Forget the dark, scary tattoo parlor of yesteryear.
With its large, sunny windows, rustic wooden accents and inviting front end, partners Ben Reigle and Nicole Spring have created a bold but welcoming environment at Great Spirits Tattoo Company, which recently opened on Federal Street in Greenfield. Reigle is a veteran Pioneer Valley tattoo artist, with 10 years of experience working in shops throughout western Massachusetts.
His company’s motto, he said, is to embrace tradition, harness technology and ignite passion.
“I think the thing about Ben and this place that’s the most important is this is really tattooing for this generation and the next generation,” Spring said. “He’s not the old-school tattooer … you can come in and get a piece of art on your body, and it’s not a scary thing anymore. We really want to embrace that positivity.”
After dabbling in tattooing for years, Reigle got his professional start a decade ago working at Lucky’s in Northampton, where he cut his teeth doing 10 tattoos every Saturday. From there, he went to Off the Map Tattoo in Easthampton, learning the more custom side of the business, and ended up off the beaten path at Blueprint Gallery in Hadley, where he rented a booth and tattooed by appointment only.
“I created my own business and I realized I could do it myself,” he said. “I took all the lessons I learned from each one of those places. That’s what I’ve applied here, the way that I want to do it.”
At Great Spirits Tattoo, Reigle and Spring are focused on creating a team-based, community-minded environment. And their plans for the space go beyond just tattooing.
“I am connected, luckily, to a network of really talented artists. I plan on having guest artists come through regularly and doing events,” Reigle said. “We’re doing a monthly card night here, a monthly figure drawing class here — we’re going to expand those things into watercolor seminars and art classes for everybody, from the beginner to the advanced.”
They also plan to devote an entire wall for an art gallery.
In addition to the affordability of the area, Spring and Reigle chose to open the shop in Greenfield because they liked the idea of being a part of the town’s revival.
They wanted to come up with something ethereal and supernatural for the shop’s name — but also positive and not scary, conveying its classic, rustic vibe.
“Somewhere over a bottle of wine or something we just came up with it,” Reigle said.
“Everything else just fell into place,” Spring added.
Reigle said his company’s motto sums up their vision for the shop.
“I embrace tradition,” he said. “I feel as though a solid tattoo is bold and built to last. I don’t do tattoos that are for my portfolio pictures that in five years are going to look bad.”
His style is based on a traditional approach with modern techniques — that’s where the “harness technology” piece comes in. Reigle mainly uses a digital format for the layout of his tattoos, drawing them on a big screen. He said the best part of the job is conquering the insecurities that every artist faces on a daily basis.
“So many artists I know who are amazing doubt themselves with every pen stroke and every color that they do in a drawing or a tattoo,” he said. “The reality is they’re going through the same thing that the first-year tattooer is. I think to be able to face those fears and conquer them daily is a huge part of it for me. That’s the ‘ignite passion’ part of the motto.”
Reigle is currently the shop’s only tattoo artist. He’s being very deliberate in the hiring process, and he is also hosting guest artists.
“I want people who understand the depth of scope that we’re trying to do with this,” he said.
Find Great Spirit Tattoo Co. on Facebook, or at greatspiritstattoo.com.