COURTESY Megan McClain got her tattoo as a way to honor her late mother.

Megan McClain wanted to memorialize her mother after she died in 2005, so she created a tribute that would last a lifetime.

McClain had the images of two doves carrying a banner with her mother’s name tattooed across her shoulders.

“My mom was a Christian lady,” said McClain, 24.  “She’s now at peace, like the birds, and there are doves on her headstone. Everyone asked if I was going to cover it up on my wedding date, but I said ‘Hell no, it’s for my mom.’ ”

The stigma once associated with tattoos is fading fast.

“Tattoos have come a long way from the old school ‘Sailor Jerry’ flash tattoos,” said tattoo artist James Eubank. “There are some out there that make jaws drop (because) they’re so artistic.”

Eubank, an independent tattoo artist, said a shift in the way society views tattoos and the people who have them has helped body art become more accepted.

“The older generations thought that it was the criminals, the bikers and other degenerates of society that got tattoos,” he said. “Everybody gets them now. They can be as beautiful as anything put on a canvas.”

“It’s our generation,” McClain said. “We’re open about crossing the line on things and about making things the norm and pushing the envelope.”

“Tattoos are a piece of you and what you believe in,” she added.

Allan Davis got his first tattoo, a dragon, at age 16.

COURTESY All of Allan Davis’ tattoos have special meaning to him.

“It had symbolism to me,” he said. “It was something I wanted to symbolize for the rest of my life. It’s not something I won’t want at 60.”

Now in his mid-30s, Davis has more than 175 hours worth of tattoo work on his body from the neck down.

“It’s an art form and a belief structure for me. It’s my life story,” he said. “I don’t have a single tattoo that doesn’t mean something to me.”
Davis pointed out two recent additions as proof.

“My back piece and calves are a work in progress, but on my back is the archangel Michael throwing Satan out of the walls of heaven. It symbolizes the inner struggle to defeat our own demons,” he said.

COURTESY Davis' calves are a work in progress.

Davis doesn’t worry about people judging him based on his tattoos. Tattoo artist Jay Fish, of Acme Ink in the Highlands, said that people who judge usually don’t have tattoos.

“Those who have tattoos don’t care. It’s the people who don’t have them who care,” he said. “But those are the people who judge others based on their appearance, and if it wasn’t over a tattoo, it’d be something else.”

Jessica Kayrouz got her first tattoo at 18. She got her last name in Arabic on her back.

“My family is Lebanese,” she said. “My grandfather’s nephew, who is a monsignor in the Catholic church, came to visit from Lebanon and we thought it would interesting to see what our name looked like in Arabic.”

Kayrouz, her sister and two of her cousins got tattoos of the family name in Arabic.

“It’s a reminder of where we came from,” said Kayrouz, who also has two other tattoos.

COURTESY Jessica Kayrouz has a tattoo of an angel.

McClain, Davis and Kayrouz don’t fit the usual stereotype of who gets tattoos. McClain is a data manager at Executive Communications, Davis is a nursing student at Spencerian College and Kayrouz is a marketing assistant at Rodes For Him & For Her.

“Everybody and their mother gets a tattoo these days,” Fish said.

Eubank learned early on that anyone could come in to get a tattoo.

“When I was at my first tattoo shop, a guy came in wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. I thought he was trying to sell something; he looked like a lawyer,” Eubank said. “He asked if we could do some work for him. He came back the next day in shorts and a tank top, and (we realized) he was covered in tattoos from the neck down.”

Fish and Eubank are all for making their customers happy and for helping them in their quest for self-expression, but there are lines they won’t cross.

ASHLEY MEDLEY | Voice-Tribune Tattoo artist Jay Fish, of Acme Ink, said there’s no one “type” of person who gets tattoos nowadays.

“I will not do significant others’ names or face tattoos,” Eubank said. “I’ll do hands, feet and some things other artists won’t do, but I will not do those.”

“At the end of the day, it’s the customer’s decision,” Fish said. “But I will try to guide them away from some things (like a significant other’s name). I will not do anything racist or derogatory.”

They say once you have one tattoo, you always want more. McClain, Davis and Kayrouz all plan on getting more.

“I want to continue the bird theme,” McClain said. “My grandma’s last name is ‘Robin’ and I’d like to do something with that.”

“I’m thinking maybe a flower on my foot, but then I’m done,” Kayrouz said.

For now, Davis is content with finishing his latest additions.

Check out Ashley Medley’s Style File blog at ­voice-tribune.com for more insight from tattoo artists James Eubank and Jay Fish and for more photos of some jaw-dropping tattoos.