Friday the 13th and its ties to tattooing

Friday the 13th is a day that typically holds superstitious weight to it, but in the world of tattooing, it's become somewhat of a holiday.

The original tattooed celebration of the day being a 24-hour tattoo marathon that started in the 90's.

James "Creature" Schaffer, tattoo artist at Battel Born Tattoo explains the origins. 

"I know that Oliver Peck, from Elm Street Tattoo in Texas started the event, and it just kind of caught on. And it's just growing and growing with especially social media and stuff that a lot of people to come by and just get cheap tattoos."     

Friday the 13th tattoos are traditionally small and offered at a discount, and each artist advertises the available designs on flash sheets, meaning every shop is offering original work.

The process of getting tattooed, while painful, can be a deeply meaningful experience for some.

"For me, getting tattooed before I've realized how it's, like, helped me kind of, like, shed the skin and, like, enter the new chapter in my life or something. So, I think that's been cool to also watch people kind of get, like, healed or, you know, from it in a sense healed like hardcore therapy. But, you know, it's not that painful. And I mean, life is temporary. So, I think people it's nice to mark a stamp or to memorialize things for people. It's kind of special just to see that, you know, I feel honored."

And through enduring a brief moment of pain, you are left with body art that will stay with you for a lifetime.