At a quick glance of Ransom Haile relaxing on his futon as he writes in his journal, most would never guess his life's passion. But as he lifts his arm to adjust the purple knit cap placed over his locks of gray and brown hair, the sleeve of his green and navy striped t-shirt pulls up and reveals a glimpse into what drives this man. \nTattoos of black roses and vines intertwine up to his shoulder, covering his entire arm. Few parts of Haile's body have escaped the tattoo needle, as 180 total hours of tattooing has turned his body into a work of art.\nWhen he lifts up the leg of his jeans, Haile displays a black portrait of an ocean scene complete with seaweed, shells and a countless number of designs that cover every inch of his skin. A pair of huge, angelic wings covers his back. The only parts of his skin that remain uncovered are his arms from the bicep down and his face. Haile said he keeps these areas clean so he can cover up and look conservative if necessary. \nSeeing how much work Haile has had done to himself might explain why he is the owner of External Design Tattoo Art Studio, 825 N. Walnut St., where he has been tattooing Bloomington for the past seven years. \n"It is the coolest medium to be creative in and one of the hardest," Haile said.\nHaile's 23-year career in tattooing began in Indianapolis. He said he got his start when he was reading Rolling Stone magazine and saw an advertisement for tattoo equipment. For Haile, the idea of permanent expression made an impact on him. \n"That what's scary about it," he said. "It's not something you can take off the wall and put another picture up."\nTattoo art has gained huge popularity in America since the early 80s. According to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, about 10 million Americans have tattoos, and the number of tattoo parlors in the U.S. has increased from 300 to more than 4,000 in the past 20 years. \nTen years ago, Skinquake Precision Tattooing & Body Piercing at 104 E. Kirkwood Ave. was the first tattoo parlor to arrive on the Bloomington scene. And since then, seven other Bloomington parlors have followed Skinquake's lead.\nSkinquake owner Brian Passwaiter said he remembers being somewhat of an outcast 15 years ago when he got his first tattoo of the grim reaper surrounded by bright orange flames on the inside of his right forearm. At the time, Passwaiter lived in Ventura, Cal., and said tattoos were unheard of and unacceptable.
Regret and removal\nWith the increasing popularity of tattoos, there is also an increasing number of customers getting tattoos and regretting them. \n"You'll find customers that love their tattoo, love everything about it and then a month later they have changed enough where they just don't relate to it anymore," Haile said.\nUniversity of Cincinnati junior Elizabeth Dickerson got a small purple and black butterfly on the small of her back when she was 19. \n"I did it to rebel against my conservative, proper parents," Dickerson said.\nDickerson, now 21, said she regrets getting a tattoo that has nothing to do with the type of person she is. The tattoo became such an embarrassment for Dickerson that she recently made the decision to have it removed. Dickerson's tattoo-removal treatment entails a visit to a dermatology clinic about every four to five weeks. Currently, she is on her second treatment and will probably need to have three more before it's gone. \n"They zap the tattoo with a laser light beam several times in sections of the tattoo, covering the whole tattoo," she said. "It takes about six laser zaps for my tattoo (to disappear)."\nDickerson said the "zap" treatment feels like someone snapping a rubber band hard on her skin and that the removal hurts a lot more and will take much more time than the tattoo itself. And the removal treatment has proved to be as tough on her wallet as on her skin.\nWhen Dickerson had the butterfly inked on her skin, she paid about $70. Now, to get it removed, she is paying $200 per session for a total of about $1,000. \nHaile said he always makes sure his clients know how permanent a tattoo really is. \n"It's definitely something that changes the way you see yourself and the way others see you," he said.\nHaile advises clients to wait until they absolutely have to have the tattoo before they go though with the process. Getting a tattoo is not decision that should be taken lightly, he said. \n"The difference between people with tattoos and without is that people with tattoos don't care if you have them or not," said Dave Herr, a Skinquake employee. "People who don't have them tend to be more reserved about them and judge more. (A tattoo) really changes how people look at you."
An expression of pain\nAside from the permanence, several other health risks are involved in getting inked. The biggest risk, Haile said, is the idea of cross-contamination. In most professional studios, this isn't a problem, as the artists make sure they sanitize all the equipment. But the customer should still be aware of the problem, especially if it is done outside of a licensed studio, which can increase the risk of infection. \n"It's like any cut you get on your body," Haile said. "It can get infected if you don't take care of it."\nOn top of infection and cross-contamination, there's another newly found health risk most people haven't heard of. \nAccording to Pain magazine, a trade journal for tattoo artists, last August a 21-year-old junior at UC Davis died after getting a tribal tattoo on his forearm. He had a heart disease called endocarditis, an infection in the lining of the heart most common to people who have had a damaged or diseased heart valve. The infection is caused when bacteria enters through the bloodstream and settles on the heart valve. In the case of the student, the tattoo proved to be source of the bacteria.\n"Piercing and tattooing are invasive procedures that leave the body more prone to infection, which can then enter the bloodstream and, if (endocarditis) or any other health abnormality is present, lead to death," said the Pain report.\nHowever, most people don't need to worry about dying after getting a tattoo, since heart problems must already be present before getting the tattoo will cause death. But experts believe it is something to take into consideration for people thinking about getting a tattoo.\nStill, in Haile and Passwaiter's experience, the biggest fear most people have when they walk into a parlor is not the heath risk or how permanent the tattoo is, but rather how much the tattoo will hurt.\n"You hear people all the time say it doesn't hurt, or that their tattoos didn't hurt at all, but it's all not true," Passwaiter said. "I'm still waiting for the one that doesn't hurt, but (the pain) is what makes it fun to do. If it wasn't scary, people wouldn't enjoy it as much. It makes you feel like you're getting away with something."\nBoth Haile and Passwaiter said they don't have any regrets about getting tattoos. For Haile, his tattoos have become a part of him, and he can't imagine himself without them. \n"Tattooing is such a creative and cool thing to do," Haile said. "I can imagine I will be doing this for quite a while"
