Think you know by looking at people who may be sporting body art and who’s not? Think again. In the winter issues of Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon and Fine Lifestyles Regina, Meagen Thomas uncovers the

truth about tatts

Tattoos have been around for centuries. Although their meaning and context has shifted over time, the tattoo’s most enduring use has been to define membership. The Nazis used them as prisoner ID. Warriors have always been fond of tattoos; soldiers the world over proudly display the artwork or number associated with their units to prove their esprit de corps. The ink lexicon that gang members and criminals publish on their skin reads, to those in the know, like a demon’s resume, or Help Wanted ads from the seventh circle of Hell. Visible tattoos said ‘we’re different’, ‘we’re tough’, ‘we’re scary’ – as they have for centuries – but not in the ‘Trust me – I’ll keep the village safe’ sort of way. The brand itself got branded, but the same visibility that sank it might be saving it. A-list celebrities are showing off their body art on the red carpet, and a growing number of TV and movie characters’ tattoos aren’t make-up either. And honestly, now that Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus has one, are tattoos really counter-culture anymore?

Got tatts?

We all have secrets, but Dwight Atteberry is particularly proud of his.

“I admit to a feeling of empowerment that comes from sitting here in a shirt and tie and the guy across the table from you has no idea,” said Atteberry, general manager of Saskatoon Hyundai. “I guess it’s a bit like giving society the finger.”

His secret is out now, though. During the week preceding Halloween, the fun-loving businessman came to work in a different costume each day. In a sleeveless shirt and vest for his biker look, the staff got an eyeful of their boss’s body art: a shoulder-to-elbow half-sleeve tattoo on his left arm of a rattler embellished with a pair of crosses and a dove and rose on his right arm.

One of the ladies in accounting freaked a bit and told Atteberry she’d never expect to see tattoos on someone like him.  

A little surprised, Atteberry replied ‘Like who?!’
‘Someone respectable. Like you.’
‘So I’m not respectable?’

“She didn’t have an answer to that one,” Atteberry said.

If Atteberry isn’t respectable, chances are your investment fund manager isn’t either. Neither is your bank teller. Or your dentist. In fact, just  about everyone you know, work with or are related to might be one of these self-mutilating freaks.

Putting opinion aside, let’s talk facts: Tattoos were once the bona fides of respectability, the outward proof of status, prowess in battle, holiness, leadership, membership. Today’s uptake is a reboot of that same sensibility minus the protocol and ritual.

Having a tattoo these days is about as unique as having a credit card.

Mezzo soprano Jean Stilwell is hailed on three continents for her vivacious turns in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen and is co-host on Toronto’s 96.3 FM’s Good Day GTA: Classical Breakfast. She makes her home in Toronto, the bright centre of Canada’s vibrant arts community.

Ask her about any of her seven tattoos and you’re in for a treat. Story, memory and reflection merge into a fascinating narrative. Ask her if she thinks tattoos aren’t for ‘respectable’ people and you’ll get a polite ‘come again?’ look.

“I don’t do them to be different, I’m just a person who likes high fashion and funky clothes,” Stilwell said. “Tattoos have become fun for me, like interesting clothing. I’m not a different person in society.”

Acquired over many years, Stilwell’s tattoos mark passages, losses, achievements – one she even acquired for a role; why wear stage make-up when you can have the real thing? Knowing someone with tattoos or who does tattoos is as normal as knowing someone with glasses in her sphere. As she names off tattooed friends, her list is a who’s who of Canada’s most celebrated performers.

“They aren’t a rebellious act and I don’t see them as ugly or angry; they’re all very beautiful and remind me of a lot important things in my life,” she said. “It’s so vogue too, but I live in a big city.”

What’s no biggie in TO can raise eyebrows in smaller, more conservative centres. The trend that has everyone from secretaries to CEOs etching tributes to their pastimes, spouses and affiliations into their skin hasn’t quite overtaken the stereotypes and myth of who gets inked and why, but the gap is closing with each doctor, university professor and barista who join the ranks of the tattooed.

