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Spring Hill gallery's work lives Ever After — on clients' bodies

 
Artist Steve LaMantia at Ever After Gallery in Spring Hill sketches a tattoo proposed by client Andrea Aardsma. The branch, from which a caricature panda hangs, hides a secret word. BETH N. GRAY | Special to the Times
Artist Steve LaMantia at Ever After Gallery in Spring Hill sketches a tattoo proposed by client Andrea Aardsma. The branch, from which a caricature panda hangs, hides a secret word. BETH N. GRAY | Special to the Times
Published Aug. 9, 2019

SPRING HILL — Like entering a haughty art gallery, this basic-black space pierced by spot lighting makes the skin prickle with anticipation. The marquee outside aptly reads Ever After Gallery.

In fact, the shop at Spring Hill and Linden drives is a tattoo studio. "Haughty" still applies.

"Most of us were artists first," said Michelle Gallo, one of three owners and eight tattoo specialists there, ages 26 to 45. Founding partners in 2003, Steve LaMantia left a career as a graphic artist, specializing in pencil drawing, and DeeDee Seruga holds a degree in advertising design.

"Everybody has different specialties," Gallo said, with styles ranging from neo-traditional and geometric, to watercolor-like and portraiture. Some of the artists have wait-lists up to six months long. The gallery was named Best of the Best tattoo studios in Tampa Bay in a June contest sponsored by the Tampa Bay Times.

Who are their customers? "Who isn't?" replied LaMantia.

"Police, medical professionals, people from all walks of life," Gallo said. Her oldest client chose her first tattoo, a tiny flower on her ankle, at age 99. The grandmother returned at age 100 for a butterfly and came back at 101 for a sunflower.

Ever After Gallery clients, who must be 18 or older, most frequently choose tattoos of water-related scenes, such as compasses and ships, as well as flowers and geometrics, most with "lots of color," Gallo said. Watercolorist Gina Fote stocks more than 150 hues in her palette of organic pigments.

The tattoo process begins with a consultation, at which a client proposes a subject, maybe brings photos and pinpoints a style.

"If they don't have ideas, they're not ready," Gallo said. "We don't recommend (a tattoo) if you're ever thinking of removal," because the laser process is "painful and expensive."

Andrea Aardsma of Scottsdale, Ariz., declared herself ready on a recent afternoon. Vacationing at Venice Beach, she took stock of tattoos she saw on fellow sunbathers and approached the person she deemed wearing the best ink. Its source? Ever After Gallery.

Aardsma booked an appointment for the following day, her mind set on a rendition of a panda. LaMantia drew the caricature critter hanging one-handed from a flowing branch.

"There's a name hidden in this," Aardsma confided with delight. LaMantia gave the 5-inch work immortality on her skin in about an hour.

LaMantia's effort demonstrated the process followed by his fellow artists. With the client's input, the artist sketches and adjusts a proposed tattoo on a computer. From drawing through application, a simple design may take as little as an hour. A vividly colored bird in a floral setting might require 10 hours, and a full sleeve or overall calf design might take several sessions over some 45 hours.

"It depends on the detail," Gallo said. Rates are $150 an hour.

A needle injects color into the skin.

"It's annoying," Gallo conceded, "but for most people, it's bearable, like a sunburn."

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Gallo described the procedure suites.

"It's like a doctor's office," she said. "We clean everything after each patient." Licensing requirements demand a safe and sterile environment. Each tattooist must meet licensing criteria.

The Gallery prides itself on quality work, setting it apart from tattooists whose "lines are inconsistent, images discombobulated, colors splotchy," Gallo said.

Many of the artists display trophies won and mementoes collected at conventions around the world where they've performed their skills. Recently returned from a Hawaiian showcase, the Gallery's talent will next be represented at the Tampa Tattoo Arts Convention in October.

Appointments can be made at Ever After Gallery by calling (352) 606-2639. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Contact the writer at graybethn@earthlink.net.