Tattoo artist: Time was right to open shop

New business owner Shawn Pope applies ink with a dual coil machine to Katy Morris’ arm Thursday at Old Town Tattoos on East Dunklin. Pope said he prefers to design the artwork for his client’s tattoos, such as the zombie girl for Morris.

By Lydia Meyer

Saturday, October 8, 2011

National headlines may point to bleak economic news, but new business owners in Jefferson City have a slightly brighter view of the future.

As a self-taught graphic design artist, first-time business owner Sean Pope felt “financially speaking the time was right” to open his tattoo parlor, Old Town Tattoo.

Located within the Old Munichburg district at 118 E. Dunklin St., Pope characterized his venue as “awesome.”

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linoge 1 year, 7 months ago

At first glance, these tattooed people appear to have some rare and hideous form of leprosy. A closer look suggests that this type of self-mutilation disorder would most likely be psychological rather than physiological in origin.

tigger2118c 1 year, 7 months ago

I think the same about catholics.

betharleen 1 year, 7 months ago

Best of luck and success to Sean Pope and Old Town Tattoo! I hope lots of people will be wearing beautiful original art.

adm1983 1 year, 7 months ago

Umm, have you seen any tattoos he has done?

betharleen 1 year, 7 months ago

I completely disagree. Closed minds and corporate greed are symptoms of any decline in our culture not tattoo shops.

tonto 1 year, 7 months ago

Then I am sure you will wish to enlighten us all as to exactly why a new tattoo shop would be evidence of America's decline. Right? What was involved in that process of thoughtful consideration?

Is it the concept of someone expressing their individual taste in an unusual way?

Is it the idea of people having pictures drawn on their skin?

Is it the idea of people having pinholes poked in their skin and ink injected?

Is it the sometimes lurid nature of the designs?

pberge 1 year, 7 months ago

My browser wasn't refreshing comments earlier, so I didn't see that my question was already asked and answered.

The fact that someone chooses to get tattooed really doesn't say as much about them as you think. People get tattooed for so many different reasons and you are making a pretty bold assumption by saying that everyone with a tattoo is trying to fill a hole in their life.

I would love to hear about how you came to these conclusions. Is it safe for me to assume that you are psychiatrist who has dealt with hundreds of tattooed people. Or are you just making this up as you go along?

John 1 year, 7 months ago

While I am NOT going to get into agreement/disagreement with Graceful, I am interested in the reasoning used by Pberge. Anyone who does something, does it because of a hole in their life. It can be a simple urge such as using the bathroom, washing their hands, taking off their socks, taking a bath, going to church, piercing their ears (or other places) or getting a tattoo. (I have attended a lot of college level art classes and one thing they constantly drill into the art student is that an artists expression is always to fulfill a need in the artist.

pberge 1 year, 7 months ago

We all make hundreds of choices every singe day of our lives, many of them insignificant. It may be true that taking my socks off at the end of the day is to fulfill the need to be more comfortable before going to bed, but it is quite a stretch to claim that this is filling a hole in my life. It's simply part of my daily routine. The urge to use the bathroom is a physical need which can only be controlled to a certain degree. Taking a bath is considered good hygiene in our society.

If simple acts such as these are truly ways to fill holes in our lives, then every single person in the world is constantly trying to fill these holes. If that was the case, we would all be considered lost souls based on what Graceful said, regardless of whether we are tattooed or not.

I have not taken any college level art classes, but I am a self taught photographer and do consider myself an artist. I take pictures because I like what I see through the lens, want to capture it on camera and people seem to enjoy my photographs. It's as simple as that. I don't set out with my camera on a mission to fulfill my life in some way. I really think you are overanalyzing a lot of this.

John 1 year, 7 months ago

In a nutshell: You cannot have it both ways.

The 2nd sentence in your reply belies itself. " ... fulfill the NEED to be more comfortable . . claim that this [NEED to be more comfortable] is filling a hole in my life..."

