Monday, Dec. 14, 2009

Life on Main: Tattoo artist loves sharing stories at Almighty Studio

At 4721 W. Main St., you'll find Lynn McNew, a 35-year-old tattoo artist who got his start as a punk rock skateboarder tattooing his friends in Centralia. He now operates Almighty Studio and is renovating the space above the parlor to be his home. Here's what he says about his life on Main Street:

"I love the art. I love talking to people, just different people. Every person that comes in is different. I like to hear their stories and I can tell them my stories."

"I mean when my kids were younger, I'd go for the parent-teacher conferences. I mean, all the parents and, you know, even the teachers sometimes were set back by the way I look -- which is perfectly normal, I'm used to it. But once I started talking to them and they understood I was there for my children and not there to do whatever they thought I was there to do then they warmed up to me quite nicely. And now even my son, he's in fifth grade, all of his friends, I think I'm probably one of the more popular dads in the class just because I am heavily tattooed. They see that everywhere now."

"You sit in a chair within 16 inches from somebody for hours upon hours, you know, you learn a lot about them. And sometimes you learn too much about them. But it's still a good thing."

"You have to pay for it with cash and with pain, that's how it is."

"There's absolutely nothing more that I'd rather be doing than sitting right here. Even if I'm not tattooing I love the atmosphere of the studio. I just love it. It runs in my veins."

See and hear Lynn McNew's story here.