Gregory Rowsell has no idea how many tattoo parlours exist in Corner Brook and he could care less.
Rowsell, a native of Robert’s Arm, is the owner of the newest tattoo shop in the city — Archaic Tattoo at 74 Broadway.
Rowsell doesn’t see any reason why he can’t add to the flavour of what’s available in the city because he knows everybody has a different eye for what they want and he can fill a need for those who are into what he creates.
“Everybody got their own taste and everyone wants their own style,” the bespectacled 28-year-old said from his tattoo shop Friday afternoon.
Rowsell said a tattoo shop is no different than any other business in the city. He said the city has a lot of restaurants spread out around and they are pretty busy and people choose where they want to eat.
He hopes they will consider him as an alternative when to comes to those seeking some ink.
Rowsell, who moved to Corner Brook in the summer of 2018, has been open for business for only a week so he’s trying to getting settled into his new digs.
He has been working as a tattoo artist for the past nine years. He has worked in a number of tattoo shops before but this is his first time running his own shop.
He describes himself as a self-taught artist who honed his craft by working on “whoever would give me a little bit of free skin”, but he has three years of shop experience behind him and he is confident in his work.
He figures he’s done a thousand pieces of work since he took a hobby to a business and he has no idea how many tattoos he has on his body because he said he got to the point where he had so many that he stopped counting.
He likes to do traditional work and has a preference for walk-ins and he’s a fan of flash.
“I like to stick to the big, bold, bright colours,” he said.
