Some clients at the new Inksmith Tattoo Studio carefully plan out every aspect of their tattoo. Often their chosen body art has a deep meaning, the commemoration of the birth of a child, or a marriage.

And then there are others, clients who just pop in on the way to the grocery store.

“Some people don’t care what design they get,” said owner James Barbosa. “They just want a tattoo. Sometimes they come in and say they want something small right now, and will come back for something larger when they have more time. I think some people just like the feel of the tattoo needle.”

He and his wife, Raina, began offering tattooing and body piercing services on August 19. But almost as soon as the doors were open at Inksmith, the phone started ringing.

“We were hoping to have time to prep, but people were asking to come the next day,” Mr Barbosa said.

So far, customers have ranged from a 65-year-old, to a 16-year-old who brought his mother because he needed her blessing.

The couple hired Jerric Miraflores, a licensed tattoo artist from the Philippines, to do the actual tattooing work. Mr Miraflores has more than a decade of experience in the industry, and has won awards for his hyperrealistic tattoos.

“The hardest thing about doing a tattoo is the designing,” he said. “You must be sure of the client’s design, because it will be on their skin for ever. I make sure that with every design I do, the client is happy.”

Mr Miraflores’s dream is to be a painter, but a fine arts education was financially out of reach. He was working as a graphic designer when his uncle invited him to work in his tattoo parlour in the Philippines, instead.

He quickly took to the art form, but has not given up on his dream.

“I am learning oil painting in my spare time,” Mr Miraflores said.

The Barbosas hope their modern techniques and equipment will set them apart from other tattoo studios on the island.

They will be offering hyperrealistic tattoos, UV tattoos – visible only under ultraviolet light, and QR code tattoos.

The QR code is the answer to the age-old question, what happens if I get tired of my tattoo? Through a subscription service, the QR code tattooed on your skin allows you to upload different images to a website. When you meet someone, they can scan the QR code and see what images you have uploaded.

“Some people put it on their skin in place of a visible tattoo,” Mrs Barbosa said. “We usually tell people about this when they come in for a regular tattoo. So far, a lot of people have expressed interest, but we have not done any here in Bermuda yet. Our customers say, maybe next time.”

The Inksmith Tattoo Studio uses modern methods to keep the pain of the process down, such as numbing creams and a wireless tattoo-machine pen kit that has replaced the traditional coil tattoo equipment.

“You can’t even hear the wireless machine when it is on,” Mr Barbosa said.

Inksmith, on the second floor of the Ratteray Building at 39 King Street in Hamilton, is quiet and clean. There are potted plants in a corner.

“We want to create a new image of a tattoo studio,” Mrs Barbosa said. “We want to give it a different vibe. It is very rewarding for the clients who have been here. They like the space and said it looks clean and safe.”

In the future, the Barbosas would like to add more artists to their studio.

Mr Barbosa loves talking to clients to find out what they want.

“Some people have a lot of meaning behind their tattoos,” he said.

The couple were married almost three years ago. On their first anniversary, he got a tattoo showing the date of their marriage and sunflowers, his wife’s favourite flower.

Beyond their creative business, both have media expertise.

Mrs Barbosa, a digital communications specialist at The Royal Gazette, never gave much thought to tattoos until she met Mr Barbosa, an electronic news gatherer or videographer, who shoots and edits video for the Bermuda Broadcasting Company.

But his enthusiasm for body art has turned out to be contagious. She got her first tattoos two weeks ago, three sunflowers in various stages of blossoming.

“It definitely won’t be my last,” she said. “But I have to wait until things are less busy at Inksmith.”

Inksmith is open every day from noon to 8pm. The Barbosas are also available at other times, on request.

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