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Shadow, 42, has owned Eternal Ink for 10 years. He got into the tattoo business in 1995 because his brother owned a shop and needed someone he could trust to work in it. Shadow said, “Mad respect to my brother Paul.”
Before he became a tattoo artist, Shadow had one tattoo. Now he has a total of 44 tattoos. A few of his tattoos are a bunny rabbit with a grim reaper sickle on his foot, a scarecrow on his leg, a gargoyle, and skulls.
On why he likes tattooing, Shadow said, “Freedom of expression. Freedom of not having someone looking over your shoulder telling you you’re doing something wrong.”
Spyder, who was getting work done by Shadow, said, “Shadow’s going to add his own twist to the artwork. He’s done almost all the work that’s on me.”
The manager of Eternal Ink is Jersey. He is responsible for the day-to-day duties and making sure the apprentices are doing the right things.
Jersey, 35, has been tattooing for 10 years. Jersey received a bachelors in advertising and graphic design at Concord University in West Virginia. While Jersey was working as a graphic designer, Shadow did Jersey’s first tattoo and offered him an apprenticeship. Jersey took the apprenticeship and worked his way up to manager of the shop.
Jersey has seven tattoos. He likes tribal tattoos, but also has tattoos of his son’s footprints, his tattoo machine, and the Hebrew saying “l’chaim”, which means “to life.”
“Tattoos are kind of like a timeline of who you were, who you are, and who you’re going to be,” Jersey said, “They may not like the tattoo, but they can always remember why they got it and what they were doing,” Jersey said, “If it is a worthwhile tattoo, they will always remember the tattoo artist.”
The apprentice at Eternal Ink is J. J, 35, used to work in heating, air conditioning, and plumbing. He got interested in tattooing when he blew his back out and his doctors told him he needed to find a new career. J decided to fall back on art, which he had not done in 11 years.
When J met Shadow, he had already been reading about tattoos and had given himself one. Shadow saw the tattoo, which is a heart dedicated to J’s mom, and offered him an apprenticeship.
Kevin Mann is another tattoo artist that works for Eternal Ink. Dave is the shop’s resident piercer.
Jersey said that all the artists go by nicknames because they are names people can remember and relate to.
Eternal Ink is located at 621 S. Main St. in Williamstown, NJ. The hours are Monday-Thursday 2-8 pm, Friday-Saturday 2-10 pm, and Sunday 2-6 pm. Prices vary. The shop minimum is 60 dollars.
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