Grim Reaper

Time’s always slipping away. In fact, that’s one of the most appealing things about a tattoo, isn’t it? We take them with us when we go. Something special about a form of personalized jewelry that can’t be passed down or stolen. The pull of making your art a part of you notwithstanding, we all have lost sleep at some point or another thinking about the impending swipe of the Grim Reaper’s scythe. What better way to face that fear than to pay homage to the fact that fearing the inevitable is just plain silly. Less morbid fascination than acknowledgement that life should be lived to fullest due to its fleeting nature, depictions of the Grim Reaper are always welcome at Lighthouse Tattoo, like an old friend.

Margot Robbie Harley Quinn Portrait Tattoo

Look, we’re just gonna totally overlook that second Joker movie, our Harley Quinn is Margot Robbie, as we’re sure you’ll agree. The Suicide Squad Harley captured so much of the comic’s personality and tone, coupled with a bit of the old ultraviolence and a big-assed hammer, what more could you ask for? Nothing knocking Lady Gaga’s portrayal, her singing chops were necessary for the role and for that particular role, so was the only choice to be made, but damn, can we get a little bit of the old Harley Quinn back?

Owl Portrait Tattoo

Who doesn’t love owls? Animal portraits are a staple in the tattoo game, and none better can be found than the animal portraits done by Lighthouse Tattoo’s own realism specialist Will Wood. This particular piece is part of a Native American sleeve-in-progress, the completed work we’ll be sharing with you in the coming weeks upon its completion. Interested in getting something wild? Fill out our ‘Set an Appointment’ tab on this site and we’ll reach out to schedule an appointment with this artist.

Artist Spotlight: Amanda

Amanda has been a part of the Lighthouse Tattoo family for about 18 months now. She has fostered a life-long love of art by getting her degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Studio Art and seeking out the single best tattoo mentor she could find in master tattooer Will Wood. She has shown her artwork at her alma mater and the Frist Art Museum in Nashville,

Over the last 18 months we’ve watched her meteoric rise as her technical tattooing skills rose to meet her considerable artistic ability. Combined with a growing client base eager to see her spread her wings, Amanda is slated to become the next big thing Lighthouse Tattoo has to offer.

Artist Spotlight: Grace

Although Grace has been tattooing at Lighthouse Tattoo for only a year, her dedication and fast progress belies the skillset of a more seasoned artist. Having cut her teeth on traditional America-style tattooing (part and parcel of every young artist’s instruction at Lighthouse Tattoo), Grace has fostered a love for Neotraditional and New School tattoos. The`bright, bold color work of her tattoos run in a stark contrast to her constant R.B.F. and gothic-light vibe, but don’t let the vibe fool you, Grace is a sucker for color bombed artwork that pops!

The Best of it's Kind

What makes something the best of it’s kind? I mean, how do you determine that value-set? What’s best for some may not be what’s best for another and that’s what we’d like to determine, as far as tattoos go.

For instance: Is the best car in the world the fastest? The best looking? Or the one with the best handling and ride? Or are you just looking for a good price and a reliable daily driver? The prized possession of your favorite rock star or professional athlete may break the bank for the typical American. I mean, a Lamborghini is super nice to have, but not if you’re living in it. Turns out a super car is a shitty apartment. It’s all in the metrics.

‘Metrics’ you say? ‘What the fuck is that?’ you say? Metrics are simply the things we use to measure any given value. For some of us, price is an issue. For all of us, value is a big deal, we don’t care as much about how something costs as long as what we’re getting is ‘worth it.’ Metrics are the categories by which we determine whether or not the thing we’re buying is worth it. And largely those metrics are based on our particular situation at the time.

That car? Sometimes you just need to get there bro. Not fast, not in style, you just can’t be late to work or you’re gonna get fired for being late to work again and then you’re going to end up homeless and you can’t have that because then Sheila will leave you and you can’t have that because, honestly, Sheila got that ASS bro. You know what I’m sayin’.

But sometimes you’re at a drift competition because you watched The Fast and the Furious part 2 one too many times and while tires aren’t held in high regard, coming in at first place is. And then there’s straight-line speed. Drag racing. The quarter mile. Or maybe you think an F-type Jaguar is the most beautiful thing ever made, or maybe a Corvette Stingray.

