Blue Geisha Tattoo

I have a colleague who recently got a beautiful and unique tattoo, so I asked her where she went and she told me that it was done by Julie at this shop. There aren't any reviews mentioning her because she is newer to the city but I'm glad I took the plunge and booked with her anyways. I sent an email and we were able to set up a consultation for a week after I reached out, which is great for how busy artists in this area can get. During this I told her to let me know if she had any cancellations or unexpected openings not thinking it would actually happen, but she even finished drawing up the design earlier than expected and got me an earlier appointment which was absolutely amazing.
I voiced my concern about not knowing how colored ink would show up on brown skin because not many artists' portfolios in this city feature people without white skin-
She made it work with vibrant colors that look fantastic. We have one more session to go, but so far I love how my piece is coming along, had a great experience during the process and have gotten several compliments already! The lines are crisp, the colors pop and the design is exactly what I had in mind even though I gave the artist some creative freedom with her interpretation of it.

I had heard good things about Blue Geisha and decided to check it out. I emailed them my idea, and they suggested a couple of their artists. After looking at their portfolios, I chose Katie Beth.

I showed her two reference pictures during our consultation, and she asked me to describe what I liked from each, which was really helpful. She also stressed that the final product would be unique to me!

The end result looks beautiful, and I couldn't be more happy with my little goldfish. I think she was quite proud of it too! I only have one other very small tattoo, and I think she could tell I was having a pretty rough time dealing with the pain but she was very patient with me and made sure to check in so I could take a break if I needed to. Would 100 percent recommend Blue Geisha and Katie Beth.

I was looking to get my first tattoo and I had heard a lot of good things about Blue Geisha, so after checking out the artists' styles and finding one I liked for the design I wanted, I set up a consult with Joey. I appreciated his confidence when we spoke about the artwork ideas and set up an appointment a couple weeks out to get the ink done.

On the day of the tattoo I was a little nervous, of course, but Joey was very accommodating and I felt comfortable with him so it was easy to chill when we got started on the piece. He checked in with me many times to make sure I was okay since I'd opted to do the whole piece in one session. I'd gone with a fairly large design with a Japanese maple branch on my shoulder and the upper half of my arm, so it took about four hours. The end result was absolutely beautiful and I am so happy with the result which was worth every second. I am also grateful to Joey for giving me such a wonderful first experience and will definitely be back if I decide to get more ink done!

I cannot recommend Joey and Blue Geisha enough. The staff there is also really friendly and responsive. Great vibe, great people and amazing talent.

I'm pretty sure that Curtis lost a bet before I walked in (cause that's clearly the only damn explanation for how I ended up with such a crap tattoo that I somehow got blamed for). I did a fair amount of research before deciding to go with Curtis because (at least the work he posts) is lovely. We emailed back and forth for few months about a lion portrait tattoo before I went in to see him. Because I'm not an artist (like, I'm literally less of an artist than anyone), I had NO IDEA that his style didn't translate to portraits. It was HIS responsibility to tell me that. The day of the tattoo, not only did he tell me how much he LOVED doing portraits because they always turn out great, he also made a point to tell me what a fantastic business man he is. Eye. Roll. Anyways, I ended up with, hands down, the worst tattoo I've ever gotten (including the Bill the Cat tattoo I got when I was 18) - AND I'M COVERED in tattoos. The tattoo also came with a complimentary disgusting, painful, and itchy rash that required an expensive trip to the dermatologist and a whole lot of prescriptions. Again, I'm COVERED in tattoos and I've NEVER broken out in a rash. Ever.

When I emailed Curtis to tell him how unhappy I was with the tattoo (I wasn't about to confront a dude I didn't know in a basement of a tattoo shop where very few people were present), he failed to email me back for well over a week - and until I had to email him again. Uh-huh, great businessman. Anyways, his response was "um, yeah, why don't you stop by sometime and I'll look at it." No acknowledgement, no sincerity, no concern, no great businessman here. So I told him it was his responsibility to have told me he wasn't well versed in portrait and that I wanted 1/2 my money back (because that felt like the fairest compromise). His response was that "he's not a printer," he "stands by his artwork," and that he's "sorry I didn't like what I asked for." Um, what?

