2008 Woodie Awards
Inked: One small G-Clef, one big decision
Annie Patch
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: Features
Needles, a constant small stabbing, like one spot in your body being pierced over and over again. That is what I was expecting and that is NOT what I felt. It burned, a lot. The lettering was not too bad, with short and quick strokes, it allotted for many mini breaks to allow me to catch my breath and prepare for the next one. However, it was time for the G-Clef. One long painful stroke. As fire shot through my back I could feel vomit entering my throat. "Swallow, swallow, please god swallow," I pleaded to myself as he continued.
I sat in a large room, four bright red walls surrounding me. "A Touch of Color" is your typical tattoo parlor. Eight cubicles, four on each side, a desk in the front and a comfortable couch to sit on while a customer waits his or her turn. I felt comfortable here, which was a relief after the long day of high prices and bad attitudes I just experienced in New Haven.
I had been thinking about getting a tattoo for years. I designed it myself five years ago and have just been too nervous and too broke to ever get one. Now, I'm still broke but the nerves have finally subsided, so I began to do my research.
It was a hot Saturday morning, Sept. 1 was the date. I woke up, got my list of places to check out and at about noon I arrived in New Haven with high hopes that I would be back at the pool, permanently inked by 1:30 p.m. I very quickly realized how wrong I was. At 12:05 p.m. I walked into a parlor, the name I cannot recall. The cold central air gave me a chill from head to toe. No one even looked up. The walls, a deep purple, the furniture and floor all black, gave an unpleasant aura. I stepped up to the front desk. It took five minutes before someone realized I was even there.
A woman with a horseshoe ring through her nose, a hoop through her eyebrow and black lace clothing came to the front. "Hello, my name is Annie Patch, I called earlier about setting up an appointment, I believe you said there was an opening at 6:00 p.m.?" I kindly asked her. "Yah we have no opening," she said without even looking up at me. I went on to explain to her I had just gotten off the phone with someone and they told me there was an opening for 6:00 p.m. tonight. She asked for the design, I gave her a piece of paper with a design, all black and one inch in size, and she turned and brought it to one of the artists.
I sat in a large room, four bright red walls surrounding me. "A Touch of Color" is your typical tattoo parlor. Eight cubicles, four on each side, a desk in the front and a comfortable couch to sit on while a customer waits his or her turn. I felt comfortable here, which was a relief after the long day of high prices and bad attitudes I just experienced in New Haven.
I had been thinking about getting a tattoo for years. I designed it myself five years ago and have just been too nervous and too broke to ever get one. Now, I'm still broke but the nerves have finally subsided, so I began to do my research.
It was a hot Saturday morning, Sept. 1 was the date. I woke up, got my list of places to check out and at about noon I arrived in New Haven with high hopes that I would be back at the pool, permanently inked by 1:30 p.m. I very quickly realized how wrong I was. At 12:05 p.m. I walked into a parlor, the name I cannot recall. The cold central air gave me a chill from head to toe. No one even looked up. The walls, a deep purple, the furniture and floor all black, gave an unpleasant aura. I stepped up to the front desk. It took five minutes before someone realized I was even there.
A woman with a horseshoe ring through her nose, a hoop through her eyebrow and black lace clothing came to the front. "Hello, my name is Annie Patch, I called earlier about setting up an appointment, I believe you said there was an opening at 6:00 p.m.?" I kindly asked her. "Yah we have no opening," she said without even looking up at me. I went on to explain to her I had just gotten off the phone with someone and they told me there was an opening for 6:00 p.m. tonight. She asked for the design, I gave her a piece of paper with a design, all black and one inch in size, and she turned and brought it to one of the artists.
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