarding the lobby of this enticing shop. His décor begins from his head dress, olive green feathered with a feather-shaped cup on his dark tan head, as his long raven black hair falls down his broad shoulders, holding up a matching olive-faded robe draped over the muscular deltoids as it hangs down his long back. The left hand, holding the bright sun-god out of his eyes as the right holds a handmade hatchet hanging down relaxed against his wooden frame. The armbands wrapping around his muscular biceps red as the blood of his people to show he is chief. And the long dark tan pants trimmed in the fringe of the animal he last killed, as his charcoal loin-cloth flows to his knees. And the hilt of his dagger wedged in his sown-on belt displays the sharpened yellow-stained knife of a warrior ready for a hunt. Moving beyond the guardian Chief, client’s curiosity builds. (view the Chief Cherokee guarding the light)

Chief Cherokee

 The vibrant colored paintings hang on maroon and mustard colored walls surrounding the shop invite any and all clients to enjoy the beauty captured forever in time. The sound of pencils tracing a design comes from the clear glass counter top casing where two girls in their twenties describe their matching tattoos for future appointments. Noises of vibrating ink fill customers’ ears as the nerves build inside of them. All the vibrant colorful paintings dancing on the walls only spark the interest of whose hands crafted each design. From the bright blues of the sky to the deep reds of the earth, as the eyes wander over each painting customers understand the skilled hands that work here. A glimpse into the first parlor reveals an aquatic scene of deep ocean blues and light greens of seaweed swirling in the currents as an array of tropical fish glides across the walls.  The left side of the welcoming area beckons to the patron’s eyes as the multiple designs of different artists, from past to present, attempt at brilliance as they incorporate the military, flowers, hearts, butterflies, and many more murals of tattoos.

Introducing the new ink with the young girls, the new canvas awaits her artist to present which room the painting takes place in. The two young girls finish up their designs of poetic words accented with hearts to symbolize their friendship. The artist, a tall ginger-haired ink-covered man with gauges and industrials through his upper left ear, zipped up in a grey and orange Hollister sweatshirt and dark-wash blue jeans; Jimmy Page, motioned to the girl admiring the walls with such an incredible palette near the doorway, asking

 “Are you my five-thirty?”

Anxiously awaiting the discovery of how her new life long permanent decision would turn out, she replied

“Yea hun. I can wait though”. As they finished the design, he told them to come back in around seven-thirty or eight for the starting, giving them a price range he spoke,

 “See ya later, have a good evening till then”. Bringing the young girl back through the well-lit hallway into the second parlor, she peered through the walkway at the Darth Vader design in red and black with a royal blue and midnight blue adding variation to such a dark character. He appears to her in the second doorway and asked to copy her design into stencil paper.

He asks her how she wants her design and what part of her skin would it go on. As she takes off her sweatshirt and tank-top, standing in her aquamarine baby blue, black string bikini top and light-wash American Eagle skinny jeans, she turns in the full length mirror to let him see the prime area of the left side of her rib cage as he sizes the image to the skin. Jim paints the flesh with isopropyl alcohol and antiseptics to cleanse the area to achieve the best result after placing the stencil paper to the skin. Talking through the stencil placing process as the thin film of paper lays onto her fresh, clean canvas. (Step-by-step processing of how to apply stencil transfer paper to skin shown right above)

 “Designs don’t always turn out the first time, but with a little bit of tracing back over it, we can make it work just right” Jimmy informed her as he started to peel off the stencil papered outline to a life tree, quoting “the tragedy of life is not death itself but what we let die inside of us while we live”. (Original Design to the left below)

Original Design Drawn out

  Nervous for how the shading would turn out, she began to lay down on the parlor chair one knee bent as the other lay straight and her arms stretched beyond her head, tilting her tall body to her right side as he prepped the needles and colors needed. As she relaxes into the position she would be in for the next two hours, he hooks up the needle, and the buzzing commences. His steady hand slowly crafting the outline of the branches as Jim brings the sketch to life on her soft, silky, pale skin.

Periodically throughout the tattooing process the owner of the shop walks in and checks out the progress as he talks with the young lady laying sideways in the chair.  This tall brown-haired man with a bearded face wearing an old painted grey tee, and faded Springsteen jeans, inquiries about her night and its events and starts talking about the length of his day. Bob, the owner, shares his beginnings of owning his own business, the start of “MOONLITE TATTOO” back in 1993, only the beginning for this shop and its location. Talking of his past about the shop he created, evidences how he cherishes it and the milestones along the way. He is originally from Lewistown, PA. Bob saved up his money and finally just opened up, no mentors, no help, just him and his raw talent. Later, realizing it’s hard to build a business from the ground up, he enlisted some mentors to help him along. Even with the troubles of running a business, Bob Ewing and his band of artists keep striving to make a good profit from a sizable community.

