A Day in a Life at 168

Tattoo 168 isn’t your typical tattoo shop.  The studio is chock full of trinkets and kitsch, from Mid-Century Modern wall clocks to chalk-ware saints. When a client enters the shop it’s like Alice’s looking glass into another dimension, a different world where enamel Firestone signs mesh with prints of big-eyed urchins. No doubt about it, Tattoo 168 has style.

 

It’s not unusual for a canvas to lug an eight-foot antique crucifix into the shop as trade for a “full sleeve.” And Rick is ready to barter: “I dunno, man; black and white half-sleeve and you got a deal.” Rick and his wife, Leah, know their stuff. Sure, a client bearing the weight of crucifix is surreal, but sometimes it’s an unopened box of New Kids on the Block trading cards that closes the deal.

Although a “traditional” tattoo parlor, it’s the personal touch that sets apart Tattoo 168.  Clients meet with Rick during the day and then schedule private one-on-one sessions for the actual tattooing.  It’s then that the shop comes alive with stories woven in and around the tattoo session, but it’s not so much about the sentimental, but the paths we all take to get where we are, what led to the tattoo, the process, the art, the permanence - the humanity that brings together artwork and skin.

And Rick’s a character, no doubt: artist, tattooist, bike fabricator, entrepreneur, marketing genius, former millionaire, baseball coach, father, husband and picker. 168 is a whirlwind of color and colorful people, rich storytelling, ink and antiques. “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” just doesn’t say enough.