They’re having so much fun at Funhouse Tattoo in Pacific Beach, there’s now another one across the street.
Funhouse Tattoo at 1453 Garnet Ave. recently grew a new appendage — Funhouse Tattoo: International Guesthouse at 1440 Garnet Ave. The original parlor has been open in PB since 1998.
The idea behind the new entrepreneurial outgrowth is that tattoo artists of renown throughout the world now have a place to stop in and demonstrate their skills when visiting San Diego.
“This is an expansion, but it is also for the guest artists, like a guest artist from Rome who will be here for 10 days,” said Seth Reynolds, Funhouse Tattoo founder. “People will be making guest appearances for a couple of days or weeks.”
Both Funhouses are world-class tattoo shops in Pacific Beach specializing in Polynesian, Japanese, Aztec, traditional, and other more exotic styles.
Reynolds said he got started as a tattoo artist when he was living in New York City.
“I got started in the ’90s by getting my own equipment,” he said. “I had tattoos. My uncle owned a junkyard and everyone, after their got they weekly salaries, would get tattoos. The most hideous stuff I’ve ever seen. I was making fun of them. They said, ‘Put your money where your mouth is.’ I just went out and got my own equipment and started practicing on them.”
Discussing the enduring appeal of tattoos, J Trip, one of Funhouse International’s first resident guest artists, said, “A tattoo is a piece of your soul, self-expression. It’s an outward expression of who you are inwardly.”
Trip consults with clients, conferring with them and helping them sketch out their ideas for what kind of a tattoo they want, and how to articulate it.
Trip added a tattoo is “always going to be there, always going to be a part of you. If it’s done properly — the worst fear is that it’s no longer there, that you can’t imagine yourself without it.”
Trip noted many artists, when consulting with clients on what they want, tend to do tattoos referencing time. He added artists often do tattoos reminiscent of the past, present or future.
“It’s something you used to be, something you are now, or something you hope to become,” he said.
The consultation then typically involves determining “what part of your body you want to decorate. We put it together in a way that looks good and will age well.”
On a recent afternoon, a young woman with a beautiful flowered tattoo was in Funhouse. Asked what inspired her to get it, she commented, “I wanted something that made me feel at peace with nature,” she said adding, “I got that here.”
Is it fun being a tattoo artist?
Ask Reynolds.
“You get to do what you love,” he said. “You feel awesome about going to work.”
An open house is being held at Funhouse Tattoo: International Guesthouse 1440 Garnet Ave. from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12. Funhouse Tattoo: International Guesthouse Where: 1440 Garnet Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. What: An open house is being held at Funhouse Tattoo: International Guesthouse from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12. Info: 858-291-8838.
