Tattooing has come a long way since Fenton Gilbert first started experimenting with home-made devices at the age of 14. Back then tattoos were few and far between. Today tattooing is a full-fledged art form with the body as a canvas.

Fenton likes to think that he and his brother have helped to bring tattooing to another level in Thunder Bay at their Underground Ink studio.

Fenton recalls he and childhood friends experimenting with Walkman motors to apply rotary tattoos on one another. Now, at age 44, “I’ve been tattooing longer than I haven’t!”

Today’s electromagnetic machines are capable of more precision as clients demand more complex designs.

Fenton learned the finer points of the craft from a local tattoo artist and eventually bought his equipment. Today his business employs five talented artists in a “clean, safe, comfortable environment.”

“I have cultivated my own style and technique which allows me to put thought into art,” he says. He is motivated by customers’ stories around their concepts for tattoos, then fulfills them with custom creations or static designs that are available.

“I can’t believe how far tattooing has come,” he says. “It’s so popular, so ‘in’ today.”

Tattooing is a permanent characterization of a client, “a form of art that represents who you are and what you believe in,” he says. Turning that concept into a tattoo brings a sense of artistic satisfaction. “We value our craft and workmanship, and look to exceed and learn every day,” Fenton says.