Just like it’s customary to brush your teeth prior to visiting the dentist, it’s considered good etiquette to shower before getting tattooed. We have all been forced to mouth breathe while tattooing a stinker, please don’t be THAT guy!
The tattooers here at Lighthouse Tattoo are big Harry Potter fans and it shows. Deuce did this House Hufflepuff mascot cover-up (say that ten times fast) the other day and here it is healed! Looking good man! Interested in some Harry Potter stuff? We’d daresay there isn’t a more enthusiastic or capable shop around to help you with your Wizarding World tattoo needs. We’re even planning a Harry Potter Tattoo day…Stay logged in to lighthousetattoo.net for more!
We don’t think anyone’s ever done it before: Free tattoos, all day, no limits. We had 5 artists work for ten hours apiece to produce about 50 free tattoos. Will got here at 9am and started tattooing, as a line had already formed! We did 10 free gloryhole tattoos, where you spin a wheel and get whatever it lands on! It was so popular that we’ve decided to keep it. So, $50 for the first spin, if you don’t like that, each additional spin is only $20! A great way to get a cool, traditional American-style tattoo for less than the shop minimum!
We had a little over 200 people show up throughout the day, and while we had like six people complain online because they didn’t get served (read the room guys, y’all are assholes), the overwhelming response was positive.
SO WE’RE BRINGING FREE TATTOO DAY BACK!!!
We’re going to make some changes to improve the experience and give a couple of apprentices some time to improve their skill sets, and this August or September we will be having another Free Tattoo Day (which is why you shouldn’t complain when you don’t get what you want the first time: there may be other times). Stay tuned to Lighthousetattoo.net for more information and great tattoos!
We‘ll try to get a better photo soon, but this one will certainly do the trick until then! Ol’ Blue Eyes himself healed perfectly, and he makes a great addition to Jennifer’s old school celebrity sleeves! We plan on adding Dean Martin the fall, as Jennifer’s a bit of a solar baby and will be spending quite a bit of time outdoors this summer.
Will Wood’s portrait work has become the stuff of local tattoo legend and it really has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Swing by Lighthouse Tattoo between the hours of noon and 10pm seven days a week to check out some of his work on are own artists!
In these particular photos, the bottom two roses are fresh (we apologize for the photo quality here, we just realized it’s a bit blurry). With another session left to go, these bright, beautiful roses make an amazing addition to an arm, suitable for covering some unwanted lettering. Lighthouse Tattoo has developed a great reputation for covering up old or unwanted tattoo work, swing by the shop and see for yourself! Lighthouse Tattoo is located at 328 N. Cumberland St a block off the Lebanon, TN square. We are open 7 days a week, from noon to 10pm. Or you can always call to set up your appointment, our number is 615 784-4500. Hope to hear from y’all real soon!
Another addition to Jason’s horror sleeve, this a design of his own concoction! Remarkably macabre, the superimposition of a screaming woman’s face and a skull, with someone trapped in the eye is mesmerizing. So much can be said about this evocative piece that we feel it best to leave it to the viewer to interpret their own meanings from it.
This beautiful warrior woman was performed by Will on our friend Jocy as part of her Chola sleeve. Thanks Jocy! We hope to see you and Jose again real soon!
Chola[edit]
Chola style is often associated with wearing some combination of a long white T-shirt or tanktops, sometimes worn under plaid shirts, baggy jeans, flat black shoes, long hair, spiked bangs, dark or heavy eyeliner, and dark lipstick and lip liner.[1] Chola style has been identified as exhibiting "a radically criminalized femininity, situating them in the purview of official and unofficial policing as well as legal and extralegal sanctions." Chola style is perceived with less menace than cholo style, although it has been described as more directly challenging to the gendered expectations placed on women.[1] - From Wikipedia.
All we know is there’s an entire subculture of black and grey tattooers of Latin American heritage (Re: Mexicans) that have been producing their own style of badass artwork for decades. We personally love the style and the culture, we’d liken it to Rockabilly here in the South, it’s a style full of history that runs deep. A style you can take as far as you want, with the tiniest of details and slight nuance, we admire this artwork and seek to emulate it respectfully when requested to do so. Con Safos ~Lighthouse Tattoo
You have to be selective about where you go to get tattooed, it’s common sense. Obviously you want the best work right? The problem isn’t always so clear however, when you start talking about ideas and the deep meanings some of these pieces contain. You wouldn’t want to get a Black Lives Matter tattoo from a racist, and you wouldn’t want to get a Second Amendment tattoo from a gun abolitionist, so why get a religious tattoo from someone who doesn’t believe?
