Ravyn's Ink can be your ink

WELLSVILLE: Needles and such sharp piercing items are not among my favorite things. This was in my mind as I walked to what became an interesting and surprising visit to 13 W Pearl Street in Wellsville. Signs in the hall presented a caring attitude by explaining where the business stood on matters, making it clear that while they support creativity and self expression, a person has to be old enough.

                So what’s the business? A tattoo and piercing studio named Ravyn’s Ink owned by Trevor Foust.  

Trevor Faust

                Tattoos have been around for generations. Centuries ago inks were painstakingly hand applied inks but in the late 1800s Sam O’Reilly looked at Thomas Edison’s autograph printer and envisioned a new way to tattoo.  O’Reilly modified the machine meant to engrave metals and tinkered to create the first modern rotary-driven tattoo machine capable of injecting ink about a millimeter deep into the skin, into the dermis, by tapping a few hundred times per minute.

                Now, with better needles and metal free inks, the machine chatters on in the hands of Trevor or Ethereal or other artists bringing tattoos to men and women for reasons as varied as the stories that we all live.

                Foust apprenticed with the first owner of Ravyn’s Ink and ran the shop until 2 years ago when it became his shop. The space is large with a dedicated piercing room, 2 tattoo rooms, a retail area and a large waiting area. There are also, notably, many places to wash hands, the main thing that the New York State Department of Health website encourages tattoo clients to look for.

                Foust has a stellar record of inspections done by the county health department. There has never been a problem and he will continue the focus cleanliness and using only American made sterile, single use needles and metal free, hypoallergenic inks.

                Some things were surprising. For one, there is no certification for tattooists. Like Faust, many work as apprentices for a year or two under a practicing tattooist and then work on their own. Some people start with an inexpensive online kit and practice on themselves but Faust said that starter kits are not good quality equipment or materials.

                Also surprising to me were the laws regarding tattoos and piercings. Ear lobes can be pierced on anyone, anytime. A toddler can have pierced ears if their parent wants. Piercing elsewhere in the head or bellybutton or other parts require that a person be at least 16 and come to the shop with a parent where they can pick up a document to be signed and notarized.  After the 18^th birthday, a person can be pierced wherever and whenever they wish.

                One piercing, in the ear, called the daith, is placed in the inner cartilage of either ear. It is said to run through a pressure point that, for some people, relieves or reduced migraines. Everyone is different and there is no guarantee that it will work or help but some people find relief as effective as medication without the costs. The idea is to permanently stimulate a pressure point but if it doesn’t give pain relief, it functions as jewelry and may be worth the try.

                The majority of piercings are in ears, noses, and belly buttons of women. Faust likes to use titanium so that pierced skin isn’t subjected to harsh metals.

                 Tattoos are more limited. The client must be at least 18. Period.  Those closer to 18 have an easier time because skin toughens over time and the process is more likely to hurt or to take more applications to hold color. Often people say that tattoos on the foot, the back of the head and the back hurt more than other areas but some people fall asleep during their tattoo though it’s hard to see the experience as soothing.

                Tattooing is popular in late April, presumably when tax refunds give people extra cash and in the summer when arms and legs are bare. Piercings are more popular in the winter.

                Ethereal is on staff to pierce or tattoo also. She likes doing detailed designs on people while Faust is happier doing big, bold pieces with defined lines and dark colors. One of his favorite tattoo clients was a dad who sent photos. This dad had a daughter’s name on each upper arm and he posed behind the girls with his arms held to show their names above their heads. His son’s name was tattooed on the front of his forearm so he posed with that arm hugging the boy. It’s a family tattoo project full of love.

                In the retail area, Sarah Dabney sells commercial costume jewelry including plugs for gauges. She also has industrial bars, commonly put through 2 holes in the upper ear. Other people offer necklaces, earrings and tapers. 

                Tapers were new to me. First, a hole is punched in each ear with a device that actually punches a hole. There are choices for the size of the starting hole. Once punched, a person puts in tapers to incrementally stretch the holes, called gauges, so that plugs will fit.

                Piercings, like tattoos, need to be carefully cleaned and tended until they heal in 2 or 3 weeks. They can be cleaned with sea salt or ointment like A&D or The Real Goo, a petroleum free ointment to help heal piercings or tattoos made by Ethereal.

                Unrelated to body art but for sale are stickers, knives, lighters, glass jewelry and pottery. Faust would like to sell more locally made items and invites people to come in and talk about it.

                Walk-ins clients are welcome and first timers might dabble in body art by choosing from the $20 wall or by finding a butterfly, starting at $40. Of course, people are welcome to bring their own designs and talk with a tattooist for pricing. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 2:30 to 8, maybe earlier, but built around their full time jobs.