Custom tattoo — Cedar Falls, Iowa — est. 2016 18+ with ID
Three artists, one converted brick storefront, and no interest in talking you into anything. Custom work by appointment; flash and walk-ins Friday and Saturday. Permanent decisions, made carefully.
Mara lining the last panel of a blackwork sleeve. Shot in the shop, February 2026.
Healed pieces only. Fresh ink photographs like wet paint — we would rather show you what a tattoo looks like after it has lived on someone for a season.
Mara Voss — two winters of sittings, photographed healed at six months. The client's first piece. Start big; we dare you.
June Ahn — single-needle peony, healed fourteen months. Lines holding.
“A tattoo isn't finished when you leave the chair. It's finished when it heals — that's the photo that matters.”
— Mara Voss, blackwork
June Ahn — sweet-pea band, plus a typewriter line from the client's grandmother's last letter.
Mara Voss — peony over serpent, three sittings. Healed a year; still reads across a room.
Ren — pieces from all three chairs, out in the world where they live.
Three residents, three languages of ink. Know who you want? Say so. Not sure? Send the idea — we'll route it to the right hands.
Blackwork & ornamental — co-founder, at the shop since 2016
Heavy, deliberate black: geometric sleeves, ornament that follows the muscle, dotwork that keeps its edge for decades. Mara came up in Minneapolis, guested across the Midwest, and co-founded the shop to do large-scale work at a humane pace. Bring her a limb, not a coin.
American traditional — the flash wall is his
Bold will hold. Panthers, roses, daggers, mom hearts — drawn tight, packed solid, built to outlast trends and gym memberships alike. Dan draws every sheet on the shop's walls and takes most of the Friday–Saturday walk-in load. Fastest clean hand in the building.
Fine-line botanical — single needle, steady hands
Botanicals drawn from the ditches and prairies around us, worked in single-needle line so fine it reads like pencil. Quiet up close, unmistakable across a room. Small pieces, enormous patience, and a waitlist that's honestly worth it.
Straight numbers, no mystery. Every custom quote is confirmed in writing before you ever sit down.
A 1912 brick storefront on West 4th — scrubbed, certified, and set up so you can watch every seal break.
Pressed-tin ceiling, north light, and a floor you could eat off (please don't). Every station is torn down and rebuilt between clients: fresh barriers, fresh gloves, needles opened sealed in front of you. Ink is poured to single-use caps and never goes back in the bottle.
The autoclave gets spore-tested weekly and the logs hang on the wall, not in a drawer. The county has certified the shop every year since we opened. And every piece leaves with printed aftercare and a number you can text at 9 PM when you're sure it's "doing something weird." (It's healing.)
Every custom piece starts as pencil here — bring coffee, bring references, bring your maybes.
The brick does half our advertising.
Downtown, half a block off Main. Come by on a walk-in day and watch the room work.
410 Foundry Lane
Chicago, IL 60607
Street parking is free after 5 PM. Daytime, use the lot around the corner — two minutes on foot, and you keep your parallel-parking pride.
Consults are free, take about twenty minutes, and you leave with a real quote. Start with the form — or skip it and DM.