TAMPA, Fla. — Tattoo artists across Florida have been putting their tattoo guns down and picking up their paintbrushes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the pandemic has businesses across the country closing their doors, people can still support artists online.
Tattoo artist Jon Larson said he thinks adapting to change is in the genes of most tattooers.
Larson works at Bed of Roses Tattoo. He said that early reports of COVID-19 raised eyebrows for him and his coworkers.
“So, we immediately implemented changes at our shop,” said Larson. “We kind of beat Governor DeSantis to the punch about a week or so ahead of time, just because we have a lot of foot traffic. So, it's, you know, it's not like we need to be told to do the right thing.”
While they were concerned about closing their shop, they made it a priority to let their clients know what their next step was.
“In that case, I felt like I needed to reach out to people and let them know that immediately, you know, it's probably better. Most everybody was pretty, you know, understandable,” said Larson. “I think in this case, probably a lot of folks were concerned about maybe being able to afford the tattoo. So, I think maybe it was a good call to make because it made the choice easy for them to, you know”
During this time of uncertainty, Larson is taking advantage of the time to focus on his creativity and sell artwork online.
“So, I think I'm lucky because I have, you know, some fun talents that I can put to use. Just to pass the time. And in addition to that, I can sell some of them. Sometimes people are interested in buying them,” said Larson. “I put everything on Instagram and you know, it doesn't fully make up for what would be the day in day out filling of appointments, but it's a little something and I'm very fortunate to have just a little something right now.”
You check out his Instagram to see his artwork here.
Local tattoo artist creating artwork amid coronavirus pandemic
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