The balance of your reply is filled with just words.

pberge 1 year, 7 months ago

I tried to explain this rationally, but I am completely baffled by some of your analogies. You need to consider context. In the context of the discussion, we are talking about filling holes in our lives that are signs of the decay of our society and evidence of people who are "lost souls". Taking my socks off at night does not even come remotely close to falling into this category and really has absolutely no relevance to the discussion.

You are putting way too much emphasis on the word need. Just because I used the word need in a sentence does not mean I have a gaping hole in my life that needs to be filled. We all need to breathe air into our lungs in order to stay alive, but no rational person would try to claim that the act of breathing was filling a hole in a person's life. If you cannot recognize the difference between a person choosing to change into more comfortable clothes at the end of the day and their choice to get a tattoo, then I'm sorry, but I'm not going to waste any more of my time trying to explain myself.

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

Gotta agree with pberge. I don't see any of that as "filling a hole" in your life. Simple human needs and comforts being taken care of doesn't mean there's some empty space - something missing from their lives. Especially the going to the bathroom part - really? I can honestly say, never found that particularly fulfilling. LOL

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

I would agree that pretty much any behavior CAN be a sign there is something wrong with a person, if it’s taken to the point of obsession. Taking off your socks doesn’t fill a hole in your life if you just do it because you don’t like to sleep in socks. Taking them off and on 12 times every night – that’s a problem. Washing your hands doesn’t fill some empty void if you do it for normal hygiene purposes. Washing your hands until they chap and bleed shows there is something very wrong. People with obsessive/compulsive behaviors may well have something wrong in their lives and that behavior would, in fact, be an attempt to “fill a hole” in their lives. Some people become obsessed with plastic surgery, making more and more changes to themselves...that's likely a sign of some underlying problem. I’d go so far as to say that some people who tattoo their entire bodies or faces, who do extreme body modification or choose subjects and spots to tattoos for the shock value would fall into that category. But lumping everyone and every behavior together, including tattooing, is inappropriate.

jeffcitygirl 1 year, 7 months ago

What exactly is a "found soul"? And what do they do to express themselves?

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

Lost souls are the ones going to hell. They have been lost. Tattoos cause people to go to hell. The Bible is quite clear about the sin of defiling your body is the same as defiling God's temple.

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

That's right. You go to hell if you paint a church.

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

For sure if you paint a skull and crossbones on it.

tonto 1 year, 7 months ago

How about a tattoo of a church? Would you go to hell for that?

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

If you get the tattoo done IN a church you go twice!

tonto 1 year, 7 months ago

Not necessarily. The context and the nature of the tattoo matter a lot.

The prohibitions in Leviticus (skin cutting, tattoos, and head shaving) were concerned with specific practices associated with witchcraft and pagan rites of the Hebrew nation's neighbors. In a similar manner, it would be a sin to eat meat sacrificed to idols or which had not been properly prepared under the kosher laws.

So - if the tattoo is an image from the occult or has a Satanic reference it would be a sin. On the other hand, a flower or a cross might not be sinful.

betharleen 1 year, 7 months ago

Synonyms for closed-minded include narrow-minded, inflexible, and rigid. Antonyms are tolerant, unbiased, and progressive. It wasn't commentary on intellect but my disagreement with your viewpoint that tattoo shops are symptoms of the decline of our nation. Instead, I think they are artistic and innovative, which our nation needs! :-)

pberge 1 year, 7 months ago

Can you please enlighten us to the thoughtful consideration that lead you to the conclusion that the prevalence of tatoo[sic] shops are a symptom of America's decline?

tigger2118c 1 year, 7 months ago

So are catholics.

JonH 1 year, 7 months ago

Graceful why do you hate America? Is it because we are free?

