The Civilized Gypsy’s Tattoo Parlor

I got my first tattoo there yesterday and let me just say, this place is awesome. The atmosphere, the décor, the artists — all on top of their game. The place looked very clean and every employee greeted me and made me feel welcome. Niccole Powers did my tattoo. I got a superman symbol chest piece. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as I anticipated and Niccole was nice and fun and let me break anytime I needed to. It was all more than reasonably priced, they had water for me to drink, and private areas to check myself out as we went along. Niccole is the only female tattoo artist in town (fun little fact) and she I’d extremely talented in what she does. I felt comfortable and I had a wonderful time. I will definitely be recommending this place to others and will be back for more tattoos in the future. In summary: Niccole is awesome, sweet, and extremely talented, the atmosphere is on point, the whole place is incredibly clean, and every employee made me feel welcome. Five stars for Civilized Gypsy Tattoo Parlor!

The Civilized Gypsy in Champaign is run by a stoic Native American lady who can’t seem to hire good help. The Irish (English?) Tool who answered the phone seemed to know my voice right away.
Immediately we have to play the Slam the Stranger game, and if she doesn’t «play her cards right» I lose and don’t get the privelege of coming into the shop. He pretty much dismissed my comments and practically hung up on me. So… Civilized? maybe not so much.
Does he hate his boss? Doesn’t he like working? Maybe he’s a volunteer?
Now, to be perfectly honest, I’m not an Irish Seamstress who just randomly gets a 19– year old head tattoo, and to be fair, my open-​faced West Coast Gregariousness is often misinterpreted as submissiveness.
However, I’m not going anywhere, and I haven’t reached baseline yet to be able to host the party I wanted to have when I first rolled into town.
To be fair, I may have an old reputation of having skipped an apprenticeship myself, back in the late 90’s in Oakland, so I know what it’s like to have been hated for being an upstart. Obviously I’ve moved on, but my love for tattoos abides. I’m not fully covered yet, and the work is finally coming in. Soon I will be able to start collecting art from the gorgeous artists around town here, and trust me, they are damn good.
I’ve got a bid with Tilt @ New Life, and have been speculating a back piece (no deposit yet tho) for the horror artists at Revolt. I’m not trying to seem the eager beaver here, but I have a lot of potential, though my pockets are empty at this time.
Someone needs to understand what it means for the longevity of a business if one is to keep going in these hard times. Cutting out a person at the counter level will only dig you in deeper with a poor reputation.
I’m not moving away soon.
I’ll let you know when I have the wine and cheese party, my gallery looks really good.