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Kimberly Wall, co-owner of Black Rabbit Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Black Rabbit Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Black Rabbit Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
Black Rabbit Tattoo
17 N. Belmont Ave., instagram.com/black_rabbit_tattoo
The dusty purple walls of Black Rabbit Tattoo are neatly yet completely patterned with framed images of Sailor Moon and other anime characters along with artwork by the shop’s artists, all of whom are female.
“I wanted to create a space that would be more inclusive,” says co-owner Kimberly Wall. “Women are drawn to our shop. The goal is to make people feel comfortable.”
Wall opened the shop with her husband, Ryan Wall, in November 2015. She’s been a tattoo artist for more than 10 years in Richmond. Her shop has six tattooists, each with her own devoted following. Jelena Wolves’ traditional pieces range from Mickey Mouse portraits to scorpions and skeletons. Rosemary Shackleford’s portfolio is filled with colorful and detailed animal portraits that are both playful and grim. Several of the store’s artists, including Wall, are requested by customers for their anime creations.
“Anything to do with Sailor Moon, anime, gaming and anything else fandom-related, we are sought out for that,” Wall says.
Customers fly in from California and drive from out of state to come to Black Rabbit, especially for its flash events that take over the neighborhood. International Sailor Moon Day (held last month) is always well-attended each summer. Wall and her team post flash art options on social media before events like this. Fans ascend from all over for a full day of tattooing, food trucks and more.
Black Rabbit also welcomes walk-ins every day from noon to 2 p.m., which isn’t common among tattoo shops. Wall says Black Rabbit will be repainting and getting new floors this summer. Be on the lookout for the studio’s refresh, as well as the possible addition of some new tattoo artists to the team.
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Josh Richey, co-owner of Heroes & Ghosts Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Heroes & Ghosts Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Heroes & Ghosts Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
Heroes & Ghosts Tattoo
3035 W. Cary St., heroesandghoststattoo.com
Josh Richey has worked at Heroes & Ghosts since it opened in 2008. He got his start in Detroit before moving to Richmond for a position in the new shop.
Richey says of the local tattoo culture and business, “It has grown substantially since I’ve been here.”
He’s one of many tattoo artists who have made the move to Richmond to earn a living in the body art industry. He was also one of the first artists on staff at Heroes & Ghosts when Grady and Susie Nash opened the shop in 2008, originally located where
Carytown Bicycle Co. is today. Richey became a co-owner two and a half years ago. Today, the shop has seven tattoo artists on staff, and he plans to hire another.
“We try to keep the environment here as mellow as possible while still putting out good tattoos,” Richey says of the staff.
The artists at Heroes & Ghosts are sought after for their distinct individual styles. Richey is known for his realism, portraits, landscapes, outdoor themes and wildlife. Corson Witham says he looked extensively for just the right artist to realize his nautical-themed sleeve concept.
“I spent weeks going through portfolios on Twitter and Instagram and thought Josh was the best of what I wanted,” Witham says.
On a warm Saturday in May, Witham sits in Richey’s room to get his ink. The room is filled with natural light spilling in from windows with a view of Cary Street. It’s decorated from floor to ceiling with Richey’s art, personal photos, animal skulls, ink and tools. Each room in the Heroes & Ghosts shop is customized by the resident artist.
“The more relaxed you are in your environment, the more creative you feel [and] the better the stuff is that you’re producing,” Richey says.
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Jesse Smith, owner of Loose Screw Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Loose Screw Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Artwork by Jesse Smith, owner of Loose Screw Tattoo (Photo by Joey Wharton)
Loose Screw Tattoo
3313-A W. Cary St., loosescrewtattoo.com
Jesse Smith of Loose Screw Tattoo started tattooing out of his home in Newport News two decades ago.
“I liked art, and this was another avenue of art I could explore,” says the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts graduate.
Smith specialized in what was called a “New School” style of tattooing in the ’90s. Today, he calls it “illustrative.”
“It’s all about paying attention to where the light source is coming from,” he says.
Take one look at Smith’s work, and an underlying theme presents itself. There is a story behind these tattoos, stretching deeper than the lines and designs. Specifically, Smith creates scenes from a fictitious world he calls Carkayous, located near the west coast of the Galápagos Islands. Here, he imagines the government conducting tests on animals, and, as a result, new animals and lifeforms are formed. As any good explorer would, Smith documents his discoveries — not on paper, but on bodies. One loyal follower, Will Gonzalez, says he found Smith via Instagram and has revisited several times to complete the bottom-to-shoulder work featuring an owl’s nest and characters Smith calls “Interleukins.” Loose Screw also carries a line of shirts, many of which are decorated with more of these fictitious scenes and creatures.
