TATTOO ARTIST ENJOYS CREATION OF BODY ART

Sam Dickson works at a job that offends and intimidates a lot of people. Other than that, he says, he's one of the straightest people you'll ever meet.

Tattoos are his business, and his handiwork is borne on forearms, shoulders and buttocks across the Midwest.

Last week, Dickson of Truman, Ark., and his wife, Rose, set up shop for the first time in Cape Girardeau. Their mobile tattoo parlor a large silver bus with the words "Tattoos" and "J.D.'s. Body Art" blazoned in red letters across the exterior sits in the parking lot of the Sands Motel, 1448 North Kingshighway.

He and his wife, a tattoo-artist apprentice and salesperson, work their trade in about 12 states, ranging as far north as South Dakota and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The job, Dickson said, keeps them on the road 11 months of the year.

Dickson admits freely that his trade doesn't sit well with a lot of people. Still, he can't pinpoint why people are fearful of it.

"It's not black magic," he said in an interview in the tattooing room on his bus. "It's just an art form. It's like drawing a picture on a piece of paper, with the exception you've got it on your arm."

And, he said, he runs a legal operation, with his needles sterilized in much the same fashion as medical utensils at hospitals.

"I don't even drink beer or smoke cigarettes," he said. "I'm probably one of the straightest people you'll run across, with the exception I like tattoos."

Once inside Dickson's bus, a customer can readily see the array of tattoo designs available. Along the walls of the bus are numerous designs, including those of black panthers, a tropical sunset with a palm tree and island, and Dickson's best seller of all: the Warner Brothers' Tasmanian devil cartoon character, with a hoisted mug of beer.

In all, there are about 30,000 designs available for both permanent and temporary tattoos, said Dickson. Forty different colors are available. Prices start at $35, with $75 being the average cost of a permanent tattoo.

The majority of Dickson's customers are men. But about 40 percent of the customers are women, said Rose Dickson.

"They're more brave than the men are," she said. "Men are chicken."

Said Sam Dickson, "Women have a higher tolerance of pain than men do."

A self-taught artist, Dickson said he began putting tattoos on himself in 1978 while working as a truck driver. Over the years while tattooing other people on the side he honed his skills. He went into the business full time about six years ago when he realized he made just as much money tattooing as driving a truck.

About 30 percent of his own body is covered with tattoos, Dickson said. About 90 percent of those tattoos he did himself.

Dickson estimated the separate tattoos a medley of such designs as skulls, an eagle and cat, and a profane epitaph directed at the 55-mph speed limit total about 240.

"It's really hard to count because everything that connects counts as one," he said. "If you want to figure from that standpoint, I have three (tattoos)."

Tattooists have to deal with one of the same problems as mechanics, in that anyone who picks up the tools of the trade comes to believe they're an expert, said Dickson.

"Every kid who picked up a bottle of India ink and a needle at an art shop thinks they're an artist. And really what they're doing is scribbling some bull---- on their friends that they're probably going to want to get rid of sooner or later."

Robert Mancillas, 17, of Scott City, stopped in at Dickson's parlor with his parents, sister, and girlfriend Sunday afternoon to get a tattoo. His father, Rick Speakman, and the girlfriend, Nicole Stephens, 18, also planned to have Dickson tattoo them.

After looking over the possibilities, Mancillas opted for a tattoo of the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales.

"It didn't hurt a bit," he said after climbing out of Dickson's tattooing chair. The character, colored yellow and with a purple bandana around his neck, sat embedded under a patch on his right arm.

Dickson has some words of advice for anyone getting a tattoo. He suggests that the tattoo be put where it can be covered by clothing.

Tattoos with references to drugs or certain brands of alcohol or beer should also be avoided. "You may change the kind of beer you drink," said Dickson.

Dickson's tattoo bus will be in Cape Girardeau until Thursday. He said he'll be open for business each day from noon until 10 p.m.

Customers must be at least 18 years of age to get a tattoo without parental supervision. Parental consent and attendance is required for customers 16 and 17 years of age.