By Laura Duclos and Megan Reyna
Lubbock’s arts district is packed with hidden gems. Among them is Stay True Tattoo, a tattoo-and-piercing shop founded five years ago.
Since its beginning, the shop has gained positive reviews from customers and members of the body modification community, said Vanessa Bathory, head piercer and assistant manager.
“We pretty much pride ourselves in our customer service skills,” Bathory said.
Regardless of whether customers come in for their first tattoo or are collectors, Bathory said, everyone receives equal respect.
“We’re here to help you along the way and make sure you have a smile on your face and that you are going to love the work we give you,” she added.
Bathory’s body modification skills have boosted customers’ self-confidence and, at times, helped them get through difficult situations.
For example, one customer requested an intimate piercing as a way to overcome an abusive relationship.
“Whatever pain and abuse she experienced in the past, she’s going through a different kind of pain that she can control and that she chose to get,” Bathory said. “I think, mentally, that just helped her tenfold.”
Bryant Busby, a Stay True customer, said he chose to get tattooed to stand out from a crowd.
“When you have an open canvas, you might as well do something with it because if it’s plain then you’re just like everyone else,” Busby said.
One of the shop’s tattoo artists, Iris Campbell, said she appreciates when a customer is willing to let her take some artistic license with the design. Customers often do allow her to have the creative freedom she desires.
“I like that thought of actually putting your own thought and creation on somebody’s body that they can show off,” Campbell said.
Despite the stigma that can come with getting a tattoo or other types of body modification, Bathory said she is pleased that the culture is increasingly going mainstream.
One in five U.S. adults has at least one tattoo, according to USA Today.
Bathory said people who are not accepting of body modification should speak to someone with tattoos to better understand the culture.
“We all bleed the same,” Bathory said. “We all cry, we all have feelings, you know. However we choose to decorate ourselves on the outside has nothing to do with the inside.”
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