Stevo 1 year, 7 months ago

I think this is great I wish Shawn Pope the best of luck with his buisness!

wow 1 year, 7 months ago

Tat's ain't for me, but for those who have them...fine. Ear/Body Piercings ain't my style either, but for those that have em...fine. It's an honest job and there are lot's of people who support the bidness. Thing is...it's all legal and earns a honest wage...if ya wanna indulge go for it. if not here is something else to ruffle your feathers. Word is they made a remake of the evil movie "Footloose", You know that one where all the kids were non criminal, non drinking non drug using straight A students....who's only vise was doin what Eddie the Money Man referred to as Sha, Sha, Sha, Shakin, Snappin her/his fingers...moving up and down and Round-n Round. Also this version is extra sinful and may be a bit rough on you "True American Religious Zealots"...Ya see this version has a few "Colored People" in it. With all that fancy footwork, pelvic gyrating and such going on, they had to have somebody to blame.

One nation under a groove, getting down for the the funk of it! LAYANLYDMF!

tigger2118c 1 year, 7 months ago

Kind of what I think about people who constantly post on message boards..... But to each his own I guess.

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

A hole into which you would pour Jesus.

jeffcitygirl 1 year, 7 months ago

Shawn is an amazing artist and tatooist, also one of the nicest people I've ever met. Very impressed with anyone who has the gumption to start their own business, so glad to hear he has his own place open, congrats & good luck!

online_editor 1 year, 7 months ago

I removed a comment that might have been potentially libelous. Please understand that this forum is for discussion of general issues surrounding the topics in the article, not to post accusations of individual wrongdoing which are not part of the public record. We remove those as being outside the purpose of the forum. Those types of news tips can be e-mailed to our reporters privately at news@newstribune.com. On the other hand, if you have safety and regulation concerns about tattoo shops in general, that's a general issue appropriate for public comment. Thanks. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune.

adm1983 1 year, 7 months ago

aw, so this is not a public forum...you decide what should be said and what shouldn't....okay. Btw, everything said in the deleted post (other than the first sentence) happens to be true statements...not opinion. I know you read it...so like I said before...You sould be ashamed. Do your research and homework before you print stories.

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

I'm suprised a town this size can support the shops it has, but if the business is there, more power to him. I find anyone willing to open a new business in this economy to be a hopeful sign.

I have two tattoos. I wanted one for literally 20 years, but was too frugal to spend money on something so completely unncessary. But for my 40th birthday (sadly, that was quite a while back) I got my first. Both are tastefully sized and put in spots I can cover or uncover easly. My second I got together with a friend. My husband has three tattoos. He got his first in the Marines, his second before we met and his 3rd for his 40th as well. He plans on a 4th, a memorial tattoo for a dear friend, but he's married to frugal me, so something as pricey as custom body art has to wait.

We are disgustingly happy, well-adjusted, content, professional people. We just like tattoos. It's not a political statement or symptom. There's nothing sad or sinister about it.

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

Why do they call them "tramp stamps" then?

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

"Tramp stamps" are specifically lower back tattoos, intended to show when one bends over. I do not have a tramp stamp. If you try to insult someone, you should at least know the definitions of the words or phrases you use.

evenkeel 1 year, 7 months ago

People with tattoos are similar to those people with dogs-- it makes them feel special and they love to talk about them ad nauseum.

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

I swear, does everyone who posts here have to exaggerate? If you looked at me today you would have no idea I have a tattoo and I certainly don't go around talking about them unless there is a discussion about tattoos.

I do talk a lot about my dogs though. :-)

3DMom 1 year, 7 months ago

Congratulations to Shawn (and family)! He did my son's first tattoo and he did a great job on it. Several people I know have art by Shawn and they're all happy with his work. I think choosing Old Munichburg for the shop location was a great idea. That area is really coming along nicely which should help business.

3DMom 1 year, 7 months ago

And BTW, I have 3 tattoos and planning a couple more. I feel no "holes" in my life (except the one in my stomach because it's lunchtime). I'm an educated professional who happens to think body art is beautiful and can be very tasteful.

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