Tattoo parlors have long carried the stigma of being seedy, dimly lit, and a magnet for riffraff. But as body art continues to gain mainstream acceptance, an increasing number of today’s parlors look more like dentist’s offices than Prohibition-era speakeasies.
The bright, airy Thin Line Tattoo Co., a year-old Lompoc parlor recently purchased by Dean Graves, is one such example of the cultural shift.
“It’s not a dungeon like in the old days, when the drunken sailor went in to some guy that probably never sterilized anything and [had] his arm worked on,” Graves said. “We’re a drama-free zone. We don’t let the stuff in.”
By day, Graves is a technician at Lockheed Martin, working on Vandenberg Air Force Base. By night, he runs the shop, an enterprise he got into through his son Ian, an aspiring tattoo artist.
“It just happened,” Graves said. “It just fell together like a fluke. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
Though he’s always liked tattoos, Graves doesn’t do them himself. For the ink side of things, he depends on his team of well-seasoned artists; Manny Lopez and Chris Kingsley have nearly 30 years of combined experience between them, while apprentice Brittony Mehrley is just getting started.
“We have a great crew,” Graves said. “I’m lucky and blessed to have a bunch of guys that can run it, and I don’t have to worry about it. I give them the freedom to do their thing.”
However, Graves said, freedom doesn’t mean freelance. The Thin Line staff takes pride in customer service, doing quality work, and strictly adhering to safety procedures.
“We do have a tight shop, and we’re very clean,” Graves said. “If somebody gets off the chair, the customer is going to have to wait 15 minutes before they get started. It’s by the book.”
Before taking the plunge, customers can pick from more than 10,000 flash art images via computer or have any type of custom artwork drawn up and inked. Kingsley specializes in freehand designs, while Lopez likes murals and collages.
“We tend to treat our customers with the utmost respect as any small business would,” Lopez said. “We try to be as social with them as possible and make them feel comfortable.”
Besides all things body art, from restoration and cover-ups to custom jobs, Thin Line is also a full-service piercing shop and carries clothing, jewelry, and aftercare accessories.
Kingsley handles all the piercings, and any type imaginable can be found in the parlor’s piercing room. Dermal implants are the most popular, Kingsley said, a technique “revolutionizing” the body modification industry.
Thin Line receives much of its business from Vandenberg and offers discounts to all troops. As a special for Sun readers, Lopez will also be offering a 30-percent discount on his tattoos for the entire month of August.
“We’re not trying to make a house or car payment just off one tattoo,” Lopez said. “We’re more into the art. It’s more of an honor for us to tattoo somebody than for someone to get tattooed by us.”
Since taking over the shop, Graves has been busy canvassing and getting the word out about what’s in store for Thin Line. His long-range goals are to bring painters, illustrators, and photographers into the shop for a regular community art gallery and eventually set up a mobile tattoo trailer to take around to fairs and events.
Thin Line Tattoo is at 206 E. Ocean Ave. in Lompoc.
For more information, visit Thin Line Tattoo Co. on Facebook or call 736-5500.
Highlights
• Women’s Economic Ventures, an organization encouraging entrepreneurship for women, is readying to offer its 14-week Self-Employment Training course in September.
Participants considering the course are required to attend a free one-hour orientation workshop, offering a complete overview of the SET course. English- and Spanish-language orientations will be held in Buellton and Santa Maria in August.
To set up an appointment or view a schedule of orientation dates, call 965-6073 or visit wevonline.org.
Biz Spotlight/Highlights are written and compiled by Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
• Women’s Economic Ventures, an organization encouraging entrepreneurship for women, is readying to offer its 14-week Self-Employment Training course in September.
Participants considering the course are required to attend a free one-hour orientation workshop, offering a complete overview of the SET course. English- and Spanish-language orientations will be held in Buellton and Santa Maria in August.
To set up an appointment or view a schedule of orientation dates, call 965-6073 or visit wevonline.org.
Biz Spotlight/Highlights are written and compiled by Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2011.