When putting ink to skin or running a business, Wayne Lessard has historically gone against the grain.
Nearly two decades ago, when tattoos were still taboo and most tattoo shops were “scary,” Lessard took a chance when he opened up Bodytech Tattooing and Piercing, which has since become a mainstay on West University Avenue.
Today, the shop turns 18 years old, making it the longest continuously run tattoo shop in Gainesville.
If it were a person, Bodytech could get its first tattoo on its own.
“This shop was a lot different 18 years ago,” Lessard said. “It’s like raising a child.”
As a part of its Barely Legal Party, the 806 W. University Ave. shop is offering discounted jewelry and is raffling off a $150 gift certificate.
On Wednesday, 22-year-old Justin Peters sat in a back room at the shop as a beach scene slowly grew on his left thigh.
Although the Santa Fe College firefighting student usually holds his friends’ hands as they receive tattoos at the shop, he went under its needle for the first time Wednesday.
He decided to try the shop because Lessard’s apprentice, Maria Arjona, was offering free tattoos to practice.
“I always feel welcomed here,” he said.
Lawrence Mead, a tattoo artist at Bodytech for the past eight years, said one of the most pronounced differences between business in the late ’90s and in 2016 is the clientele.
He said tattoo recipients were once primarily 30-year-old men, but now, as tattoos have transitioned into mainstream culture, the shop sees students and residents of varied ages, gender identities and ethnicities.
The tattoo designs they ask for have changed, too, from “creepy and weird” to more artsy, he said.
The downside, Lessard said, is that tattoo designs used to be more creative. When the shop first opened, many customers — those not interested in tribal bands or Bible verses — brought in original designs for him to tattoo. Now, more and more customers simply pull out their phones and show Lessard internet-inspired artwork they want him to mimic.
Instead of trying to copy and paste the designs, he said he makes a point of sitting down with his customers to create original and personal work.
A big part of tattooing is figuring out why people choose the different designs that they do — being a tattoo artist is like being a psychologist, he said.
Mead said his customers often feel inclined to share their personal thoughts with him because of the sense of vulnerability that comes with getting tattooed.
During his time at Bodytech, customers have told him about their extramarital affairs, arrests and even murders.
“You wouldn’t tell your hairdresser these things,” he said.
For Lessard, keeping his shop around amid recent changes to West University Avenue is a matter of giving people a permanent place to express themselves.
“I don’t plan on going anywhere,” he said.
