Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivy McLemore/Dinosaur
Hi Ivy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started my tattoo apprenticeship when I was around 20 years old (actually around the corner from where my shop is now) I was tattooing full time by 2013. Eventually I left there, and met Jake at the second shop I worked at after being there for a couple years. We continued to work together there and after that shop sort of dissipated, we worked together at the next shop until 2020 when Covid hit and everything sort of fell apart.
Since we couldn’t really tattoo due to Covid and were tired of working for other people, we basically used the shut down time to open Electric Tiger in early 2021.
Somewhere in there, Jake and I decided since we already owned a business together we might as well get married,
After our lease ended at our first location, we had the chance to move to the Cooper Young neighborhood, and I guess that brings us up to date!
That is such an extremely brief version of events, but I think that’s about the bones of it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Opening during winter and right after Covid was definitely a struggle.
What stands out the most is just not being able to get gloves. The prices went up, and they were often sold out. Then, when we were able to get some ordered, because of the Memphis ice and sleet, they were super late. We ended up pushing back our opening date because we had to wait on our supplies to be delivered.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have always been an avid drawer/painter but didn’t start learning about tattooing until about 2011ish.
I love doing any tattoos, but I have the most fun and usually have the best results with ones with lots of color and nice bold black lines. Anything based on a cartoon or comic or anime is always really fun.
Getting to do my own flash or a stylized custom tattoo is always an extra fun bonus.
I’m most proud of having kept the shop open and relocated to midtown.
There are plenty of great shops in town so when someone makes a point to come back to me, especially between moves or brings their family in, it means a lot.
To hear people say they feel comfortable at the shop makes me feel like we’re doing something right. There’s only the two of us here right now, so the shop is really personal to me. When people feel at ease or get excited about our art on display or weird decor it’s just…the best.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Definitely Jakes cousin Evan. He helped us with a lot of the manual labor to get our midtown location up and running,
Underground Art is where I learned to tattoo, and they’ve continued to be friends and supportive these many years. Skin city has been really kind to us as well. It’s comforting to have a friendly relationship with other artists and shops as opposed to a competitive, there’s-not-enough-room-in-this-town-for-the-both-of-us mentality. People aren’t going to stop getting tattooed anytime soon.
All of our clients. Cheesy as it sounds, every tattoo we’ve done has been one dollar or one good experience that put us closer to being able to own our own place and be our own bosses so to speak. Tattooing is one job that you literally cannot do without another living break thing human being. Tattooing relies on people, literally.
I also know that as soon as this is printed, I will immediately think of a bunch of people that I forgot, and I will feel so guilty, haha,
Pricing:
- Our shop minimum is around $70 and we price by how long the tattoo takes. If you have a specific image or a clear idea, we can give you a more exact price quote.
- My hourly rate is $150 per hour but I work at a decent pace and we’re always willing to work with someone’s budget
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @electrictigerstudio , @ivy_dinosaur , @marbledbarf
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElectricTiger901
- Other: (901) 658- 0203
