Tommy Bittner, a 23-year-old University of Colorado Boulder student, has an impressive 40 tattoos ranging from intricate birds to complex floral patterns. But what keeps him coming back to sit for hours in a tattoo chair?
“Tattoos and tattooing are really all about people,” Bittner said. “You make connections through tattoos; whether you’re sitting there for a six-hour session and chatting about whatever with your artist or you meet someone else in public with tattoos and talk about them, you get more comfortable with people and shared experiences.”
While Denver is well-known for its many arts and culture events, tattoos are an underappreciated art. But don’t get it twisted; just because mainstream outlets aren’t talking tattoos doesn’t mean that local shops aren’t making an impact.
“What I promote in tattooing is a take on American traditional work,” said shop owner KC, otherwise known professionally as KCO, a Denver resident of nine years who founded Pretty Sturdy Tattoo. The company has an impressive staff of talented artists, as well as an environment filled with thousands of hand-drawn sketches depicting American culture and floral design on its walls.
According to research conducted by the Pew Research Center, 32% of Americans have a tattoo, with 22% of those having more than one. The desire to get inked has skyrocketed, especially in the younger generations, with 38% of individuals between 18 and 29 having at least one tattoo.
Due to the rising acceptance social media has offered tattoo artists and individuals, the industry has taken off. According to an article written by Confluence Denver, the Mile High City has an unusually high number of tattoo shops per capita when compared to other cities. Denver accepts a diverse range of personalities and individuality through the art of tattooing.
“That experience of getting a tattoo is so empowering and for people with them, tattoos are the one kind of souvenir you can take to the grave and I think that’s pretty cool,” KCO said. Pretty Sturdy provides customers with an experience that is not limited by age or personal identity.
“We’re all veteran tattooers at the moment and we tattoo a lot of younger people but certainly middle-aged individuals as well and I think it’s because of the type of tattoos we do,” KCO said. “There’s a lot of young shops that people go to for entry-level tattoos that appeal to young people but we offer a wide range of designs for anyone.”
Rowan Brown, 25, a current apprentice at Pretty Sturdy Tattoo, has been learning the intricacies and joy of tattooing alongside her peers. When asked about the younger generation’s evident desire for more ink, she offered her insight as to why that is.
“I think older folks have a stigma around tattooing because when they were young, tattooing was more for criminals or sailors,” Brown said. “For people like us, we haven’t been alive, really, during a time when that was the case. But for older people like they were, [they] can remember a time where, if you were a high-class citizen, you wouldn’t have a tattoo.”
Daniela Armas is a tattoo artist at Pretty Sturdy who got her roots in the industry while tattooing in Peru for over ten years. As an artist who is known for her intricate floral patterns that are often recognized in public, she is the go-to person for older folks to receive a tattoo in the Denver area.
“I tattoo a lot of old people, a lot of grandmas, mothers and other people who grew up with flowers in their household, so they come to me and show me flowers they think their mom would like,” Alverez said. “We received a lot of matching tattoos with mothers and daughters and for me, its my passion to break the stereotype of tattoos to people. When you can break the stereotype of tattoos for an old person, that is really cool.”
Thanks in part to her beautifully ornate flowers that can stem the length of her clients entire arm or leg, Armas has secured a role in Denver as a leading tattoo artist. She explained how she even has had past clients tell her stories, such as when two of them bonded at Red Rocks Amphitheater over their similar tattoos.
“It happened to me with a client; she went to Red Rocks and she has my leg tattoo and another person turned to her and said, ‘Oh, I have that one too,’ and they met each other, which was super cool,” Armas said.
Armas has amassed a long list of clients coming back for their second tattoo, something that is on the rise in Denver. But this starts with a good experience that is important to secure trust between artist and client.
“In my case, I do care for the client’s experience,” Armas said. “I think I tattoo a lot of people that must have one tattoo, the one that I’m doing, but if you bring to them a good experience the first time, they are more available to do another.”
The popularity of individuals through Denver’s tattoo scene is in part due to the dominance of social media and the online community of tattoo artists and customers who post their newest inkings for their followers to see.
With a simple search of the word ‘tattoo’ in the search bar on Instagram for example, hundreds of millions of tagged images of tattoos are at your disposal to get inspiration.
“I feel like tattooing has become so much more approachable because of Instagram and the rise of social media,” Brown said. “It seems like more people have access to seeing and understanding what tattoos look like, what they are like, and where to get them right, so much more approachable, which may have an impact on why more young people could be getting tattooed.
So, whether you’re thinking of adding more tattoos to your collection or getting your first one, Denver is an environment that offers a welcoming community into the world of tattoos and Pretty Sturdy Tattoo is a good first destination to add to your list.
While you may be hesitant to add a permanent piece of art to your body, tattooing not only represents personal meaning, but it also tells a story about one’s personal life experiences.
“Tattoos symbolize milestones, moments or chapters in life,” Bittner said. “Even if you have one tattoo or one hundred, everyone has a story, and that’s the same as in our lives, and while every chapter may not be the most glamorous, successful or exciting, it’s still your story.”
Learn more about Pretty Sturdy Tattoo, 3555 West 38th Avenue, Denver, at www.prettysturdy.com.
