At first impression, Evil by the Needle Custom Tattoo and Piercing Studio might give off a home-like vibe. The sunlight streams in from large windows around the lobby area, with light wood floors leading up to a counter filled with various rings and piercing options.
It does not initially feel like a parlor, because the rooms reserved for giving piercing and tattoos are separated by walls from the house-like entrance space. What one will not find are walls of tattoo designs upon entry — a deliberate choice by co-owner and tattoo artist Jon Rio.
Owners Jon and Jamie Rio have a collection of tattoos themselves, and their familiarity with the crafts of tattooing and piercing can easily be seen by the art on their bodies.
“I like to be able to draw the client’s idea, not for them to pull the idea from what I already did,” Jon said. “I’m not trying to push somebody in any direction — a tattoo is as individual as they are. I’ve got some to pick from, it’s just not dripping off the ceiling.”
Jon and Jamie opened their tattoo and piercing shop in 2009 and have been operating as a family business out of Bloomington ever since.
The shop boasts a variety of clientele, including a few IU Olympic swimmers who participated in the summer games this year. Each swimmer had different tattoos of the Olympic rings added to their bodies.
Blake Pieroni, a member of the United States men’s swimming team, had the multicolored rings placed on his bicep. Lilly King of the U.S. women’s swimming team and Kennedy Goss of the Canadian swimming team had two different interpretations of the rings tattooed on their hips in an area easily visible in their swimming costumes.
Jon tattooed Pieroni, while a colleague did the tattoos on King and Goss, which he said was a treat for his 12- and 15-year-old daughters, though they could not come in to the shop to see the athletes.
“It was pretty exciting,” Jon said. “My daughter is a swimmer, and they were pretty stoked.”
Bloomington provides the opportunity for both graphic and realistic work, which Jon appreciates creating.
“My favorite part of running the shop in Bloomington is the diversity of the clientele that comes through here because of Bloomington,” Jon said. “Just like the diversity of the work that comes in, you never really know what you’ll get.”
Jamie, who has been piercing since 1997 when a friend taught her about the practice, said running a business with two growing girls has not been simple.
“It’s challenging at times because we are raising two girls that are very busy with school and sports, so we have to be able to balance our personal life and business life, which is very hard most of the time,” Jamie said. “The older they get, the harder it gets.”
The start of Evil By the Needle was not the duo’s first time operating a shop like this. Jon said they initially ran a shop in their hometown of Mitchell, Indiana, before they started a family.
Once the girls were born, both parents took time off to work outside of the industry, and Jon picked up factory work. He said the allure of the career drew them back, as he knew it would.
“We decided to get real jobs or whatever, did that for a while,” Jon said. “When the kids were a little older, we got back into it. I always knew I was going to get back into it. I just needed a break for a little bit.”
Jon said he got his first tattoo of a Chinese monster-like creature on the back of his leg from artist Bob Oslon at age 18. Since then, he has gotten a variety of ink works.
As an art form, tattooing fits in with the likes of painting, sculpting and any other craft, Jon said.
“What I think makes tattooing special is that it is worn and is somewhat permanent,” Jon said. “It can be a statement like a waving flag you carry with you every day, all day, or it can be a secret you keep and only share with a few people — if that many — like an heirloom you keep hidden and locked away.”
Jon said he has practiced other types of art as well and has dabbled in a variety of craft activities. However, with the shop as a full time occupation, he said it is hard to find time to do art recreationally. Most of the art he does is in the form of pen and ink or colored pencil sketches for tattoos clients may want.
Jamie said appreciation of art can come in many forms, one of which is the decision to get a tattoo.
“With tattoos people can express themselves through art on their skin,” Jamie said. “Some people buy art for their walls. Some choose to carry it on their skin.”
Jon said one of the common misconceptions about tattoos is that the tattooer will go with whatever the client’s initial idea is without giving too much input.
Jon said being a tattoo artist means being able to inform clients of his considerations: where on the body the tattoo will work, how the pigment will show up or change over time, how sizes will appear in reality as opposed to on paper or on a cell phone screen.
“If I had some advice to give, it’d be to try and not just copy somebody else’s idea,” Jon said.
Picking options from sites like Pinterest, especially for smaller tattoos, may seem like a good idea in theory, but Jon said part of what he likes is the ability to sit down with a client and flesh out their vision.
“You’re going to enjoy it longer and not cover it up later if you put a little bit of thought into it and try to get something original and meaningful,” Jon said.