Lighthouse Tattoo has strict policies prohibiting discrimination against anyone for their religious beliefs. But not every tattoo establishment has the same policy. There are tons of tattoo shops where law enforcement officers are only tolerated, not welcomed, and there are plenty of places where Christians in particular or believers in general are looked down on. If you want to get tattooed by someone who understands what it means to need grace; who values something greater than what this physical world has to offer; and who stands up and proudly confesses their belief, then Lighthouse Tattoo is your place.
If you don’t believe in a higher power, or you just don’t know what you believe in, you’re welcome here too. We all have our own journey to undertake and we respect that.
This enormous piece on Brad’s back was done by Will Wood over three five-hour sittings. A SCUBA diver in his own right, Brad wanted a scene of divers exploring a sunken ship to finish off his back. Will still needs to add the divers and some background, but we wanted to go ahead and share this impressive piece here.
On another note, Brad used to get tattooed by an old friend, Tim Booth (many will know him by Timba) who passed away unexpectedly a few years ago. For Brad to trust Will with finishing his body of work, something Timba and Brad had been working on for almost 20 years, is one of the most meaningful and fulfilling things Will has done in his 17 year career. RIP brother and thank you for trusting us Brad.
With Covid-19 pretty much wrecking the entire world over the last year it’s a wonder we haven’t done more of these Plague Doctors. Performed by Matt Steele, the simplicity and straightforward nature of the artwork is intense, without being overwhelming. Way to go Matt!
Steven came to Lighthouse Tattoo as a referral from another great client of ours, Nick, who had gotten quite a bit of impressive work from Will himself. A few months later and this sleeve dedicated to Steven’s love of ancient Greek culture was complete.
(We have to apologize for some of the photo quality, as a couple of the shots pale in comparison to the actual work when viewed in person, but hey, we’re tattooers, not photographers, what’re ya gonna do?
The sleeve begins with portraits of the Greek philosophers Socrates and Thales of Miletus; descending through an Ouroborus on his elbow (not pictured) on to a depiction of Altas (his son’s namesake) on the top of his forearm. His bicep is covered with the sculpture of Perseus with the head of Medusa, completing the piece.
Steven’s not finished there however, as he has plans for building his body of work with copies of some of the greatest Renaissance and contemporary artwork in the world. Such a joy to work with a fellow connoisseur! See you again real soon Steven!
Our resident realism artist, founder, and fearless leader Will completed this lion portrait the height of an entire calf in under five hours a few weeks ago. His work has been the stuff of legend for some time, but we still stand in awe when pieces this good and large are completed so quickly. His ability to perform excellent work efficiently has made it possible for Lighthouse Tattoo to offer some of the best artwork around at affordable (not cheap!) prices. That’s also what keeps him busy, so please, if you’re interested in getting tattooed by one of the very best artists around, schedule your appointment with Will early!
While on his apprentice journey here at Lighthouse Tattoo, Matt Steele has taken a liking to developing his skills at performing blackwork tattoos. A growing trend in the culture, Blackwork uses the simplicity of line and negative space to create a delicate balance of style and mass. It’s easy to see why such a striking style is taking the country by storm!
Bush League: Not of the highest quality or sophistication; second-rate. Simple as that. You have a choice to make and Lighthouse Tattoo has made it easy for you with competitive pricing and custom, high-quality artwork. Don’t put something second best on your body forever. We have the best artists around, hands down. All it takes is one visit to our online portfolios or swing by the shop and see for yourself.
Now, we don’t mean to disparage our associates in the business, that happens too much in this business and that’s not what we’re trying to do. Bright Ideas does excellent quality, professional work and we recommend them to people if we’re too busy to get to them all the time.
But we’re the best.
We mean it.
No joke.
See for yourself: More than 60 years of combined experience; more awards for out-of-the-ordinary, time-tested quality artwork, from across the nation, than you can shake a pointy stick at; the best accessibility, open seven days a week, 10 hours a day; great customer service (unless you’re a jerk, we don’t like those); and we throw great parties. Plus, the goldfish are pretty awesome.
We’ll stand in comparison to any shop in the state. See it to believe it.
Lighthouse Tattoo
It’s not at all unusual or strange for people to walk into Lighthouse Tattoo, stick a cell phone in our face and ask us ‘how much for this?’. It often helps things move along really quickly and efficiently. People know what they want and can show us without being vague because of internet technology.
However.
Also due to internet technology people are being exposed to pretty advanced forms of body modification without taking the steps to educate themselves on the unintended consequences of pursuing such extreme artforms. It makes for a slippery slope of inexperienced tattoo and piercing collectors skipping very important educational and experiential steps and finding themselves in the realm of extreme body mod with no one to help them avoid some major pitfalls.
