“When we’re tattooing, that’s when we are at our best. I can see Mel at her best, you know, and she can see me at my best, at my happiest.”
So far as artwork is going, tattooers have one of the crucial tricky canvas’s to paintings on: the human frame. No longer most effective are they shifting their paintings onto a residing, respiring particular person, it’s additionally getting to be part of that particular person’s while each month for the remainder of it. For Pete and Mel Clarke, married tattooers in Albany, NY, it’s a accountability that they don’t rush evenly. Having met within the tattoo store, their love of the craft grew along their love of each and every alternative, and now they paintings on the similar store growing in combination. We spent the month with them to determine what is going on when two nation reside in combination, tattoo in combination and… drink truly sturdy espresso in combination.
If you happen to’re at the run and feature sh*t to get carried out like regular, take a look at our favourite excerpts from the video underneath for the sparknotes.
“I got a client who’s super awesome. He came at me for his first tattoo. He asked me for like an EGA, an eagle, globe, and anchor. He came at me like a week ago or something. He wants the other sleeve, and he’s going to let me do a tiger on him.”
“I’m from Pittsburgh, I joined the military. During the military, I spent three years in Korea. On base, they, everyone knew me as like, the artsy kid. So this dude asked me to do a tattoo for him, asked me to design a tattoo for him. But like where I was at and on base, you’re not allowed to tattoo at all. And I had no idea what I was doing.”
“I love tattooing. I think it’s a big responsibility to be a tattooer, and I’m super grateful to be able to do that, to give someone something they’re going to have forever, that they’re proud of.”
Beneath, concentrate to a kick back tattoo consultation playlist impressed via Pete and Mel’s tattoo rooms.
Alike: Here are some of our favorite Death Wish Coffee-inspired tattoos