“Timmy Tatts,” the man behind the designs at Tattoo Marks
For 15 years, Tattoo Marks has been one of the more popular tattoo shops in State College. “Timmy Tatts” and his brother “Lowercase J” made their way to the area in 1999 and have called it home ever since.
Growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, getting tattoos was part of the culture at the time. All the young people thought tattoos and piercings were cool, including the siblings. What started off as just a phase, turned into a way to make a living.
“We weren’t professionals at that time by any means,” Timmy said. “But we tried to make straight lines with needles and thread and ink. Don’t do that at home.”
Timmy has worked in so many different places that he’s lost count. At some point, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Finland, Belgium and Ireland have all been home to him.
“That was good for me because I learned a lot of different styles,” Timmy said. “I wouldn’t be the person I am today had I not gone to all those different countries.”
Eventually, he started working in a shop in Centre County and brought his younger brother along with him. “Lowercase J” is 12 years younger than Timmy and always tried to be like him as a kid. Sure enough, he followed in Timmy’s footsteps and is now a tattoo artist himself.
After moving so many times when he was first getting started in the business, Timmy thinks he’s ready to settle down right where he is. State College is completely different from anywhere else he’s ever lived, but he’s grown to love the small town.
“A big news story here might be like, ‘Cows got out of the fence,” Timmy said. “To me that’s great. I’ll take cows getting out of the fence and maybe stopping traffic over anything else that goes on in the world.”
Most people assume that there’s a deep meaning behind every tattoo, but a lot of the artists at Tattoo Marks just go with anything they think looks nice. Timmy said that once you get your first couple of designs, getting inked becomes a hobby.
“Jake The Kid” is one of the artists at the shop and he has tattoos all the way up to his neck. When asked which one means the most to him, he looked down at his two arms covered in ink and said he has too many to choose from.
“None of them really have any particular meaning or anything like that,” Jake said. “I just picked them out because I thought it looked cool.”
While Timmy does everything in his power to make his clients happy, he said the most difficult part about his job is knowing when to draw the line. Every now and then, someone walks in with a tattoo idea that Timmy doesn’t think would look very good. In that case, he tells the client that they’re going to have to go to another artist for that design. He doesn’t want to be responsible for a decision that somebody may regret down the road.
Nevertheless, the man known as “Timmy Tatts” is a man of the people. He couldn’t imagine doing anything else with his life and he’s happy with the way everything has worked out for him. His only wish is to continue doing right by his customers.
“I’m just happy that I’ve made a living doing what I like to do,” Timmy said. “I just supply people with what they like and sometimes people want what I like and that’s what makes it all worthwhile.”