You see, the metrics you use to measure a thing matter. Same goes for tattoos.

What makes Lighthouse Tattoo the best? Let’s look at those metrics.

Ability: Lighthouse Tattoo has the most capable artists in the field today. Will Wood has won every tattoo award category that exists at one point or another, so much so that we don’t have space to display all of his trophies and plaques. So many of them are simply filling boxes in the basement, a testament to something even the untrained eye can see, Will is one of the single best tattoo artists in Middle Tennessee.

Price: We work hard to keep our rates low for our customers. We do this because of our love for this artform and we understand that times are tough all over. You’ll find our prices competitive with anyone around and sometimes people are shocked to see how reasonable our rates are. We do this by offering a tiered skill level of more than a dozen artists at Lighthouse Tattoo, everything from the Apprentice level to Master Tattooer. Which leads us to our next metric.

Availability: Lighthouse Tattoo is open seven days a week, from noon to 10pm. We have more than a dozen artists to choose from. We do this in order to keep our availability for walk-in tattoos and next-day-or-so bookings high. We understand that many people want to get something done quickly and we seek to fulfill those desires as often as we can. The more complex or larger a piece is, the more forethought will be required, of course, and setting an appointment is always preferred.

Customer care: Lighthouse Tattoo has more than 500 five star reviews on Google, and for good reason. We answer phone calls, respond to messages and emails, we’re open seven days a week for consistent hours, and we work with people to make sure all reasonable requests are met. Combine that with our no B.S. policy and you get a pleasant, straight-forward way of doing business that is centered on a positive client experience. This does come with a caveat: We don’t well tolerate people who try to mistreat us. This should come as no surprise but we thought it’s be a good idea to put it here anyway. The vast, vast majority of our few negative reviews has been by people who have never been tattooed or pierced at Lighthouse Tattoo and got angry because we wouldn’t give them something for nothing. We recommend checking those reviews out as well as the good ones, as the responses are pretty hilarious!

People: Along the lines of Customer Care, we’d like to take the time to highlight the people who work at Lighthouse Tattoo. Handpicked for their personality and trained to offer a uniform level of service across the entire shop, we recognize that some people just get along better due to similar personalities or demographics and we’ve worked hard to build an artist corps that is diverse and approachable.

In all, Lighthouse Tattoo strives to provide the best artwork, pricing, availability, customer care, and personal experience around. We invite you to examine our portfolios before visiting the shop and seeing for yourself!

Valkyrie

Jeffrey is a big dude. Like World’s Strongest man big or NFL linebacker big, ‘guy who could take out the whole bar if he got mad’ big. BIG big, so please understand that this upper arm tattoo of a Valkyrie that he got isn’t quite finished, as this single-day session would almost completely cover a smaller person’s BACK.

Okay, maybe he’s not THAT big, but this Valkyrie is definitely one for the storybooks. We’ve been doing quite a few of these Norse mythology/history-inspired pieces over the last couple of years really and it’s not hard to see why. The emotion and energy in the pieces adds a more dramatic element than just the well-applied art. The mix of those two major components make a piece like this all the more compelling, a real conversation piece.

Something like this on a fella the size of Jeffrey? It’ll make you give him a little extra space, which he definitely needs!

Wolverine

Marvel Comics has given us a slew of lovable and unique heroes throughout the years, and Wolverine is certainly no exception. First debuted in 1974 alongside the Hulk, he’s been ripping and tearing through our hearts for decades. He’s a personal favorite of ours, as he shares a sentiment we tend to admire. “I'm the best there is at what I do.”

Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy: or rather, what Harry Potter could have been. Living with the Dursleys, no one could really have blamed him. I mean, who is Draco Malfoy but the Dudley Dursley of Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Think about it. You take a child and put them in the worst-case scenario for development and what else would you expect?

But there’s something different about Harry Potter, isn’t there? A courage, definitely; and talent, yes, plenty of that. But there’s something else that contributed to Harry’s success that matters more than these two things, important though they may be to his success. What is that’s you ask? His Friends.

