BEHIND THE BODY ART
“ The biggest [ influence ] was my grandfather. He raised me. He moved from Virginia to Newport for the Navy and they made them all get their first names tattooed on their arms as identification. So, he had“ Fred” in a super-old sailor script and it was done on the ship in the’ 50s. That made me want to learn more about the history of tattoos, and it’ s why so many of mine are very American Traditional, like old Sailor Jerry.”
— CHELSEA DOLAN, COMPUTER SCIENCE UNDERGRAD AND BARTENDER AT JULIAN’ S AND KIMI’ S IN PROVIDENCE, @ NUNUR _ BIZ
More, Please
From flash sales to‘ Tiny Tattoo Tuesdays,’ you don’ t have to break the bank for your next tattoo.
Nowadays, it’ s almost rare to find someone with a sole piece of ink. Many catch the bug after their first tattoo. But sometimes you don’ t have a plan, and tattoos aren’ t cheap. Enter flash tattoos. This is when a tattoo studio offers discounted tattoos for a short period of time. The catch is that you get the image without any tweaks, according to Mirna Medrano, manager at F. I. N. A. O.( Failure Is Not an Option) Ink in North Providence. While many shops run one-day flash sessions around holidays, F. I. N. A. O. Ink offers monthly themed flash sales( think:“ Anime August”) where some or all of their seventeen artists come up with predesigned tattoos.“ The style, size and prices will depend on the artist,” says Medrano. October will honor spooky season.“ You can expect something horror- or Halloween-themed,” she teases.“ People love those— we always offer $ 31 flash tattoos when Friday the 13 th comes around.” You can also take advantage of Tiny Tattoo Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, from noon to 6 p. m., walk-ins can get up to three one-inch tattoos or one three-inch tattoo for just $ 60.“ You can bring your own design and it just has to meet the criteria of it being a very minimal outline style, so no color or shading, and placed on your arms or legs only,” Medrano says. 1998 Mineral Spring Ave., Unit # 2 and # 5, North Providence, 830-4740, finaoink. com
ABOVE: FLASH DESIGNS BY CATHERINE LABELLE, COURTESY OF F. I. N. A. O. INK. PHOTOGRAPHY OPPOSITE TOP: COURTESY OF 1001 TROUBLES TATTOO.
82 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I OCTOBER 2025