Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508230019
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: WS-27 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"He's not moving. He's standing there," said Wetzl, whose own matted dreads fall from underneath a backwards cap down across his shoulders. "He's got attitude."
A 25-year-old bass player, drummer and artist who works as a short-order cook and doorman at The Cellar restaurant, Wetzl'd "been wanting to get some ink for a while," he said. So when Mike Boyle opened Custom Dreams Arts and Tattooing in June on Jackson Street - right in the heart of downtown Blacksburg - he figured it was time.
Now, a month later, the tattoo of the little man in the spotted red shirt has been joined by the image of a metal ring protruding from Wetzl's arm, three downward-pointing red spikes and a band of turquoise dragons embedded in his forearm.
"It's just like a canvas," Wetzl said of his skin, as Boyle put the finishing touches on the ring, adding white, blue and purple hues to give it a chrome-like look. "I like bright, sharp images. I'm really into that kind of thing." And he's already thinking of other images to add, as well as tattoos to go on his other arm.
"It really does get addictive," he said. "You just want to elaborate everything. I knew it would be like that."
A glimpse at his tattooist, Boyle, supports that view.
Boyle has been in Blacksburg for about two months now, having moved from Boones Mill where he operated a tattoo shop for about a year. It was there that he and his wife decided to throw down roots after moving his operation and his family from Westchester, Pa.
The couple decided they didn't want their children - two girls, ages 1 and 2 - to grow up in the urban, crime-ridden industrial-based neighborhoods around Philadelphia, said Boyle, admitting further that he doesn't want them tempted by some things he was a part of when growing up.
Boyle was playing the part of Joe Cool when he persuaded his uncle to give him his first tattoo at age 12. "It really had no thought or meaning to it," he said. Now, though, the drawings that cover his forearms, legs, back, even his neck, all have meaning. Even that little Indian head from 14 years ago is the symbol of a beginning.
At 26, Boyle worries that his youth might ward off prospective older customers. But his discussion of tattooing reveals a knowledge that comes with more than half a lifetime's involvement in the art.
"I've been in a tattoo parlor since I was two years old," Boyle said. "Each tattoo that I get tells a story of my life."
With the buzz of a tattoo machine - don't call it a "gun," Boyle said - and the radio playing rock and roll in the background, Boyle has spent about 20 hours working on Wetzl's arm. The smell of antiseptic is in the air and Boyle, wearing plastic gloves, periodically sprays green soap on Wetzl's arm and wipes away excess ink.
The college-town atmosphere and younger population drew him to Blacksburg, Boyle said. The initial cornerstone of his clientele has been The Cellar. "I've done 90 percent of their employees." So far, business, if erratic, is good, he said. He might find himself sitting with nothing to do for hours, then working straight through from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on a steady stream of customers wanting their own $30-$50 piece of artwork.
Though a full backpiece work can cost up to $10,000, it's the quickly done, relatively simple $30 pieces that form the backbone of his business.
"The big ones are your advertisements," Boyle said. "Little ones are your bread and butter."
Though he also does body piercing, it's obvious through conversation that his main interest is in tattooing.
"This is the only type of art that nobody can take away from you," Boyle said. "You can take it to the grave with you.
"A tattoo will go as far as your mind and your imagination will take you."
by CNB