Some may be seen as merely allies: Minerva McGonagall; Severus Snape, but what is an ally if not a friend? Others are easy, brave Ron; the ever-capable Hermione Granger; and the stalwart winter soldier himself, the sword of Godric Gryffindor-wielding Neville Longbottom. Still others come from an unexpected place, the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, sweet and strong. And let us not forget the formidable Albus Dumbledore. Still, there are others, many others. Sirius Black; Remus Lupin; the entire Weasley clan for that matter, and more.

It seems it takes more than talent and hard work to succeed and overcome the challenges of life. It would appear that the relationships you choose will likely have more of an impact on your future than you could ever know, so please, choose wisely. At Lighthouse Tattoo we feel that way about choosing your tattoo artist as well.

Draco and Dudley seemed to learn the error of their ways as they matured, after having incurred a significant amount of regret and then foolishly doubling down before coming to terms with their mistakes. While the lessons learned will never be forgotten and it’s good they were learned at all, the pain of that wisdom gained will live with them forever. Don’t be a Draco or Dudley. Give Lighthouse Tattoo a chance to show you what the best in tattooing in Middle Tennessee has to offer, you don’t want to have to learn it the hard way!

Who's the Whippersnapper Now?

Seasons change, sure, but people don’t. Take Harrison Ford for instance. The first Indiana Jones film came out in 1981, and just last year we got The Dial of Destiny. I don’t know if anyone is counting (you would’ve run out of hands a while ago), but that’s 42 years of keeping up with the Joneses. And that’s not all folks, if Indiana Jones doesn’t do it for you, how about Han Solo? Or blade runner Rick Deckard? The point is, this man represents a slew of outstanding characters that we’ve all grown to love, and he’s still going. In honor of his contribution to the world of film, Will is offering a discounted rate on any and all Harrison Ford related tattoos, whether you’re looking for a wookie’s best friend or a giant boulder’s worst nightmare. Give us a call, or click that “set an appointment” tab and we’ll get you on the books.

Catwoman

What do Michelle Pfeiffer; Halle Berry; and Zoe Kravitz all have in common? Well, quite a lot actually, but one of them is Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. This (unfinished, cell phone photo) color portrait of Catwoman was started the other day by our resident realism artist Will Wood.

Some are unaware that Will does color realism at a very high level, alongside the black and grey portrait work in his portfolio, it’s quite stunning to see the two styles juxtaposed, and so close to home too, all without the sting of high Nashville pricing. Stay logged in to lighthousetattoo.net to see updates on this and other color realism pieces, like this Batman villain sleeve-in-progress!

Cedric Diggory

Robert Pattinson has led a charmed life. His early work as Cedric Diggory was so many people’s first look at the handsome and talented young star who would go on to achieve real superstardom as Edward Cullen in the Twilight series of films and eventually the Dark knight himself as the Batman. And for those of you who haven’t seen him opposite Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse, well, we may be a little partial to that one.

Here’s young Robert Pattinson as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, along with a healed Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. In case you haven’t heard, we at Lighthouse Tattoo are big softies for Harry Potter, with these particular pieces being worn by our very own Faye, as applied by artist Will Wood. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Jesus is the Reason for the Season, something the hustle and bustle of life sometimes causes us to forget. Please take the time to realize what’s most important this Christmas: You are made in the image of the one true God, who gave his only begotten Son to die on the cross for your sins so that you may have eternal life in Heaven, and that Jesus loves you. Merry Christmas!

It Ain't Easy Being Green

Kermit had it right all along. In honor of the recent success of the new movie Wicked, Will is offering a discount on all Wicked-related realism tattoos, for a limited time.

Elpheba, Glinda, Fiero, maybe even the Wizard of Oz himself (who doesn’t love them some Jeff Goldblum?), interested in a color or black and grey portrait of these characters, Let us know and we’ll get you all set up! All tattoo wills be done at our earliest booking opportunity which will be after the 1st of the year. You can schedule a consultation by clicking the ‘set an appointment’ tab on this website, just please allow up to 48 hours for a response, we get a lot of inquiries for this sort of thing!