Tattoos No Longer Taboo, Serve as Therapeutic For Some

July 11, 2013

Eighteen-year-old Danny Day wanted a permanent reminder of the day he would rather forget.

The recent Chardon High School graduate plopped down in a chair in a place he found comfort in before, Square City Tattoo on Chardon Square.

This visit is an ongoing tribute to his best friend Russell King Jr.

On Feb. 27, 2012, as Day sat in the cafeteria chair lodged between King and Danny Parmertor, bullets took both his friends’ lives, sparing Day’s.

“The tattoo is a permanent symbolism that no one can take away,” Day said.

Square City Tattoo is earning the trust of a growing and diverse population of adults of all ages seeking to express themselves through the art of tattoos.

“Tattoos used to be perceived as an edgy thing that only the outcasts and rebels did. Now we tattoo people from all walks of life, so that stereotype just no longer fits,” Square City owner Mike Martini said.

A 2012 Washington-based Pew Research Center study found that 14 percent of Americans of all ages had at least one tattoo with the United States spending an annual amount of $1.65 billion on tattoos.

Workplace tattoo policies vary among and within industries.

However, with many contemporary companies stressing commitments to diversity and inclusion, tattoos are becoming less of an issue, often with placement being at the forefront of concern.

“Here at Square City Tattoo, we sit down and get to know you before anything else,” Artist Chris Klee said, noting the lifelong decision each client is about to make.

“We take it to a different level as far as the respect for making a decision as an adult and with something you will see for the rest of your natural life,” he said. “It is easier now than it was when I was first in the field, mostly because we have grown to know the differences in each client and their desires.”

Martini said one of their clients got her first tattoo on her 90th birthday.

“She has been back several times over the last couple years since then to get more,” he said. “I’ve tattooed a pastor of a church, lawyers, nurses, law enforcement, government workers, firemen, you name it.”

Soon, Klee, clad in a Geauga Maple Festival T-shirt, scrubbed Day’s skin clean under a spotlight as his sister, Sunny Day, perched nearby hugging her pregnant belly, toiling with the idea of her yet unborn son’s name tattooed in the future.

Day said it was his sister who encouraged her grief-stricken brother a couple of weeks following the tragedy to get inked on his left arm a cross with King’s name and the words, “Live For.”

“I am going to get one on the right arm for Danny (Parmertor),” Day said during his fourth session with Klee.

The soft buzz of the tattoo machine continued inserting pigment into the dermal layer of Day’s skin.

“That pain is nothing compared to losing a friend,” Martini said.

Klee said although there are many reasons people get tattooed, from fashion statements, celebration of new beginnings to quotes to live by, some people use them as therapy.

“Here, he has learned how to express his grief and sorrow in a healthy way and expressive way,” Klee said. “I hope we have inspired him. He is a great kid who has witnessed tragedy firsthand and is alive to talk about it.”

Middlefield’s Samantha Pemberton and her grandmother Louis Danku, of Mantua, took turns getting matching blue roses to celebrate their bond before Pemberton leaves for southern Indiana for college.

“It’s because we love each other,” Pemberton said. “Since I was 2 years old, we gardened together.”

Families are a big portion of Square City’s clientele, with entire families booking days with the team, which includes artist Amanda Anderson and apprentice Mikey Lane.

“We keep the mood fun without anxiety,” Klee said, as soft music filled the studio. “Families can have a bonding moment in the studio with us while adding to their constant collection of our custom art.”

“Are you ready to go under the spotlight,” Martini asked Danku, as she inched closer.

Martini, an ’87 Chardon High graduate, opened the first of Square City locations on Mayfield Road near Claridon.

Martini said there was never a legal tattoo shop anywhere in Geauga County before them. So, he worked closely with the Geauga County Health District to ensure high standards were being held.

“My favorite subjects (in high school) were anything where I was able to be creative, like drawing, painting and wood shop,” Martini said. “My teacher took me aside one day when I was a senior to tell me how art worked in the ‘real world’ and that no one was ever going to hire me to draw pictures of skulls and weird stuff, and that I needed to draw the still life like I was told to. I was hurt.”

These words and an episode of comparing grades he received with another student could have silenced the determination the artist had for “pursuing what you love and hope the money comes.”

Square City books sessions several weeks out, with the artists working 8- to 12-hour days Tuesday through Saturday drawing and researching.

Martini is appreciative to the City of Chardon for not only embracing Square City as a member of a “great community, but for embracing art and creativity here in this town.”

“Chardon is a great town full of great people,” Martini said. “We have the best customers. I’ve traveled around the country tattooing and playing music, yet I stay here.”

As for Day, he said that he will continue to return to Square City so Klee can add to the permanent reminders of his friends, planning for an original portrait of a wildlife scene in remembrance of good times he shared hunting with King.

“He is a very special young man who we have watched progress from the ‘shocked’ state during the very surreal incident at Chardon High School, to what can be almost described as his ‘back to everyday personality,'” Klee said. “It is a humbling moment to have someone thank you for talking to him and letting him vent. Here he has learned to express his grief and sorrow in a healthy and expressive way. I hope that we have inspired him. He is a great kid who witnessed tragedy firsthand and is alive to talk about it.”

Day said it “never gets much easier,” as his eyes glanced down at his arm, revealing a self-proclaimed bit of closure.

“I am still waiting for him to come back.”