ARTIST’S INK

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ARTIST’S INK
Custom Ink: Zoey Taylor makes sure she’s surrounded by beauty at her tattoo parlor

Zoey Taylor, owner of The Warren Tattoo, draws a distinction between the “street tattoo” parlor offering walk-in service and a standard choice of designs, and a custom design studio such as her own.

Taylor, a former painter who found her way into tattooing almost 20 years ago, has a singular, atypical style. Her upscale location on West Hollywood’s hip Sunset Strip and unique designs make her a good fit for the evolving tattoo business.

Rates among the tattoo artists in her shop vary with their experience. Taylor charges by the hour, a flat rate of $500 for two hours, which may include consultation and design work. In general, she said clients book four hours minimum.

Clients have included Los Angeles Lakers part-owner Johnny Buss, and performers Cyndi Lauper, Mel B and Joey Fatone.

Taylor said that in recent years she has seen tattoos go more mainstream with a substantial growth in clients over 40, including women. She said that in recent years, she’s tattooed more doctors, lawyers and grandmothers than 15 or 20 years ago.

“Nineteen years ago, most women who got tattoos got something they could hide,” she added. “Whereas that’s, in most cases, not a concern anymore because most jobs and industries are not going to fire you for having something on your arm.”

She also noted that she’s seeing more people with tattoos featured in advertisements.

Not surprisingly, Taylor does not much care whether she’s part of a trend toward high-end tattooing. She’s found a niche that suits her personality. “When I’m painting or drawing or water color or anything like that, I’m doing it for myself. Even if it’s a commission, it’s a very personal experience,” she said. “When I’m tattooing, it’s almost more like helping somebody else visualize their own vision or transformation.

“It’s hard to explain, but you don’t get that from any other medium.”

Taylor’s tattoo parlor is a physical manifestation of her desire to beautify her surroundings.

“I think I need everything around me to be pretty,” Taylor said during a recent visit from the Business Journal. “If you look around, there isn’t a single thing that’s, ‘Oh, that looks like trash, but it’s important.’ Even the Kleenex box has to be hidden under something that’s gold. (It’s) the room I’m going to be sitting in all day. I need every single corner of it to be pretty.”

The same might be said of her bouffant hairstyle and whimsical clothes, a vintage assortment that would do a 1950s prom queen proud. “What I’m wearing needs to make me smile when I pass a mirror,” she said. “It’s not like I try to maintain a certain style. I just do whatever makes me happy.”

The look is not just Taylor’s office attire. Don’t expect to find her replacing the petticoats, circle skirts and heels with flip-flops, sweats or jeans on a weekend. “I don’t have any,” she said, wide-eyed.

Her business clothes are, however, appropriate for her off-hours passion — swing dancing. At home, she keeps the middle of her living room free of furniture for dance parties. She takes group lessons and dances with a jitterbug team. On Saturday nights, Taylor gets a private lesson in the tattoo parlor after the shop closes.

Warren Tattoo is also filled with, appropriately, rabbits — all sort of rabbits, like Beatrix Potter on steroids — mixed in with vintage electronics, vinyl albums, religious icons and honorary awards from the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as other law enforcement memorabilia to show her proud support for public servants she believes don’t get enough praise from the community.

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