The Florence/Muscle Shoals area is home to nearly a dozen tattoo shops. North Alabama Ink, Gypsy Muse and The Beehive Tattoo Collection specialize in multiple types of tattooing, and each of these shops has their own unique appeal.
Kandice and Daniel Freeman opened North Alabama Ink thirteen years ago in 2012. Daniel Freeman began learning about the art of tattooing when he was 17. He has now been tattooing in the Shoals area for 29 years.
At the time of opening, Kandice was not a tattoo artist, but after watching her husband Daniel tattooing in their shop for six years, she decided to learn from Daniel. She only tattoos women and specializes in floral work.
Since opening up North Alabama Ink, Kandice and Daniel have had four different shops.
“We gut them from the ground up and make them our own. We literally put our blood, sweat and tears into our shops to make everything work,” said Kandice.
With two locations, they are currently renovating their 1326 North Pine Street building to make it “their own.”
North Alabama Ink prides themselves on having a “family” oriented work environment. Each tattoo artist that works under Kandice and Daniel is considered a member of their family, providing a trusting environment for clients to see and feel.
The shop has an inner commitment to showing up for the Florence community. Kandice has planted plum trees at their Wood Avenue location to allow for the homeless population to have access to fruit.
North Alabama Ink also hosts “customer appreciation days” throughout the year. Attendees get to see live music, eat free food and even get free piercings.
The shop has partnered with a UNA sorority to host a flash tattoo special in May. The month of May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, so 25% of the money earned will go toward suicide awareness in the state of Alabama.
Kandice has experience tattooing individuals who have self harmed. “Usually, when we get someone in who [self harms], we tattoo them one time and they’re fine. It’s the fact that kids like that want to feel the hurt.”
She would rather see individuals, especially teenagers, get a tattoo instead of self harming.
For Kandice, tattoos hold a special meaning for many reasons. She loves witnessing the memories people create when getting tattooed together, and she enjoys hearing the unique stories behind each person’s tattoo choice.
“It’s special to everybody else in a certain way, whether your grandma was your world and all of a sudden passed away today, but she loved hummingbirds. If you get this hummingbird on you, it reminds you of your grandmother,” said Kandice.
Gypsy Muse is another local tattoo shop located in Sheffield.
Heath Hinton opened Gypsy Muse in October of 2015 to escape any “drama” that comes with some businesses. His intention was to create a shop that focused on the actual art of tattooing, rather than mere “hangaround” shops.
Hinton is a self-taught artist of 15 years who specializes in creating portraits, and any type of black-and-gray work.
The artists at Gypsy Muse do brilliant realism and fine line art, and they are especially good at collaborating on projects.
“Everybody kind of helps each other out and everybody here gets along very well,” said Hinton.
In terms of the tattooing process, Hinton has seen it all in the last fifteen years. A huge aspect of tattooing has to do with skin, believe it or not. He made specific mention of the difference in black ink versus color, and how color affects price, pain level and the healing process.
Color is harsher on the skin because it requires a more saturating process to get the vibrance on the surface. If you have a colorful tattoo, you may have noticed it took a little longer to heal, but that’s just part of the journey.
The body has to process and filter through the colors, which Hinton and his team learned from a dermatologist.
“We had to make an appointment with a dermatologist and go and learn about it,” said Hinton. “I’ve been tattooing for years, and I mean I can do them clean and do them well, but I never actually knew what the process was medically.”
Gypsy Muse proved careful consideration and curiosity for the science behind tattooing, wanting to take extra caution to do everything in their power for an efficient ink session with clients.
For Hinton, professionalism is priority number one.
“We’re more about the fine arts, and we’re not a street shop. We have private rooms, and we mostly take appointments, so we take it very seriously,” said Hinton.
The Beehive Tattoo Collective is located in Muscle Shoals, owned by Brittney-Jo Bassham.
Bassham said the shop was “a long time coming.” Having the dream since she was nine, and after learning everything she knows from her father, she made the decision to open Beehive in December of 2021.
Bassham’s father had built a studio in her childhood home where he would work on drawing artwork and tattooing himself. “I was like, holy crap, my dad does art on people forever. That is so cool,” said Bassham.
The very first thing Bassham learned to tattoo was cursive and nautical stars, and this is actually what she has all of her apprentices learn first, too. They master fine line lettering first, then progress to shapes, and lastly they learn more complicated designs.
After tattooing for twenty years, Bassham is well versed in the different line weights. Beehive preferably, however, works with fine line artwork.
There is always something new to learn with tattooing. Bassham learned from a coworker some years ago how to do pepper shading and custom art, allowing her to be an even more versatile artist.
She looks for artists who replicate her passion for tattoos, as well as people who can carry on conversations with clients. The atmosphere at Beehive is one that holds true enjoyment and friendship, giving an overall “camaraderie” that transfers through to clients.
“We have a good sense of humor here, a good laugh and just an overall vibe,” said Bassham.
There is also a mutual trust between the artists and clients that allows for an honest exchange. Bassham will be the first to tell a client that finger tattoos can last for only two weeks, so maybe that tattoo is not the best idea for that client’s line of work.
Bassham believes tattoos are a way to design yourself. “You can commemorate anything on your body, you can literally paint your temple however you feel. Whatever you want to see day to day, and you can easily cover it with a shirt.”
The artists at Beehive encourage individuals to experience their shop for themself, and they look forward to helping people create “logos” on their skin.
“I like to think that I do graphic design for the skin because I enjoy making logos to represent yourself. Yes, it’s a design, but it’s a logo created for you to rock all the time.”
