Skin Deep Tattoo moves to Front Street | Free News
Downtown Laurel lost and gained a business this summer — Skin Deep Tattoo Studio is taking the place of the Pinehurst Rathskeller.
The space at the Pinehurst Rathskeller was perfect for the team of artists having housed a gallery space, art supplies and studio. The building will still house artists — only the canvases will change to flesh. After moving in over the summer and setting up shop, Skin Deep Tattoo hosted a grand reopening Friday to celebrate its move to downtown Laurel.
In July, the former Pinehurst Rathskeller art store and gallery space at 312 Front St. went on the market after owner Amy Luker began working from her home art studio. Shauna Riser, owner of Skin Deep Tattoo, realized she needed a larger space to accommodate her clients and saw that the building in downtown was available.
“We kept growing,” Riser said. “I never expected to have more than me and Holly (Edwards) as artists at my shop. Everyone that we’ve added to our shop kept getting busy.”
That’s when she began looking for a new venue from her 16th Avenue shop location.
“We’ve got a good reputation and I’m grateful for that,” Riser said. “We are still looking for another artist but only book two months in advanced at the moment.”
After securing the space, the tattoo artists moved over the summer and hosted their grand opening Friday. Even the tourists who peruse downtown Laurel to see HGTV’s “Home Town” Ben and Erin Napier's stomping grounds have taken to getting piercings and tattoos.
“We meet so many different people from all over coming to visit Laurel and there is a lot more foot traffic here,” Edwards said. “Refugees from Louisiana during Hurricane Ida stopped in to get piercings while they were in town.”
The shop when opened six years ago was one of the only all-girl tattoo shops in Mississippi. Edwards, Riser, tattoo artist Kaitlin Clark and piercer Amanda Harvey worked together to build the reputation of the shop into one of Laurel’s premier tattoo shops. And it shows, as they’ve been so successful that they are currently searching for another artist and hired an apprentice at the shop — their first male tattoo artist Logan Pippen. Riser said she also will continue hanging art from Mississippi artists in the shop, providing a gallery space like the Pinehurst Rathskeller.
“This grand opening represents how much we care about our work,” Riser said. “The space we work in now is a reflection of the quality of work at our shop. I just want everyone who comes in to feel welcomed and comfortable.”
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