A.T.C. Custom Kentucky Tattoos by Valentine

Valentine is the newest owner of a Louisville, Kentucky tattoo shop. Located between Karma Cafe and a computer shop at 1124 Bardstown Road, A.T.C (All Things Creative) is a tattoo shop and an art gallery. Although the gallery only showcases Valentine's works currently, he said that anyone is welcome to hang pieces there.

Valentine is originally from a small farm in Alabama. He says that it's a very specific road that has brought him to start tattooing. While he lived there, he joined the Boy Scouts, which led to his father meeting a preacher and becoming very religious. They then moved to Tennessee, which Valentine hated at first. By the time he was 18, he loved Tennessee and remained there when his family moved back to Alabama. At this time, he met and began to hang around tattoo artists.

Valentine says that he had many teachers and there are many influences on his artistic style. Graffiti, sex, pop surrealism, dancers, and friends are some of the things that have influenced his style. Unlike most tattoo shops, A.T.C does not have books full of images or charts for people to choose images from. Valentine prefers to do only custom pieces, which is a change up from the other Kentucky tattoo shops.

"I hate seeing the same tattoos on everybody over and over again," he said.

Valentine also prefers to work with color tattoos. His work is vibrant and it almost looks as if the tattoo is jumping off the person's skin. His love for color shows in his favorite medium outside of tattooing as well. His paintings are also very colorful, and he prefers to work with acrylics. He said that he relates to colors and thinks in colors rather than words. Unlike other Kentucky tattoo shops, Valentine refers to A.T.C. as a tattoo gallery.

The crazy promotions are another thing that sets A.T.C apart from other Kentucky Tattoo shops. Any member of the adult entertainment field receives 50% off. This includes "bartenders , bar waitresses, strippers, and porn stars". Aside from this promotion, Valentine runs temporary specials such as $20 piercings or "2-4-6-" which is $200 for 6 hours of work. He usually decides on these on the spot and sends out emails to let people know about them.

Hours of operation are hard to determine as Valentine hasn't set official hours of operation yet. He opens the shop between 11am and 1pm generally and stays until he feels like leaving or finishes up what he is doing in the evening. It may be best to set an appointment by calling 502-562-1200. A.T.C tattoo shop has a MySpace page at www.myspace.com/atctattoogallery .