The Great Flagstaff Tattoo Crawl – Full disclosure: I am an old-school tattoo enthusiast. My mind was molded in a time when tattoos were reserved for sailors and outlaws. Nowadays, it seems like everyone and their mother has at least one tattoo. My child recently remarked, “Dad, you have old man tattoos.” To which I responded, “What’s your point?” At 61 years old, not only am I her old man, but an old man in general.

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The following antics (lol) were crafted as a means of exploring every tattoo parlor located within Flagstaff’s city limits. In doing so, I discovered an incredibly rich history of tattooing in the area. Flagstaff has been a hotbed for body art since the late 1990s. Likely due to the patronage of tourists combined with a constant influx of adventurous young folks attending NAU, as well as the growing acceptance of tattooed skin at the end of the 20th century. The days of job postings stating “No Visible Tattoos” have come and gone.

Initially, my plan was to get five letters – MCLMM – on my left shoulder. I had intended to have each letter done by a different artist, all on my December 15th birthday in 2019. However, the owner of Burly Fish Tattoo and Piercing, Patrick Sans, put a damper on my idea. “Sounds like a real recipe for infection,” he warned. “With no control over sterility, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.” After considering his wise words, I decided to switch over to the installment plan instead.

When it comes to tattoos, it’s essential to do your homework or risk ending up with a disastrous ink blunder. A little investigation led me to Blue Benson at Woody’s Old School Tattoos and Piercings, who was more than willing and qualified to take on the initial work. In-house piercer Dan Duke even vouched for Benson’s skills, stating that he could draw a straight line (“Blue did most of the geometric work on my head”). After Benson outlined the letters and shaded the “L” with red fading downward to black, he confidently declared, “There’s your Huckleberry.”

While waiting for that piece to heal, I continued my research. The best way to get the inside scoop on any town is to talk to a born-and-raised local. For instance, Rodney Butcher, Head Honcho at Black Bar Tattoo, informed me that to get the most reliable information, I needed to chat with David Maestas at Sacred Ground Tattoo and Piercing. Butcher filled in the initial “M” to match Benson’s hues spot on.

I determined that the distance between the first and last “M” was sufficient to ensure a hygienic task completion without any delay. The responsibility of performing this task was given to Angie Cosette at Black Bar, as Old Whitey desired a female touch to balance the male energy in the other letters. However, shortly after, Cosette relocated down the hill to the griddle. Therefore, if you’re looking for a touch of feminine energy in Flagstaff, you can visit Mirror Gallery and request Hailee Marie or Jara Nez or track down Kate Penn at Turquoise Tiger.

Several weeks later at Sacred Ground, David Maestas, a 56 years old tattoo master, applied color to the “C” on my arm while recounting tales of a misspent youth in Flagstaff as a bona fide, sawed-off shotgun-wielding juvenile delinquent. Maestas, who started tattooing at the tender age of fourteen using a sewing needle wrapped in thread as an ink reservoir, refined his craft while serving time in the State Penitentiary after committing major offenses. He mastered the Chicano single-needle photorealistic style, which had been perfected in East L.A. by tattoo legends Freddy Negrete and Jack Rudy. This is a true story, and I swear on a stack of Bibles.

One more to go. Landis Bahe completed the final “M” just before the March 2020 lockdown, bringing the project to a close. Bahe has a strong inclination towards genuine cultural artistry, particularly skateboard decks featuring Native American themes. At the time, he was working at Tat Fu, but unfortunately, that establishment went out of business due to the pandemic. He has since found a new home for his craft at Mirror Gallery.

To earn some bonus points, I had a classic panther tattooed on my left forearm using flash created in the style of Pinky Yun, a stalwart of Hong Kong Jimmy Ho, by Ken Williams of Floating World Tattoo on 4th Street. Prior to the pandemic, this shop was the newest tattoo parlor in our town, but since then, several others have popped up. Ken, a die-hard Luddite, left town a few months ago on a holy mission of bootleg tattooing. Meanwhile, Jerimiah Lanza, Ken’s protégé, continues to hold the fort at Fourth Street Tattoo’s old location here in Flagstaff.

Before we conclude, let’s take roll call, March 2023, East to West, North to South: Black Bar, Underground Inked, Fourth Street, Sacred Ground, Woody’s, Turquoise Tiger, Flagstaff Tattoo Company, Burly Fish, Mirror Gallery, The Wilbury, and Avail. Count ‘em on both hands and add one little piggy. Then pay your money and take your choice. Old School or Art School. Why wait?

So, as promised: the meaning of MCLMM. No, it’s not Roman numerals. But me being a gentleman and all, you’ll have to Google it for yourself. It’s a Pulp Fiction reference. Not a race car in the red. Not the Guns of Navarone. Not Superfly TNT. If them hints hasn’t done the trick, try “Brain Detail” on YouTube. ‘Nuff said.

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