Smith uses Loose Screw’s space for a “meeting of the minds,” gathering other artists and tattooists in Richmond. On Monday nights, the group comes together to eat, drink and draw.
Loose Screw opened in 2011. The custom tattoo shop now has nine tattoo artists and four to five employees. Its labyrinth of private rooms is often avilable by appointment only, though the shop will place a sign outside when artists have walk-in hours.
Smith is also the principal organizer of the Richmond Tattoo and Arts Festival, now in its 26th year (the 2018 event is Sept. 28-30).
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Resident artist Barham Williams at Fable Tattoo Gallery (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Fable Tattoo Gallery (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Fable Tattoo Gallery (Photo by Joey Wharton)
Fable Tattoo Gallery
3202 W. Cary St., Suite 201, fabletattoogallery.com
As you climb your way to the second-floor shop housing Fable, you’ll understand why “Gallery” is part of its name. Works of art from the shop’s tattooists including Clutch, Jesse Vardaro, Daniel Farren and resident artist Barham Williams are carefully framed and placed along the staircase walls. Upstairs, portfolios are neatly laid on tables near the receptionist’s desk. The entire environment feels clean and pristine, without sacrificing creative flair, including a few specimens and oddities on display.
“We all tend to have our own personal clientele,” says Williams. “We’ve all been in Richmond, and our people followed us here.”
The newest tattoo studio to set up shop in Carytown, Fable opened a year and a half ago. Williams says the shop caters to a diverse clientele, including everyone from lawyers to restaurant workers and beyond. He says the shop is structured more like a shared artists’ space, with each artist making his own schedule and client list.
“I feel like it lets everyone do their best,” he says.
Clients seek out each Fable artist based on their style of tattooing. Clutch is known for his traditional Polynesian work, which features geometric patterning and Southeast Asian symbols. Farren has an illustrative style. Vardaro’s black-and-gray realistic creations are chilling, yet sophisticated.
Williams is known for his work in black-and-gray details, scientific illustrations, and floral creations. One client, Josh Layaw, says he found Williams by searching for two to three months on Instagram for his tattoo, which now covers most of his right arm. It’s
Layaw’s first tattoo. Lilies wrap around a Celtic cross signifying his children, his wife and a miscarriage.
Williams says, “It’s more relaxed here. We sit down with people, plan out tattoos. It’s not an in-and-out experience. We also want to make sure we offer a range of styles.”
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Amy Black (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Amy Black Tattoos (Photo by Joey Wharton)
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Amy Black Tattoos (Photo by Joey Wharton)
Amy Black Tattoos
3125 W. Cary St., Second Floor, amyblacktattoos.com
Amy Black’s tattoo studio feels more like a secret shrine tucked away above the city. In nooks and corners are clustered trinkets of inspiration from Japan, India and Tibet. Two photos of the Dalai Lama hang above Black’s desk, which is scattered with detailed sketches, markers and a light board. The walls are lined with her many accolades from Richmond magazine, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Style Weekly, “O” The Oprah Magazine, Huffington Post and others. She has become best known for her work tattooing women after a mastectomy.
“It all started by a woman cold-calling tattoo shops in the area,” she says. “I’ve now probably helped somewhere in the thousands.”
Sometimes Black re-creates a woman’s nipple to provide realistic comfort; other times she decorates surgery scars with flowers, cartoon characters and words. Black has also started to tattoo post-op transgender men, who often lose their nipples during the operation to remove breast tissue. Black founded the nonprofit Pink Ink Fund to aid people who need assistance with post-mastectomy reconstruction, as well as those seeking tattoos related to breast cancer or a BRCA diagnosis (a gene closely linked to breast cancer).
Known for her work outside of mastectomy tattooing as well, Black takes pride in providing a comfortable experience for all her clients. Her second-floor studio is designed much like an art gallery on purpose, she says. Clients seek her out for her private and personal approach to tattooing and come in on an appointment-only basis for the one-on-one experience in her studio.
Black, who studied fine-art oil painting at Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio, started doing administrative work at tattoo studio Alive Gallery in 1998 and began tattooing there in 2000. She took over as full owner of the space in 2005 and transitioned it into the shop it is today.
