Skin Art: Portland Tattoo Artist Following Her Dreams

Using skin as her canvas, tattoo artist and owner of Route 66 Ink in Portland, Angel Glutz is making her artistic dreams come true. With the use of a tattoo gun, permanent ink, her customers’ vision and a unique knack to translate someone else’s thought into a one of a kind piece of art, Glutz loves going to work every day.

“My entire life I had always wanted to be an artist, I just wasn’t sure how I was going to make that happen,” explains Glutz who started her tattoo apprenticeship when she was just 19. “People joke about starving artists, but that is a reality, with tattooing you can maintain a decent living and get to do art every day. It is a wonderful job and I love coming to work.”

Glutz, employs two other female tattoo artists and a piercing specialist. Her shop is the only all female tattoo establishment in Connecticut. Open seven days a week, from noon to seven p.m. Glutz’s shop, located at 321 Marlborough Street, has a quaint, comfortable atmosphere where her clients can relax while getting an extraordinary piece of permanent, personalized art, tattooed into their skin forever.

Depicting images of all shapes and sizes, from newborn foot prints to
dangerous animals, poetry and prose, to memorials or tribal symbols, the
history of tattooing began over 5000 years ago and has evolved immensely over
the years. What was once viewed as a symbol of a subculture in the United
States, worn only by sailors, outlaws, bikers and gang members, has now become as common as shirts and pants.

Thousands of people get tattoos every year to immortalize a special moment, person, pet, time or event in their lives. These permanent symbols are pieces of unique art that can’t be lost or taken away, adorned with beauty and artistic flare, this ancient art is a modern way for people to express themselves.

“Tattoos are not as scary as they once were portrayed to be,” explains
Glutz, who attributes the recent surge of tattoos in the mainstream, in part to
reality shows about the talent. “Contrary to what T.V. depicts, customers
should not expect to come in and get a sleeve done in an hour,” adds Glutz.

She says the amount of time it takes to create each tattoo depends on
its complexity and the day’s schedule. Her advice to those interested in
getting a tattoo for the first time, is to come down to the shop and meet with
the artists, find one they like and click with, check out their designs and
then collaborate about what kind of tattoo they want, where they want it, how
big and how detailed. The artists will then draw it up, show the customers
their design and let them know approximately how long it will take and how much
it will cost. The shop minimum is $60.

“Some tattoos can be done in an hour and others can take several years
of work to complete, it all depends on what the customer wants,” says Glutz,
who enjoys doing a little bit of everything from newcomers, to cover-ups, to
reworking and more. “If my clients leave here happy and feeling better about
themselves than I know I have done my job well,” adds Glutz, who had a man come
in to rework a tattoo he had gotten several years ago in prison, when she was
done with the tattoo he thanked her and said, “…before when people saw my tattoo
they knew where I had been, now when they see me they think that’s just another
guy with a great tattoo, so thank you.”

Those leery of the pain involved in getting a tattoo Glutz assures, “It
is nothing more than the pain of an itchy, irritated sunburn, nothing more.”
Her shop guarantees all their work and if customers ever need a touch up and
they have cared for the tattoo appropriately, it is always done for free with a
smile.

For more information about Route 66 Ink, call 860-342-2007.