July 26, 2016
Three months ago, Enso Tattoo opened its doors in the Short North Arts District as not only a tattoo shop, but as an art gallery and a place buy local jewelry and other items. Owners Kevin and Nicole Stress, and Curt Everitt wanted to open a new tattoo shop different from the typical walk-in tattoo shop.
“We wanted to make something that wasn’t just for people getting tattooed,” Curt Everitt said. He wanted to give a variety of artists the chance to display their work.
When a customer walks into Enso, they are welcomed by a relaxed energy, tattoo stations, and a wide variety of artwork hung on the walls. On their open wall, they invite local and international artists to feature their work. The artists are able to decorate the wall however they want to exhibit their art.
Another form of art that the owners incorporate into Enso is yoga. Owner Nicole Stress, yoga instructor at Yoga on High, will be teaching yoga workshops at Enso in the future. All three owners are working to incorporate the artist community in Columbus into their shop.
A welcoming environment in their tattoo shop is also something that the owners take pride in.
“Art is different for everybody, so just having a place where anybody can come whether they want the smallest black dot, to a full body suit [is important]. We want everyone to feel like they can come here and get that, and know that we’re going to be excited to give that to them,” said Nicole Stress.
Kevin Stress, owner and tattoo artist, stresses the relaxed nature of Enso and wants all of their customers to feel comfortable when visiting.
“Enso is perfection through imperfection. It captures the moment,” Stress said. “That’s something I’m really into when I’m tattooing, I like to capture the organic nature of things and just go with the flow. That’s a big part of what Enso is.”
At Enso, all of the tattoo artists have their own tattooing style where anybody can come in and have a variety of different tattoo specialties.
“I didn’t want to have a shop full of people doing the same thing. I feel like nowadays clients are seeking out a certain artist instead of just walking into a shop and going with whomever,” Stress continued. When bringing in his tattoo artists to Enso, he looked for a variety so that they have something to offer to each client.
“The quality of work we produce sets us apart,” Everitt said. “We didn’t want to be a place that’s just insanely busy, we want to be a place that puts in the time that people deserve into their artwork and they get the tattoo that they deserve.”
Visit Enso Tattoo on Gallery Hop Saturday for Roll ‘Em Boys Biker Tattoo Flash Day from 12:00-7:00pm. There will be a gallery showing from 7:00-10:00pm featuring traditional Americana and 70s-inspired motorcycle artwork by Curt Everitt.
– Breanna Williams