Southeast grad opens studio

Not many recent Southeast graduates can say they're doing what they love. At best, most are slogging through the local job market, trying to find entry-level positions in their field- or any field for that matter.

But not Renee Ross. After graduating from Southeast in 2001 with a degree in interior design, Renee decided her place in life was not in a design studio, but instead in a tattoo studio- preferably her own.

"I did my first tattoo for what was then Hittman's in 2000," she recalls, "and I've been hooked ever since."

For Renee, tattooing started out as a hobby- something to do on the side. While she always was an artistic child, she preferred to express herself with oil and watercolors on canvas, not needles and ink on skin.

"But tattooing is every bit as artistic," she notes. Even if the tattoo is as typical as a butterfly or a lover's name. "It doesn't matter what you put on someone- it can still be a work of art. You can make anything pop if you do it right."

That's the feel you get from Renee- that she wants to make everything pop. For everybody, not just the stereotypical tattoo recipient. "These days people from all walks of life are getting tattoos or piercings," she says. "It's so much more acceptable now."

Plus facilities for tattooing have improved. Renee claims her place, The Flesh Hound at 47 S. Plaza Way, is as clean as any hospital. She uses hospital sterilization methods, and promises no smoking or drugs or alcohol on the premises. She's also a recognized member of the NTA.

Renee does such good work, one of her regular customers is getting her store's logo tattooed on his back. And why not? She's already done five or six large ones on his body. She hopes one day his back will bear the logo of the first successful tattoo parlor franchise- "I want to expand the business. I'd like to see Flesh Hounds across the country someday."

Somewhere between then and now, though, she'd like to go back to Southeast for her masters degree, perhaps in historic preservation. Then this local artist, student and businesswoman can restore and preserve much more than faded tattoos. "If you love what you do, anything's possible."