August Frank/Inland 360
Marina Nichols works on a tattoo for Talia Wagner at Northwest Tattoo Society in Clarkston.
I have more than two dozen tattoos, many of which represent things I love, like video games, music and nature. A few have deeper meaning, dedicated to my pets or to family members who have died.
My interest in tattoos started when I was about 9 years old after I went with my brother to his first tattoo appointment. I enjoyed the art form, environment and people s
o much I got my first tattoo the day I turned 18, a lucky cat figurine popular in Japanese culture called maneki-neko. I requested my artist include the calico fur pattern of my first cat (who I still have), because I couldn’t ask for a sweeter, more loyal companion.
I recently returned to working as a professional tattoo artist, a job where it doesn’t even feel like I’m working because I get to make art every day.
People all over the world have been getting permanent art on their skin for thousands of years, with the oldest known tattooed human remains dating back 5,200 years: The mummified Iceman, dubbed “Ötzi,” was found by a German couple while hiking through the Ötztal Alps on the Italian-Austrian border, according to
oetzel.com.
Earlier records of tattoos come from Egypt, represented on artifacts like figurines and murals from about 4000 BCE, with other early examples among Native American tribes, Pacific Islanders and the Scythian Pazyryk culture of central Asia.
Some of these designs were as simple as swirls, dots and lines; others were more complex representations of mythical beasts and intricate geometric designs. Tattoos have always had cultural significance, ranging from therapeutic and protective properties to signs of nobility and success in hunting or battles.
Today, according to the Pew Research Center, 32% of people in the U.S. have tattoos and 22% of those people have more than one. About 38% of women have tattoos compared to 27% of men. People today get tattoos for myriad reasons: memorializing a loved one, representing a meaningful moment, improving their appearance.
August Frank/Inland 360
Nichols work's on Talia Wagner's tattoo.
People who don’t have tattoos might wonder about the etiquette of asking about someone’s ink: Not everyone wants to share the story behind their tattoos, but don’t be afraid to compliment them on their artwork.
Nichols, who occasionally writes about gaming for Inland 360, recently returned to a career as a tattoo artist, joining the staff at Northwest Tattoo Society in Clarkston.
More tattoo history:
- Women of ancient Egypt were almost exclusively the ones receiving tattoos within their community. It was originally thought these women were of lower class, such as concubines and dancers, but experts now think the women adorned with body art were most likely priestesses and mothers. It’s thought the tattoos were meant to act as a permanent amulet to protect the wearer or to provide therapeutic healing properties.
- Therapeutic use is also thought to be the reason behind some of the tattoos found on Ӧtzi, with dots and crosses placed over locations on his body that were found to have strain-induced degradation, according to Smithsonian.com.
- Tattoos in modern American culture started to appear around the time of the Civil War in New York City, many from the first professional tattoo artist in America, Martin Hildebrandt. Soldiers would visit Hildebrandt and other artists to get tattoos as identifiers in case they perished in battle, almost like a dog tag soldiers wear today.
- The first electric rotary tattoo machine was created in 1891, based on Thomas Edison’s electric pen, with refinements and improvements implemented since then.
- Notable and unexpected people from the 19th century who had tattoos include Winston Churchill’s mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, and King Edward VII, according to time.com.