(FREMONT COUNTY, Colo.) — A local tattoo shop in Cañon City is helping customers tell their stories through unique, high-quality tattoos that are set to reflect a customer’s individuality.
Extra Ink Tattoo offers various services, including custom tattoos and cover-ups. The tattoo shop aims to embrace your vision and bring it to life. Extra Ink Tattoo Founder, Tamara Keeler, says her interest in tattoos began when she was young. She told FOX21 News her interest started when she “really wanted to get tattoos” and had taken an interest in drawing since she was young.
Keeler says she believes she’s the only black tattoo artist in Fremont County and only black-owned tattoo shop in Cañon City.
“I will get people that will come in and say, ‘Well, I can’t have this kind of color because of my skin tone,’ Well, I beg to differ,” Keeler said.
Keeler has been tattooing for almost 10 years, offering clients a safe space where they can indulge in their creativity and express it.
“I’m just not the normal. Being a black business owner and standing up to those things because you’ll hear people like, ‘Oh, well, I can’t believe you live in Fremont County being dark skinned,’ or whatever. People like to say. It’s like, well, it wasn’t my experience, and the experiences I did have I use as fuel to bring about positive change and positivity to these issues.”
The workspace also aims to be welcoming and exclusive.
Keeler says it is weird to call her customers clients “because a lot of them have become family or friends or have been at my kids functions, learning about what they like and their families and their stresses and their vulnerabilities and sharing them back and forth that over time you just develop these friendships with people.”
“We get to catch up, right?” said Catalena McNew. “Like we’re both busy moms, and we sometimes don’t get to get together very often. So this is our time to really just connect and talk about the deep stuff.”
Embracing individuality, Extra Ink Tattoo also offers a special initiative aimed at supporting survivors of domestic violence. The shop’s “Eternal Flame Project” supports victims by offering a powerful symbol through tattoo artistry.
The tattoo shop is located at 1224 South 9th Street in Cañon City.
