Brookside Tattoo Artist has Stories to Tell

By Susie Dumond

Wright tattoos a Brookside customer

Most people would cringe at the idea of a tattoo artist sharing stories and jokes while a client is under the needle. But customers at Brookside Body Piercing and Tattoo enjoy the distractions offered by tattoo artist Doyle Wright while enduring the pain.

Doyle Wright has long hair and a full shaggy beard. Tattoos cover most of his visible skin and he has large gauges in his ears. Wright is the kind of man moms might discourage their children from talking to.

Asked how he felt about being interviewed, Wright shared a story of a Dallas news anchor that he gave a tattoo. She did a story on Wright afterwards. "And she had the nerve to call me a f***ing dirty hippie. Can you believe that?" Wright said. So this reporter will refrain from using that choice of words.

But after spending time with Wright, it's obvious that he is a friendly and kind person with many great stories to share with a willing listener. Many of these stories start with, "One time at the tattoo parlor."

Wright will celebrate his 16th year as a tattoo artist in January of 2011. He came from a tattooing family, following a mother and older brother in the career path. He then shared that he fired them both from tattooing jobs after he surpassed them in talent. "And I'm not makin' that up. They weren't cutting it." He recently calculated that in his 16 years, he has given over 80,000 tattoos, using over a square mile of ink.

One of Wright's works

Asked what his own last tattoo was, Wright couldn't remember. He hasn't gotten a tattoo himself in ten years. One would expect a tattoo artist to have a process for choosing tattoos, but Wright said he never really followed a pattern.

"At some point, if you're in the industry, you're not getting tattoos of your mom or your kids' names. You're just having fun with the art," he said.

But Wright says tattoos shouldn't be taken lightly. "You're changing someone's body forever. One little movement can change everything, and if you mess it up, they'll be the first to tell you that they think you're s***. I don't want to be told I'm s***."

He shared the story of an art teacher that came to the parlor with a friend getting a tattoo. She told Wright that his job looked easy and she thought she could do it. He challenged her to give him a tattoo if she thought she could handle it. He set up the tattoo gun and ink, handed them to her, and prepped his leg for a tattoo. Centimeters from his skin, the art teacher gave up. She admitted that it was a lot scarier than Wright made it look.

Wright shared a variety of other stories while tattooing customers. One of the most thrilling was the time he stabbed a man in the forehead with a penknife. "That dude had tattoos on his face though, he could take it," Wright said of the incident.

Although Doyle Wright's casual demeanor in the tattoo parlor may make some customers nervous, his are the experienced hands that one would want changing the appearance of his or her body for the rest of time. So whether your need for a tattoo comes from rebellion, mid-life crisis, or inebriation, Doyle's steady hand can do the job.

Wright gives a customer tattoo care information.

For more info on Brookside Body Piercing and Tattoo, chec out their website at http://brooksidetattoo.com/ or look them up on Facebook.