The bare truth

Danny Berehula, former executive director and CEO of Regina’s Better Business Bureau, has tattoos on both forearms. A dress shirt might even cover them, if he wore shirts with long sleeves.

“It’s been mentioned to me that I should wear long sleeves – one time, before a TV appearance, and I wouldn’t – but I don’t wear long sleeves, even in winter. I’m proud of myself and if someone else doesn’t like what they see, it’s their problem not mine,” he said.

The corporate account executive for K Line admits that the dagger with two hearts and a ribbon on his right arm, a tribute to his daughters, and the emblem of the Masonic Motorcycle Association in Saskatchewan (of which he was the first president) on his left, raise the odd eyebrow.  He also has every confidence his clients will get over it.

“I’m not worried about what people think. If I was, I wouldn’t have gotten them. They’re great, they’re art, and the body is nothing but a canvas,” Berehula said.

Gary Cox, his wife Debbie and his daughter Nicky operate 333 Half Evil Tattoo Shop in Saskatoon. Gary has been doing tattoos professionally for nine years and opened the family-run shop in 2006. The former airbrush artist and painter, who got his first tattoo 35 years ago, says he has witnessed how tattoos have evolved from counter-culture to mainstream must-haves.

“We get everyone, from 18 to whatever; I think one lady was 84. It’s opened up completely, partly because of the younger generation’s uptake, but partly because it’s on TV so much,” said Cox.  

A Pew Research Study found that the most educated generation in history, the Millennials, are the number one market right now. Of the 38 per cent who have tattoos, half of those have more than one, and nearly one in five have six or more. 

The prevalence of tattoo parlours in cities large and small has something to do with the rise in consumer interest. Most operate as a service-oriented business, with an emphasis on education, consultation, cleanliness and comfort. The majority of high-end shops, like Gary Cox’s, only do custom artwork.

Back when Cox got his first tattoo (a generic piece he soon regretted), tattoo artists weren’t always artists, unless paint-by-numbers is art. Cox trained for years before putting needle to skin.

“The industry trend is toward personalization so artistic ability is part of the discipline now,” said Cox.

“I’ve gotten tattoos that I picked from the selection on the wall and I regretted it. I’d rather talk to people, come up with something they like and can be proud of and that means something to them on a personal level.” 

Deeper meanings

Tattoos are the scars we choose for ourselves. Typically, they tell a story.

Some of Berehula’s tattoos are easy to translate; Crab on the left calf = Cancer = Berehula’s zodiac sign. Atteberry’s most private tattoo, a wolf that appears to be emerging from his chest, is symbolic of another side of his nature. Stilwell’s Picasso dove embellished with splashes of colour reflects a loving nature, a desire to comfort others.

British nurse Frances Polack’s tattoo tells a story, too. She was 85 when she had ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ tattooed onto her chest in 2003, permanent insurance that her end-of-life-care wishes would be carried out to the indelible letter.  

Cox is also no stranger to the pragmatic applications of tattoos. “You can’t lose a Medic Alert tattoo while doing laps at the local pool and it still has the benefit of saying something about the wearer,” he said.

Practical or fanciful, these decorative scars serve a purpose. Sometimes it takes a scar to fix a scar – or to restore normal appearance after a trauma.

“There are doctors in town that do reconstruction surgery for women who’ve had mastectomies; some doctors colour in the nipple and some don’t,” said Cox. A client who came to him to get her nipples coloured in was so pleased with the realistic result she showed her surgeon. Cox has been taking referrals ever since.

“She said afterward that she felt complete,” said Cox.

It’s not likely that many people will see Cox’s restorative work but they don’t need to. Outward confidence from restored femininity is the only visual display that matters.

“Just because people don’t show them doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” said Gary Cox. “Some people with high-up jobs don’t want the world to know, but you’d be amazed who, and how many people, have them.”