The young woman questions him on what different age groups came in, Bob fires back with:

“Well, honestly this week alone we had mostly 15 year olds with their parents signing forms for tattoos and piercing. But we don’t do tattoos on like toddlers. The range we have is wide though. Had an 80 year old come in for a tattoo on Wednesday. I mean we do all types of tatts, and piercings, I’ve had some crazy places for piercing people. We get a lot of young chicks for belly buttons and nipples, or their industrial bars (View Jimmy's left ear industrial bar to the right below as an example)

Jimmy's left ear industrial bar

but mostly the exotic ones are on dicks or clits. Prince Alberts get done the most on guys.” Leaning over the young lady as she tries to steady herself while the vibrations trickle down her ribs into her hip, Bob grills her about the pain she feels, as she squints her eyes and crunches her nose to stop the feeling from getting worse. Completing the outline by now, as the canvas awaits the shading, feeling like a lifetime in comparison. Holding still, she grabs the edge of the chair she lays on in hopes that it will help the pain ease.  Looking at Jimmy, she asks how long this takes to finish, only finding him halfway done with the shading. Trying to clear her mind of painful stings from the needle, the youthful female casually inquiries about how the young artist earns his stripes working at Moonlite Tattoo.

“Well honestly, Bob called me. I was originally down at Bagger’s Ink and just kinda stuck in rut, waiting to be noticed as a real tattoo artist, not just some guy in the shop. Bob needed a new guy, and I needed good clientele to grow my rep.  So when Bob called, I said yes. I came here and started to get better business and better areas to grow my expertise. The only way to get better at this industry is practice, practice, practice. So the more clients I have, the better I get,” replying as he finishes filling in the branches of her life tree along her lower left ribs.

Realizing she’s squirming in pain, he pauses for a moment to talk about shading and coloring of different pieces he finished on other clients. Jimmy recalls a time when he did a tramp stamp for a woman with a tattoo on her neck and her right rib cage, (both sensitive areas for tattooing).

“This stripper had a tattoo on her neck and her right side from ribs down to her hip, and so I just assumed she was used to the pain of getting tattoos in sensitive areas, but I guess not. She wanted a tattoo tramp stamp on her front lower hip, and when I started the process she began to almost scream and moan in pain. By the time it was all said and done, she was making me deaf and the guys in the front outside the room were thinking lots of things. I walked out to show her the door and get the money for the tattoo, and the minute she left, they all told me ‘you’re supposed to tatt her not fuck her!’ to which I replied... ‘Thought I was allowed both!’” As he picked up the needle to start again, laughing and relaxed again, she knows it can’t take forever. The final product, jaw-dropping in the creativity alone, accentuated from the design to the artist’s shading ability, shows the flawlessness to say the least. (Artist's final product to the left)

Artist's Final Product

Looking in the floor-length mirror admiring her new scar, glancing back to Jimmy as he explains,

 “Glad it turned out so great! Shading can be a difficult time, depending on the piece. This one I tried to add some white after I finished with shading to highlight different features. Shading is really simple, light to dark. It’s the piece that changes. Same with colors, except certain colors clash. You just don’t put them together. It’s a learned process. You can’t just pick it up in a day.” He reapplies the last coat of Vaseline to the irritated red skin as he finishes talking. The Vaseline helps keep the skin healthy as the tattoo heals. Gingerly as she gathers her belongings, she exclaims,

“Thank you so much! It’s PERRRFECT!!! I love it! So glad you have such great shading skills! Wow! Wish I had the skill to draw and make art like this! Glad to know you’re a great artist!” handing him the crimpled tens and twenties from her blue and white striped 31 wallet, she continues, “What even made you want in the first place? Like how do you just up and pick this as a career?”

Pulling on her sweatshirt and holding her tank-top in her other hand, she pays her dues to Jimmy. As he accepts the folded bills, counting to make sure it’s all there, he replies,

 “Well I honestly thought about it as a teen, but with my dad being who he is, it wasn’t ever an option. But when I met my ex-wife, she was too cheap to ever pay for tatts, so she just let me practice on her. That’s where it all started for me.” While he cleans up his station for the next customer, she takes one last look in the long mirror.

Wishing her well as the woman dances into the lobby flashing her new ink to all who see. Thanking Bob for the great conversations, and Jimmy for the new window into her own soul, she walks back out of the aged glass door and into the cold, wind-blown Market Street in the small town.