Two years of tattooing in Colney Hatch Lane

Julie Russell on how her small business has been leaving its mark on clients aged from 18 to 83

A picture frame featuring a series of body parts with tattoos on them. — A selection of Old Marine Arts Group tattoos.

When Old Marine Arts Group, our tattoo studio in Colney Hatch Lane, opened in September 2024, we knew it would be a challenge. It’s not an easy climate for new businesses to thrive, and the statistic that at least 60 per cent of tattoo studios close after 12 months is definitely scary.

Two years on, we’re still here – and, unbelievably, we’ve completed close to 500 tattoo sessions.

Most of our clients are local but, after a certain local football team won the Premier League last season, we welcomed an enormous number of new clients from as far afield as the United States and Australia, as well as from across the UK.

Our clients’ ages range from teenagers receiving an 18th birthday tattoo as a gift from a parent to our oldest client so far, who is 83.

For some people, a tattoo is deeply personal and meaningful; for others, it’s something beautiful, decorative or simply fun.

We enjoy working collaboratively with clients on their designs, whether that means adapting their own artwork, developing a memorial tattoo, copying a design or starting with an idea and building the design together. We’re also happy to advise clients who want to update or cover an existing tattoo.”

What’s changed?

When we opened, we offered a piercing service as well as tattooing. However, we found it difficult to recruit suitably experienced local piercers, so we withdrew the service last year.

We also received so many enquiries about apprenticeships and learning to tattoo that we decided to create a short introductory course. The half-day course runs monthly, led by our resident tattoo artist and co-owner, TomCatTatt (as featured in Barnet Post in March).

It’s been particularly rewarding to see how some of our students have progressed. One is now tattooing back in South Africa, whilst another is almost ready to join us as an apprentice artist later this year

We were also delighted to welcome Shane Kealy as a guest artist earlier this year. Shane lives locally and has a background in illustration and animation; he learned his trade in Ireland many years ago, before focusing on tattooing in London from 2021.

Special offers and Halloween Designs

We usually have promotional offers available; at the moment we’re offering mini tattoos for £50 each, two for £75 or three for £100 when they’re all done on the same person. Designs can be up to 4 cm, so maybe not so tiny as you might think!

Our Halloween designs will be available from 1^st October, when the flash designs will be shared on social media: @oldmarineartsgrouptattoos

Above all, we aim to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for our clients. We’re always happy to explain the tattooing process, particularly to people having their first tattoo.

We’ve been thrilled by the positive reviews we’ve received and are looking forward to continuing to grow as part of the local community.

Contact Old Marine Arts Group on 07551 569439 for more information.

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