New season, fresh ink
There’s a low hum in the studio as the radio playing in the corner covers the miniscule amount of empty sound. Images of pirate ships, panthers, and multi-colored faces hang from frames on the wall. Two artists exercise their craft onto a pair of subjects, willing to have their art drawn onto them for the rest of their lives. James Zehna, owner of Sailor Jim’s Electric Tattoo, sits in the corner working on a young man’s arm. His partner is at his own station facing a more sizeable arm, gearing up for nearly six hours of listening to the buzz of the machine and ink being planted in the canvas before him.
The artist is Louisiana native Johannes Franciscus, and the arm belongs to Utah State starting forward Jalen Moore.
“The hands (on the clock) are when I was born,” says Moore, as Franciscus readies his next canvas. Two banners are strewn alongside the face of the clock, depicting the birthdays of his mother and father. Along with the birthdays, Moore has tattoos for the two states his parents are from — Utah for his mother, and Mississippi for his father.
Franciscus has been tattooing at Sailor Jim’s for two-and-a-half years, learning the style of American traditional tattoos under his mentor Zehna. He’s lived everywhere from Nashville to Dallas, even finding himself spending an extended amount of time in Hawaii. He’s worked with food in restaurants and on ranges as a farmhand. With vast experience in numerous aspects and adventures in life, Franciscus feels tattooing is his calling.
“It’s romantic,” says Franciscus. “I do take pride in the fact that I am learning, that that new tattoo or session I did does not look just like the last one, so it’s always evolving. It’s always changing, it’s always moving.” Franciscus spoke of the longevity of tattooing, and how has the art has changed, is changing and will change — “and therein lies the romance.”
Franciscus and Zehna make all of their own ink, build and tune their own machines, and are involved with as much of the process as they can be. It’s the American traditional way, and they don’t see themselves diverting from their customs.
Moore had heard about the work performed by both Franciscus and Zehna from friends around Logan, going in for his initial appointment around a year ago — it would be his first tattoo. Above a basketball on his wrist lies the acronym F.O.E. — Family Over Everything. In addition to F.O.E. and the clock, a portrait of an angel stretches from tricep to bicep.
Now nearly a year removed from his first tattoo, Moore has his entire right arm covered in ink, but not in a Nick Young “strictly for buckets” sort of way. Moore preferred to get them all on his shooting arm, as a way to showcase what means the most to him.
Though some might view excessive ink in an unfavorable light, an estimated 30 percent of Americans have at least one tattoo. A butterfly on the ankle, the heart composed of a bass and treble clef, a heart with “MOM” running through it — whatever the design, tattoos are memories that everyone can see, and memories that people want everyone to see.
For sophomore Norbert Janicek, a Slovakian transfer from Snow College, his only tattoo is a set of three arrows, with triangles dotting the background.
“It’s about life,” Janicek says. “It means when life pulls you back and it gets bad, it’s going to be better soon. Everything’s going to be good.”
Freshman forward Klay Stall, an Arizona native, has two: the phrase “Respect All, Fear None” on his left bicep, and a series of numerals on his right bicep — the birthday of his late grandmother.
Some have the sleeve, featuring everything from the sport they love, to an angel following them everywhere, to the one thing over everything — family.
“It means a lot, to have my family on me,” say Moore, whose older brother and former Aggie Grayson was the first to get tattooed. “Just something I wanted to get for them.”
Covered arms, legs, hands, necks, and faces — Fanciscus has seen all of these and more. From the Avett Brothers song, “The Ballad of Love and Hate,” to a pair of electrical switches on each temple, to a set of anchors on the forehead, “to keep the hairline from creeping up too much,” Franciscus says.
Shane Rector, Utah State’s senior point guard from Bronx, New York earns the top spot on the team for the most tattooed. His first was when he was still a teenager, a banner across his chest saying “Blood and sweat, but never tears.” His favorite rests on his right forearm, a portrait of the Statue of Liberty whose face has been replaced by that of Marilyn Monroe.
“It just reminds me of home,” says Rector. Further up his arm is his second favorite, a crowned basketball with the phrase “Love this game.” Rector says he’s taking his time before he gets his next tattoo, and that he has plenty for now.
Franciscus continues his work on people, welcoming familiar faces as well as new clients. The artist says he will stop by when his hometown University of New Orleans comes to Logan.
“I’d love to go when UNO comes,” he says. “I don’t have any gear, so I guess I’ll just wear Saints stuff.”
For those who love the ancient art of tattooing, ink acts as a bridge connecting people in Louisiana with people from Logan, UT. But Franciscus says there are two things to keep in mind.
“They are not for everyone, and that is perfectly fine,” says Franciscus. “And two, there is a tattoo out there for you, and a tattooer for you. Do your homework, what does and does not work. Take a second, see why you like it and compare it with others. Make sure it is for you.”