Posted: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 4:00 pm
Dawn Barreto, a 1985 Strawberry Festival princess, never dreamed that she would become a tattoo artist. But recently she opened Lucky Club Tattoo at 43 E. Sherman St. in Lebanon. The shop is open from noon to 8 or 9 p.m., seven days a week. The phone number is 258-4400 and walk-ins are welcome.
After graduating from Lebanon High School, Barreto worked at ENTEK in Lebanon for 14 years. When ENTEK downsized 27 senior staffers and gave her a severance package, she commuted to Portland for six months and became certified to give tattoos in Oregon. She worked at Sacred Art Tattoo in Corvallis for almost two years before opening her shop.
Her partner, Troy Faulkner, sets appointments and helps clients look for designs from a plethora of reference materials available at the shop.
Barreto has done about 2,000 tattoos, including cosmetic tattoos and coverups.
"There's a lot of bad tattoos out there. Coverups are fun because it makes people happier. I tell them to choose another tattoo that's busy and with a lot of shading&ellipsis;. People are happy with my work and come back. They trust me."
She does do cosmetic tattoos, including eyeliner and eyebrows. Elderly women who don't want to have to keep putting on eyebrows or eyeliner are amazed with what a tattoo can do, said Barreto.
Even though tattoos carry less of a stigma in the past five years, she discourages younger people from getting a tattoo on their necks, face, arms and hands.
In order to make sure that any one has thought about the decision to get a tattoo, she requires a $40 deposit before the actual appointment. Sometimes people don't come back or they cancel and they lose their deposit. The money ensures that people don't make a decision they might regret later.
Anyone getting a tattoo must show photo I.D. and must be 18-years-old.
Even without advertising she has completed more than one tattoo a day, seven days a week for more than a month.
"I've been incredibly busy," she said.
Her work is more traditional than the "heavy-handed" art work that is really popular today, she said.