Body is a canvas

“This year I did a girl jumping off a cliff with a mirror of her evil face falling into a shark’s mouth”

Human body can be used to display art.

From simple and extravagant to dynamic and dreary, P.E.I. tattoo artists have seen it all this year.

Patrons young and old flocked into tattoo parlours across P.E.I. this year, making it an extremely busy year for tattoo artists, who, like Aron Scott and Griffen Dunsmore, are now being booked months in advance.

Even Christmas gift cards for tattoo appointments, Scott says, have doubled from last year.

Scott and Dunsmore are tattooists at Artist’s, Ink in Summerside and saw many fascinating and unusual ideas come through the doors this year.

“This year I did a girl jumping off a cliff with a mirror of her evil face falling into a shark’s mouth,” said Dunsmore.

A peculiar piece, she says, but one of the many she has done that she’s proud of.

She hasn’t done many odd tattoos, but says: “If you want bacon and eggs somewhere on your body, we’ll do it.”

Scott hasn’t seen many bizarre ideas roll through the doors this year either, though he wouldn’t shy away from doing something wild.

“People don’t typically get outlandish things,” Scott says, “but it’s fun to do those weird ones because it’s something completely new.”

“I finished a nautical half sleeve that ended up being published in a boating magazine in the United States,” Scott says, “And there were three consecutive days where I did cow tattoos.”

Rebechka Essimbre of Eternal Dragon Tattoo in Charlottetown hasn’t worked here for long, but notices trends among her clientele.

“Atlantic Canadians get a lot of nautical stuff, but infinity symbols were huge this year. Everyone and their dog got one,” Essimbre said.

She spent many hours this year working on touching up old tattoos, working on smaller pieces and cover-ups.

As always, Essimbre says, skulls were ever popular this year, maybe more so than before.

Essimbre is no stranger to the pain of a needle herself and admits she likely gets the more strange and wild tattooed than any of her clients.

“I’ve been getting tattooed every week this year,” she says, as she pulls up her pant legs and revealing a variety of demons, gods and monstrous figures that reach from her ankles to her neck.

“People ask me how many hours and dollars go into it and I honestly have no idea.”

CODY MACKAY/THE GUARDIAN Tattoos can come in beautiful colours or maybe just all black, but to some people they are all beautiful works of art and the body is a living canvas to display that art. What goes onto the body is limited only to the artistic imagination. Tattoos are...

CODY MACKAY/THE GUARDIAN Griffen Dunsmore of Artist’s Ink in Summerside, works away tattooing a butterfly on one of her client’s lower back recently.