NORTHAMPTON — With sweet apple purple wooden siding, canary yellow exterior window casings and turquoise-colored trim, the cape at 321 Easthampton Highway definitely catches the attention of passersby.
Remodeled from a single-family white home, the Low-cost Tattoos parlor has become a striking landmark.
“We wished to do one thing totally different. It’s enjoyable to play with a shade scheme,” mentioned Cassie Sutter, who co-owns the brand new Northampton-based store with Joe Cox. “I drove by this location in the future and noticed it was on the market and I had that ‘lightning second’ the place I used to be like, possibly that would work.”
It worked for them, and they opened the store at the end of June.
The within of Low-cost Thrills is simply as vivid as the skin with distinctive tchotchkes and knick-knacks together with a moose’s hoof and glass bottles lining the cabinets, and distinctive work on every of the partitions.
“I can’t depart issues alone for issues too banal,” Cox mentioned. “I identical to what I like. Individuals contribute and provides us stuff … I believe they only need to be included within the vibe, general feel and look like they have been there.”
They owned Holyoke’s identical store for seven years. Their brightly colored talents at the new store could be due to their experience in New Orleans. In response to Cox’s request, they had one more store in New Orleans that used a purple, yellow and pistachio color scheme.
Sutter met Cox in 2003 at Cox’s first solo tattoo parlor known as Cobra Chrome in Holyoke; he was her tattoo artist. They began a relationship shortly after.
“It’s the one tattoo I’ve paid for,” she mentioned with a chuckle.
Sutter began tattooing in 2003, three years after he graduated from Hartford College with a Level III in Pictures.
Cox studied under Henry Schwartz at the College of the Museum of High-quality Arts, Boston. He has more than 20 years of experience as a tattoo artist. A local of North Carolina, he moved to New York after graduating to be a painter, however discovered that he didn’t like different individuals’s involvement within the artwork that he was making.
“Individuals attempt to steer you into what sells and I didn’t prefer it,” he mentioned. “I believed the gallery ought to promote it and that’s it.”
He dabbled with tattooing for fun during the Nineteen Nineties. He bought Windfall, and was then laid off 3 weeks later while working for a subcontractor.
“My neighbor throughout the road, his brother owned a tattoo parlor, and instructed me to come back work for him,” Cox mentioned. “So, I did.”
Cox’s work in this space is also noteworthy. He was the co-owner of Mohawk Revenge, a tattoo parlor that featured more than one dozen businesses that were burned at the Norwottuck Storepes Plaza in Hadley on October 2013.
“I’ve discovered that each one issues have a objective — issues have a means of understanding for one of the best, I believe,” he mentioned.
Applying ink
Each Sutter and Cox describe a lot of their lives as being nomadic and “gypsy-esque,” as they each have lived throughout.
Sutter was born to a father or mother in the navy, and is now a resident of Easthampton.
With two younger kids collectively and Cox’s father in his 80s, the couple determined it was time to put down some roots and reside in West Hatfield at present.
“We’re right here till I retire,” Cox mentioned.
Sutter and Cox are joined by two other tattoo artists at Low-cost Thrills, Dakota Seback, and Chris Soares. The American traditional style of tattooing is used by all four artists. Seback is a master at line tattooing as well as lettering. Sutter is also skilled in hand-poked, which involves tattooing with a needle or stick along with a little bit of ink.
Cox said that he has done all sorts of tattoos.
Sutter said that blue jays can be seen landing on windowsills and deer can be seen grazing in the wooded backyard.
“The placement is true in between cities — we’re close by to the rising artist neighborhood in Easthampton and we’re not downtown Northampton,” she mentioned. “We spend a lot time right here. This would be an ideal second residence. It must be friendly and welcoming. We would like individuals to come back right here.”
Low-cost Thrills is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday via Saturday. Call 413-322-0941 for more information or an appointment.
