Standing Art Tattoos & Art Gallery

My hubby is a tattoo addict.

It started with a tattoo he received from a friend of ours in California (see review for Bulldog tattoos).  Since then, he has been hooked.  However, since we are in Tampa Bay, running out to California for tattoos is not always convenient despite the fact that he is out there frequently on business.

To fill that void, he discovered Standing Art Tattoos.  The owner, Adam, is a great guy, very friendly and definitely makes you feel very comfortable in his chair.  The place itself is very small.  If you sneeze, you would drive right past it without even noticing it.  But it is one of those buried treasures that you are delighted to discover.  

The decor inside is funky and cool.  Old signs, a very "beach" theme vibe in there, very florida-esque.  Lots of wood paneling and wood planked floors in the tattoo area.  Signs pointing to the beach, fishing nets, colorful tropical fish art and other cool collectibles and artsy looking antiques.  The front counter has a tiki bar, surboard rental look to it. There is a little tiki bar out back with a fire pit which is really cool.  An underwater tropical theme along the walls and footprints on the floor that look like a walk on the beach.  It's really awesome.

The shop is VERY clean and Adam makes sure that before he performs your work, that you are shown that all the instruments are brand new, everything in sealed packaging.  No danger of things not being clean as an enormous autoclave looms present towards the back of the shop.  

Adam is not the kind of person who will show you a wall full of pre-drawn tats, but rather, will chat with you for a bit about what designs really speak to you.  He does a lot of original artwork that he, himself, draws out for you.  He is always willing to listen to design changes, offers color suggestions and really listens to you before performing your work.  He is also very reasonably priced.  They offer free touch ups on their work for up to a year, which is great as you never know how a particular tattoo will heal up on various parts of the body and depending on what conditions you expose them to.  He's an extremely talented artist as well.  He specializes on portrait work as well, which is very difficult to find.  It is very hard to translate a photograph into a tattoo, but Adam does it with ease.  He also does great original art and is a master at the "cover up", getting your ex's name off your skin!  A necessary evil!  

My husband found him quite by accident as he was looking to get a completely original drawing of something from his childhood.  He and his little brother were getting matching ink, so it was very important that the concept that they came up with was translated onto the body with exact precision and what they had in mind.  They went to at least a half dozen other shops who wanted to do half the work for double the money.  Some shops even tried to talk them out of what they wanted in lieu of something easier.  When my husband finally found Adam's shop, he came home very enthused that he found an artist who was willing to draw what was in their minds and made it come alive on paper.   He is one of the rare artists who is willing to make changes to their work to accommodate what the vision of the customer is and that is VERY important when you are making the decision to put permanent ink on your body.

From the tiniest tattoo (the small one on my wrist in my husbands handwriting and only one color) to the largest piece (a huge "broken clock" on my husbands forearm in dozens of colors and very elaborate) -- he takes his time with each tattoo he does and will make sure it is exactly what you wanted before you leave his chair.  My tiny tattoo on my wrist, the phrase "more than words" written in my husbands handwriting is very precious to me and a constant reminder of the love that we share.  He has the same one, only in my handwriting, on his forearm and Adam made sure to take as special care with those as he did the two large pieces he did for my husband.  

It is important to have an artist that you can really trust and Adam and his staff definitely fit the bill.  He really makes you feel like a friend of the family when you are in his chair...and that is a very valuable trait when picking an artist to ink something on you that will last a lifetime.

Find them on Facebook here and check out some of his work: <a href="/redir?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2FStanding-Art-Tattoos-Art-Gallery%2F371198644871%3F__req%3Dz&s=fa606412a43ed92a94df737df3f05daaa28c97c202293cdb931a04297d4d6792" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com…</a>