Tattoo artist catering to area

Lawson Matail has just returned from a two-week visit to Dryden, where he was putting his artwork on the shoulders, backs, and arms of his customers.
“I’ve drawn all my life,” said Matail, who has set up his own tattoo shop, “Twisted Ink,” in his Finland home.
“I had my first one when I was 14–I did it myself,” he noted.
Matail has since had that tattoo covered up but he still sports 27 others on his body done by artists across Canada. He has travelled back and forth across the country four times, gathering tips and techniques from tattoo artists along the way.
“The biggest thing is not wounding people. There’s a lot of butchers out there,” warned Matail, who has been recognized for his promotion of safety in tattooing by Kirkland Lake. “I lot of people try too hard or press too much ink.”
“All the equipment is surgical, stainless steel, and it’s all cleaned before and after every use,” said Matail, who also requests those 18 and under have a consent form signed by their parents.
Safety is often a concern with tattoos but Matail has an assortment of cleaners and chemicals used in hospital surgeries to clean his tools and surfaces.
Increasingly, people from all walks of life are asking for tattoos, he said.
“I just put a devil playing guitar on a preacher’s son . . . . I’ve done three nurses, a police officer, and a grandmother from an old-age home,” he noted.
“It’s a proven addiction. My [father-in-law] wouldn’t get one and then he got seven in six months,” he added.
And Matail’s list of clientele has been growing over the past few years. He’s now done well over 4,000 tattoos.
“The best piece that I’ve done was a back piece I drew myself–it took 57 hours,” he recalled. “I just drew and he’d say I like this part but not that part.”
Matail said he often spends weeks at a time on the road visiting people across both Rainy River and Kenora districts to give them tattoos.
“One of the fastest-growing industries is tattooing, probably because of the colours that can go into a tattoo now,” he reasoned.
Now Matail is setting up a home office and is even training an apprentice, Linda Landry, to help handle the demand. In fact, she sports a number of Matail’s tattoos herself.
“I think they’re super, they’re excellent,” she said.
Twisted Ink will save customers from having to travel to Winnipeg and deal with waiting lists and deposits to get their tattoos, and Matail hopes to maintain reasonable rates compared to many of the existing shops.
“The prices people get charged are way over-priced,” he said.
Customers can bring in their own artwork or have Matail design one.
“The main thing is to take your time,” he said. “You don’t want to risk anything because a tattoo lasts for life.”