I was visiting friends in the area and decided I wanted to get a tattoo. Was driving down Nolensville Pike When I noticed Avenging Art and decided to check it out.
First off, I had to park behind the building and apparently interrupted a pot-smoking session (I have no issue with what people do on their own time, but I will explain in a moment why this was a problem for me). The back area of the place was dirty, littered with discarded furniture (there was even an old pool table there) and the back door area was covered with really bad graffiti. NOT a very good first impression. I walked to the front and entered the place, and immediately thought that I had entered a comic book store. There were toys and posters everywhere that were comic book-related. I had no issue with that- It seems to be the theme of the place, so I get it. But the place itself looked run-down. Whoever painted was pretty bad at it, and it looked as if the flooring was half-assed put down (I do interior remodeling, so I notice these things). Most of the trim in the waiting area was missing, and the ceiling in one area looked as if it was going to fall in. There were a few folding chairs and some office chairs to sit in, but no couch or anything comfortable for waiting. An older man greeted me and immediately apologized for the appearance of the place, stating that the place was a "work in progress". He seemed really embarrassed, but was nice enough. He showed me a portfolio of his work (which had very clean, well-done tattoos in it). I talked to him for a bit about the tattoo I wanted to get (an Asian dragon on my calf). Mark seemed very confident that he could design the tattoo for me, and asked me to come with him to his booth where he had a computer, stating that he wanted to Google some dragons and see if he could come up some reference to base a design on. His booth was clean enough, but there was wall paneling being used as flooring (I have never seen anything like it EVER in a tattoo shop or anywhere else, for that matter) with a plastic office mat over that. Again I noticed how poor the walls and trim were painted (the walls were gray and it felt a bit like a prison cell in there). The artist Googled some dragons and we talked some more about what I wanted to get, then I asked about pricing (his quote was very fair but not cheap). I got a business card and told him I wanted to check a couple of other shops out. Before I left I asked to use the restroom. Again,, the flooring and paint were horrible (the walls were a hell-ish green and black and it was really dark in there), but it seemed clean. As I was leaving I saw some people come from out of the back of the building. They were the people who had been out back when I had first arrived. They all looked high, and as I left I asked the artist who they were. He said that one of them was the other tattoo artist and another was an apprentice. Mark seemed to be the only one who was not buzzed.
I was not pleased with the appearance of the place. It seemed clean (in the front, and in the booth I saw), yet poorly maintained. If there were more concern by the owner (the artist I spoke to said he was a subcontractor so I know the appearance was not on him) to make the place look a bit nicer, I would have considered getting tattooed by the artist I talked to (no way on the other guys), but the atmosphere made me uneasy. With the exception of the artist I talked to, everything about the place made me unsure about getting a tattoo there. I ended up getting my tattoo elsewhere. read more