Tattoo artist leaves getting inked to others - Lone Star Biker Rally
"I don't know if I trust a tattoo artist
without tattoos."
Mr. G -- Jerry Genovese -- has heard that for
37 years.
"I say, 'Well, I respect that, but I know
a few brain surgeons who've never had brain surgery.'
"
Genovese says he was tempted when he started
out.
"Every (tattoo) I looked at I liked, so
I knew from the very beginning that if I broke
the ice and got the first one, I'd have no skin
left in a year," he says. "Tattoos are
like potato chips. Once you get one, even if it
hurts, by the time it's done and you look at it
and you love it, your eyes start wandering to
(other tattoos, thinking) how you can balance
yourself off on the other arm."
To have empathy for his customers, he's used
the tattoo machine, without ink, all over his
body.
"The needle goes up and down about 3,000
times a minute," he says, so if it takes
an hour ... " He gives a little laugh. "I
realize just using it all over my body is not
the same as sitting there for an hour or two,
but I know what is really sensitive and what isn't."
Genovese and his wife, Joan, live in Daytona
Beach, Fla., "on the beach side," but
they have no traditional shop. They hit events
across the country pulling a 29-foot travel trailer
set up as a tattoo parlor. He keeps it in top
shape, not only to meet all the health requirements
of local agencies but also because even wild-dressing
bikers judge by appearance.
"People may feel a little more comfortable
with us because we just look like normal people,"
he says.
He works solo, with Joan registering clients
out front. It takes about an hour to do a standard
3-by-4-inch eagle, though the price ($150-$350)
and time depend on the amount of detail wanted.
At one rally, he worked nonstop 9 a.m. to 3 the
next morning.
"I did 107 tattoos in three days."
Warning: Mr. G has a sense of humor. Like when
he was drawing a large "Harley" on a
biker's back.
"He can't see what I'm doing, and I casually
say, 'So, what kind of a Honda do you have?'
"The guy's head gets real still and he says
'What do you mean, Honda?'
Another time "I had a guy get a ribbon (on
his back) with his wife's name, Joan. I get the
outline done and I say, 'So who's John?'
Since the stigma of a tattoo has diminished,
Genovese's business has been good, especially
at motorcycle events.
"You would not believe the doctors, the
lawyers, the politicians. They start to grow their
beards a week or two before they come down so
they can mingle. They put on their leathers, and
they look a little scraggly, and they're comfortable
mingling with everybody."