So, I contacted Woods (shop owner) to tell him what happened. And while he did give me a little more than 1/2 my money back, he literally couldn't have been more dismissive or given less of a &%$* about my experience.

I wonder if Curtis or Woods would have treated a dude this way...

The pictures show what I asked for, what I got, and the repaired tattoo done by Rok @ Slave to the Needle in Wallingford. ROK IS AMAZING AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM!

Also, what's up with the %*&#*@ eyelashes and whiskers on the original tattoo Curtis gave me? Just. Ew.

I love this shop.

I've been to many tattoo shops over the years, and across the country. This is probably my favorite. Everyone is so lovely, and warm, and welcoming.

I've been tattooed by Jake twice now. We did a decent sized piece on my thigh. When we talked about what I wanted, he was excited and made me feel good about my choice. He made a couple changes to the drawing that I had brought in, and made the piece even better. The second piece I had done was a little banger, a matching pizza tattoo with my boyfriend. My boyfriend wasn't super set on the idea until Jake had drawn up a slice that fit his personality perfectly.

I've also been tattooed by Caitlin. She is by far one of the sweetest people I've ever met in my life. We just did a couple hearts and they're so cute. I love them so much, and they've healed perfectly. I can't wait to get more work done by her.

Every single portfolio has amazing work, so no matter what you want, you should be able to find an artist at Blue Geisha that can handle what you need.

What a great shop. Nicest guys. Great value. Curtis is amazing. I spent months researching artists and landed on Curtis and he sure did not disappoint. I will never go to anyone else!

I just got a tattoo from Caitlin and I'm over the moon with the results!

Everything went smoothly, from the consultation to the tattooing process. Caitlin is very kind, professional, and attentive and she will ensure that you absolutely love your design before she puts one drop of ink on you.

Regarding the tattoo itself (a little peach with flowers), the lines are clean and the colors are vibrant. And the design is way better than the one I had in my head!

Everyone else at the shop seems very friendly as well, a definite plus!

This place is a definite recommend, especially if you're looking for fun, colorful tattoos. I will be back!

Came in at 12pm with the lady, but they were booked till 130.
Fair enough so we made 130 appointments, we get there; give them our designs which were very simple and they're like awesome our guys are just finishing up and in 10 minutes they'll be ready for you.
245 comes along and they still weren't ready for me after telling me multiple times they were almost ready. Lies all Lies.

Anyways I gave up and left, super unprofessional to not follow through with an appointment and giving someone your word.

10 stars for Curtis!

My previous tattoos were done by complete jerks. So I sought a female artist and found Caitlin... loved her work and her reviews raved about how sweet she is. She was booked way out and recommended her husband Curtis; she assured me of his kindness and talent (his reviews read the same). So, I checked out his portfolio and went for it.
I was tattooed yesterday and couldn't be more pleased.
Curtis is an awesome, interesting, and welcoming guy. He is a talented artist. His methods were clean and efficient. He had a killer soundtrack and put on Bob Ross for my wife and I to watch while I got inked (yay!). We both left conversing about how great the experience was...

Indeed, it was my first wonderful tattoo experience. If I get another tattoo Curtis is my guy... Heck it was so great that it's dangerous... tempted to head right back!

My son introduced me to Blue Geisha recently for my birthday. Curtis Stairs was amazing! I sent him a few mandala style photos of what I was looking for. Before I arrived he had developed an original piece that I loved. We were able to manipulate the color scheme on his laptop until we came up with exactly what I wanted. The process was seamless. Curtis is super creative, a true perfectionist, and a really awesome guy. I wouldn't want anyone else to do my work.