University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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.i F tw g il vin -W9 11. tattoo business. Fischer's father was a tattoo artist for 25 years. She tried different careers but said she .. enjoyed being a tattoo artist. Fischer said she .n'i' i fr ' ,w Q.. Jiclilfli . :ould spend time with her children, and she llOtl?1l'l gen .life l P y loved being a self-employed tattoo artist because tr- she could set her own hours, work at home, she :ould meet different people. She also said her ini u wwf' if :Hg 1' Teddy Fischer, tattoo artist and Topeka resident, applies a tattoo requested by Tom jordan, Topeka resident. jordan had his first tattoo put on his arm in August and was getting a second and larger tattoo of a floral pattern on his chest. photo James Cmdy job never got boring. Fischer said she would not tattoo any- one under IS years of age unless they were accompanied by a parent. She said her custom- ers ranged in age from 18 to 75. All customers had to sign a consent form. No law in Kansas prohibited an individual from getting a tattoo. Fischer said the pain of getting a tattoo differed from person to person. What might feel like a pin prick to one person might make another person cringe. She said she went to great lengths to let customers know about the Autoclave steril- ization method she used when giving tattoos. All needles and tubes were changed after each use, all pigment cups were disposed, and latex gloves were thrown away. She said that if a S t u d e n t L i f e Z l tattoo artist did not explain his or her sterilizaf tion method, then customers should leave. Fischer said she and her customers have had few problems with infected tattoos. Fischer said she had tattooed many KU students. She tattooed students with roses, eagles, yinfyang, skulls, greek letters and Jayhawks. The price of tattoos ranged from S20 to 5140. Fischer had seven tattoos of her own. l love all my tattoos, she said. All of my tattoos have wings. My mom says it's be- cause l'm 'flighty. ' Kirstie McGrath, Chesterfield, Mo., junior, got a tattoo about a year ago in St. Louis. She said her mother wanted to go with her and fcontinued on page 222

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C Permanent bod decorations reach new popularit on campus. by jennifer polson reation hen l entered Fine Line Tatoo, 29th and Massachusetts Streets, Topeka, l was shocked. A man was reclining in a chair while Teddie Fischer, wearing surgical gloves, repeatf eclly stuck him in the ann with a needle, then dipped the needle into colored pigment. She pierced his skin with the needle again. And S t u d e n t L i f e Z0 again. Fischer said the needle moved up and down quickly and pushed a colored pigmem into the skin about U32 inch deep. She said the body produced a small cyst around the pigmenl and kept it in the skin permanently. Fischer had given tattoos at for alm0SK five years. She had always been around the

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Teddy Fischer paints on Tom 1ordan's chest. Fischer worked on a difficult eight color tattoo. photo by james Cmdy fcontinued from page Z1 l get a tattoo also, but McGrath put her foot down and said she wanted to do it by herself. McGrath selected a heart tattoo, sat down in the chair and said she usweated bullets. She said all she Could think was, l can't believe l am doing this. She said when she looked back on the experience, it wasn't as bad as she thought it ry, .. K-my f. 'v . 4 U .U would be. She said she would consider getting another tattoo. Brian Qtte, Cverland Park senior, got his tattoo about Z U2 years ago in East Lawrence. He went to the tattoo studio with his Delta Chi fraternity brothers. They got fraterf nity letters or Crest tattoos. Qtte got a tattoo of Student Life Z2 f .. his greek letters in the fraternity colors, red ' yellow, on his ankle. I-le said he remembered having seco thoughts. 1 Ctte said he thought, Do I really WHIU to do this? ls this going to hurt ? He said he did not want to get anotlitl tattoo and said one was enough.