From: ts_rost@pavo.concordia.ca (*TsR)
Subject: Re: Tattoo in Waterloo, ONT
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Concordia University
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 18:18:00 GMT

In article <BxzqM6.5AA@mach1.wlu.ca>, jcarr4@mach1.wlu.ca (judy carr 9207 U) writes...

>on ANY establishments in Ontario.  Hence, the reason for this post.....
>To provide a little of this information for other readers! 

True. I live in Toronto (well, when I'm not living in Montreal to go to school),
and there are three or four tattoo places there that I know of. So if anyone's
interested in a good place in Toronto, here you go...

Beachcombers, on Queen St. East - avoid it. I'm under the impression they use 
cheap inks, and I've seen some "fineline" work of theirs that looked definitely
wobbly.

Tat-O-Rama, on Bloor West @ Kipling - despite the name, it's otherwise a very
impressive place. Extremely clean (although a bit small), with lots of flash on
the walls, and they have a large collection of flashbooks. Pete is their chief
tattooist (or was last year, anyways), and is quite friendly to talk to. They
also take a lot of time out to talk to you about custom work, especially if you
bring in your own design, and are patient about it if you're a tattoo neophyte.
A lot of people get scared off at the door because the place looks... well, a 
tad "bikerish" - but once you get past that, you'll be surprised.

Accents of Skin, on Queen West @ Dufferin - highly recommended. Toby Martin owns
Accents, and is really the only tattooist there (she has one "assistant", but he
never seems to be around when I'm there, and one trainee, whom I've only met
once). She started out at art school, then went into tattooing from there, and
has been doing it for the last 15 years. She's patient, explains things
thoroughly, and makes sure *before* you leave that you know exactly how to take
care of it. Excellent fine-line and custom work, and she's very quick. I had my 
first tattoo done by her this summer, and I'm very happy with the result and 
the experience in general. Be warned, though - she's very busy, and only makes
appointments in person (or by mail if you're out of town), since she asks for 
a deposit when you make the appointment (deductible from the final cost, of 
course). When I had mine done this summer, I had to wait 5 weeks for an 
appointment. (Winter is much slower - a one-week wait usually, if any at all.)
If you live in Canada and watch CBC at all, she was profiled on "Sunday Arts 
Entertainment" a few weeks ago. (I have it on tape if anyone's really 
interested.) Although she does all types of custom work, she has an excellent
touch with flowers in particular - being a female artist, she gets a lot of
women clients who want flowers and such.

Anyways, Montreal. Dont get a tattoo in Montreal! There are three tattoo places
that I know of here, and all three arent that great. They're all within two
blocks of each other, on the same street (Ontario St. East, in the east end),
which gave me the impression that the competition factor between the studios
is price, not quality. The one that I finally chose was Tattoo Iris - it looked
the cleanest of the three and was the only one that didnt balk at the mention
of custom work. So, I had a wristband done, blackwork. That was about 7 weeks
ago, and I see now that they didnt do a very good job. Wavy lines, some areas
not colored in evenly and very blotchy, and the circle in the centre is not
very circle-like. So, I've made an appointment with Toby in Toronto to have
it fixed up over Christmas... :^) Seriously though, avoid Montreal for tattoos.
Take it from me!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tanja Rosteck   -   Concordia University, Montreal, K-bec, Canada
E-mail          -   ts_rost@pavo.concordia.ca
------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart