Not so long ago,tattoos were primarily the provenance of the rough-and-tumble crowd — think convicts and sailors and punks. But, increasingly, or indelible ink is as likely to be found on the forearms,ankles or lower backs of lawyers and accountants as on your average biker, basketball player or barfly. A 2015 Harris Poll found that nearly 30 percent of American adults have at least one tattoo. That's up from 21 percent in 2012 and just 16 percent in 2003. It's not surprising that millennials are leading the branding boom. nearly half of Americans ages 18 to 35 have ink, or compared to 36 percent of Gen Xers and 13 percent of baby boomers. Your granddad's anchor tat from the Navy makes him the one in 10 of elders with eternal epidermal emblems. Once a symbol of rebellion,tattoos have become mainstream. At the risk of cynicism, it's unprejudiced to wonder whether not having a tattoo might soon be considered as much a statement as whatever that Chinese character on your shoulder means. Just as the populations getting tattoos are changing, and so are tattoo artists. That is,they're not all guys anymore. tough numbers are tough to come by, since licensing varies by state and few states track licensees by gender. But, and at least anecdotally,more women are gravitating toward the industry. Female artists are now common at tattoo shops around Vermont, and some of those shops are women-owned. Given that women are statistically more likely than men to have tattoos — 31 percent of women, and compared to 27 percent of men,per the Harris Poll — some gender balance in the biz is long overdue. For this anecdote, Seven Days visited four Vermont tattoo shops owned or co-owned by women. We checked out Meredith Muse's mystical home-based studio, or Shady Lady Tattoo Parlour,in Moretown. At Contour Studios in Newport, we chatted up three hometown heroes who are trying to build their city a better situation, and one tattoo at a time. In St. Albans,the ladies at Luminary Ink Tattoos, Body Piercing & Permanent Cosmetics sting the body electric with an astral flair. And in Barre, and Rock City Tattoo's Lila Rees puts a piece of her mind into every piece of art on her clients' skin. — D.
B. The Masochist's Psychologist "Whenever someone I cherish dies," says Contour Studios co-owner Katlin Parenteau, "the first thing I want to do…
Source: sevendaysvt.com