Tattoo artist; not your everyday profession

[Rat-tat-tat]

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Patty's day starts out like most mothers'; she gets up, takes care of her two daughters and then heads off to work.

This is where Patty "Mistress of Pain" Loy-Colebank's day becomes a little different from most.

She arrives at her job as a tattoo artist at Thinkin' Ink and spends her time placing indelible ink on her clients and creating new art to be offered to those who desire tattoos.

"I've always wanted to be an artist, so I studied art and I would hang out at the (tattoo) shop in Fairmont. After a while the owner asked me if I wanted to learn how to tattoo," Colebank said.

Colebank has been working at Thinkin' Ink for over 16 years and has become dedicated to tattooing.

"You eat tattoos, sleep tattoos, drink tattoos, breathe tattoos, live tattoos," she said.

Her first customer, Robert Hunt, arrives at 10 a.m. and requests a Native American style armband. After looking over several pieces of art, they decide on the right one and begin the process.

Colebank makes a transfer pattern and places it on his arm several times to find the correct placement.

As they settle in to create their masterpiece, you can tell that there are some nerves in the air.

Hunt had never been tattooed before, and he was prepared for the worst.
"It's not that bad," Hunt said. "It's more annoying than anything."

After his tattoo was done and Colebank had taken a picture, he said he would definitely do it again.

Even though Hunt decided on art from a book, Colebank made it original by adding details that no other tattoo had.

"I think everyone is one-of-a-kind and deserves a one-of-a- kind tattoo," Colebank said.

A majority of the customers at Thinkin' Ink desire original tattoos, but some decide to choose a design from the multitude of books available.
"Some people just don't trust their intuition," she said.

While tattooing is one of her talents, the Mistress of Pain has other responsibilities at Thinkin' Ink. She also meets with potential customers and answers calls.

"The hardest part of my job is the telephone because people will describe what they want and point to a certain body part, and I don't know what they are trying to say," she said.

As she works, she tells stories of experiences of other tattoos she has done over the years.

"This guy came in about a year ago wanting a tattoo to memorialize his father. I drew a few designs and did the tattoo and never heard from him again. One day I was here and he walked in, saying that he wanted the tattoo. I thought it was him but it was odd. I drew up a design for him and when he came in again, I showed him the original design. He started crying and told me it was his twin brother's tattoo who had died in Iraq. He wound up getting his brother's tattoo and memorialized them both in one tattoo," Colebank said.

After all of her years of tattooing, she has heard stories of love, death, regret, mourning and joy.

She says she doesn't like to do tattoos of names because relationships rarely last after people have their significant other's name permanently affixed on their skin.

"We give a relationship six months after someone gets a name tattooed on them," she said. "People might just be trying to save a relationship. There are so many things you can do other than names to symbolize a relationship."
Even though she doesn't like name tattoos, she says she does have her husband's name tattooed on her arm.

Colebank is not the only one in her family in the tattoo business. Her husband is also a tattoo artist, and she says everything they have is from tattooing.
After her day at the shop is over, her work is still not done. After her daughters are in bed she works on designs for clients or maybe just something that she has in her head.

She says her daughters don't really think of tattooing because everyone they know is tattooed.

"The other day my three-year-old daughter asked me when her tattoos would magically appear and I had to explain that it wasn't how it worked," she said.
With the multitude of tattooing shows that are now on television, Colebank says they help with business, especially in the winter months when business is slow.

"They are good for giving people information and helping them come up with ideas," she said.

For The Mistress of Pain, tattooing is life and it's the only life she would have.
"You get paid to draw on people and talk all day," she laughs. "It's just great. Every person who walks in the door has a story."