This place is the sickest tattoo shop I have ever been to. I know there are some other good shops out there, but this place is the real deal. One of the reasons we picked this spot was because of how many friends and randoms recommended this place. BTW, our visits to Altered State Tattoo weren't for me, but for my girlfriend...who, if I am being kind, is wicked hard to please. Luckily the art has come out great so far. When it's 100% done I will post pictures of the ink...
Speaking of ink, there are a bunch of great artists here-all with 20+ years of experience, but in my opinion, the best artist is that of Michael "Pooch" Pucciarelli. I guess the choice comes down to what your individual style is, but we really liked some of Pooch's darker themed stuff. He also has done art for the band moe. and has done everything from 3-D art projects to prints, to musical instruments...seems like he was born to be an artist. In fact he has a crazy portfolio (I'm sure some of it's online somewhere) but I got to see a lot of it first hand through friends that swear by him so while there were some other great artists at Altered State, we were all about Pooch.
A few words about the shop. Nicole, the chick that manages the place is as cool as the backside of my pillow! She knows her shit; she is fun to talk with and was great about making us feel comfortable as we wanted to do this right. We had budgeted time to get work done over a few sessions (still to be finished), and I for one didn't want to be cooped up some tiny shanty of a shop...Altered State is nothing like that. I kind of look at this place like a really cool art gallery that is laid out a bit like a high-end barber shop; instead of the little rooms-all the artist are on one floor with ample space between chairs which I imagine is so they can talk and even inspire one another and it gives off this collaborative vibe that we really enjoyed...after all some people literally spend days getting work done.
So far the artwork has been sick and I really know this is going to be finished up nicely when it's done. I was thinking about that and realized I had to give Pooch and his fellow artists props for what they have done. I am not being hyperbolic when I say Altered State is the Shangri La of tattoo shops and I am glad we took our time to find both the right studio, and the perfect artist. Hell, even if you are not looking to get inked-it's worth a look see as I said-this place has a lot of cool ass stuff, the people are cool and if you are even considering body art-I'd say you would be crazy to not at least consider this place. Looking forward to our next visit!!! read more