No one except us, that is.
Lighthouse Tattoo has strict policies against performing tattoos or piercings on individuals who either do not understand or do not care that they could be unduly harming themselves through the process. Prohibited practices include: Hand, neck, and face tattoos on people who haven’t weathered the crucible of experience with regard to tattoo and public perception (people who are convicted felons and the independently wealthy are excluded from this group, as making a dicey tattoo choice is less likely to negatively affect them); Smiley piercings or any other piercing deemed unsafe by the Association of Professional Piercers; sexually suggestive piercings on minors (no genital or nipple piercing under 18; no tongue piercing under 16); finger tattoos are included in this, especially delicate or intricate work on fingers or pieces that are too small to hold up well over time. We also won’t do any ‘hate’ tattoos or gang affiliation tattoos, including confederate battle flags or racial pride tattoos of any kind.
We don’t do these things for good reason and you would be well served to listen to us, we’re professionals, after all.
If, in your infinite wisdom, you should decide not to listen to our more than 50 years of combined, award-winning tattoo experience, well, please don’t come into our shop. We won’t get along at all.
We ask two questions of ourselves before tattooing anyone: does this person know what they’re asking us for? and will it cause them undue harm? The first question is because some people approaching with ideas without fully understanding the symbolism being used, something that can result in a very unintended message being displayed, a real nightmare scenario. The second question is more nuanced. The idea being that getting your first tattoo will almost certainly create some sort of negative reactive somewhere in your life by some ignorant asshole or another. Most of us know that however, and we have all agreed not to let those people have power over our lives. The trouble comes when people take this too far, or too far too quickly and set themselves up for a level of difficulty that we at Lighthouse Tattoo don’t feel comfortable participating in.
Like the 19 year old girl who want her first tattoo to be a lotus flower ON HER FACE. No joke.
Or every burgeoning Soundcloud rapper who thinks they have to have face tattoos to ‘hit it big’.
Or anyone, no matter the age, who doesn’t understand that you can cause yourself a lot of harm by claiming so much ‘ownership’ over yourself that you completely disregard social mores and end up almost entirely unemployable.
Uh-uh, not gon’ do it.
We’re not judging you, we just understand that some people definitely will. We also understand that without a certain amount of experience navigating life with a significant amount of tattoo coverage you can’t possibly understand what it’s like. Talk about cultural appropriation!
Tattoos are awesome. We love them too. While they can hurt, they shouldn’t harm. We feel that tattoo regret is the single largest problem facing this lifestyle today and we don’t want to contribute to the problem. If you can’t understand this or don’t care how we feel, please go somewhere else.
If you understand what’s being said in this post and can appreciate that we won’t tattoo something on you unless it’s appropriate and won’t cause you harm, we welcome you into our growing family. Here’s to seeing you soon!
The photos pictured above are a cover-up of another tattoo. We published these shots in order to show that cover-ups don’t need to be overly dark blobs to cover some old regret. The most successful cover-ups are the ones who utilize the concepts of focus; color temperature; and contrast to camouflage the tattoo underneath. Now proud new owner of this Egyptian god Ra tattoo couldn’t be happier.
Lighthouse Tattoo is home to some of the best cover-up artists around, having dealt with so many unfortunate souls who have crossed paths with unsavory artists who would rather mutilate their unsuspecting customers for a few dollars rather than just tell them they’re not able to properly perform the tattoo of their choice.
Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations! Lighthouse Tattoo is the real deal! Visit us at 328 N. Cumberland St two blocks off the Lebanon, TN square across from David’s Pizza.
Here’s the results of the second session, and that session healed, respectively, of this H.P. Lovecraft-inspired work done by our resident maestro of the macabre, Will Wood.
Interested in some dark art tattoos? Contact Lighthouse Tattoo at info@lighthousetattoo.net, by calling 615 784-4500, or swing by the shop in person to speak with an artist between the hours of noon and 10pm at 328 N. Cumberland St. in Lebanon, TN.
The Doors song People are Strange says it all:
‘People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down…’
Jason brought this idea to bear when contemplating the overall feel of the sleeve he was planning: The dark and foreboding sensation we all feel when faced with unfamiliar new places, and faces. For some it’s exciting, many people love to travel and make new friends. For others, the anxiety the unfamiliar poses is almost unbearable, and the longer we avoid these very situations we fear, the worse the anxiety becomes.
An homage to the way we must challenge ourselves in order to grow and an acknowledgement of the Jung-ian description of the monster within we must all embrace in order to fully realize our potential, this piece promises to challenge it’s owner, the artist, and the viewer at once.
