I'll ask the questions around here! Speakeasy Tattoo's Lizzie Renaud

        It seems that this city has an abundance of tattoo shops. One thing that most shops have in common is staff that make you feel like shit if you don't have your face and neck tattooed. Not the case at Speakeasy Tattoo, located at 299 Harbord Street in Toronto, Ontario. This past Sunday, Speakeasy paired up with Sam James coffee company to celebrate two great years of making the greatest coffee the city has to offer. Speakeasy was offering $50 coffee mug tattoos to mark the occasion. I sat down with Speakeasy Tattoos' co-owner Lizzie Renaud and talk about tats, bad attitudes and being neighborly. When I walk into the small unassuming shop on Harbord, I feel like Norm walking into Cheers. It's nice to go into a tattoo shop and for the people there to greet you as a customer instead of grading you on how many tats you have or who did them for you. When I asked about the subject of tattooing walk-ins, Renaud responds while drawing smallish cute little coffee mugs," We love that shit, man! Its our bread and butter." Lizzie went on to say that "Most shops don't like to do flash or smaller tattoos, but we put just as much effort into an original pieces (of art) as we do into wall flash. We don't assign a "cool" quotient to our clients, we tattoo because we love our craft." This is what you wanna hear from a tattooist though sadly you don't hear it too often.
     A recent line up change at the shop has separated the wheat from the chaff, leaving a stronger staff more focused on creating amazing tattoos without any of the bad attitude associated with tattoo culture. Lizzie herself draws customers in on reputation alone. Trust me, I haven't had work from Lizzie yet but I'm eager to remedy that soon. Also at the shop is one of my favorite artists, Jen M. who has done work on me. If you see me around, ask about my favorite tattoo and I'll show you what Jen did. Rounding out the Speakeasy roster is Adrian, co-owner Hayden's younger brother and maybe the most promising artist of the bunch. The three of them together will royally fuck shit up in the tattoo scene in Toronto.

      Speakeasy Tattoo has become somewhat of a family business as Lizzie has brought her younger sister Monique aboard to run the managerial side of the shop. A dead ringer for a still-cute version of Anne Hathaway, Monique is the coal that keeps the shop's engine running smoothly. "Having my sister here is really making it easy for me to leave the shop and know it's in good hands. I hope to return to Europe for 3-4 months" says Lizzie. "I want to work at some other shops (in Holland) as a guest artist and pick up more technique and work on my art.  I will never close Speakeasy.  Its my home and will always be home base to me".
    When asked about what's in store for next season a wicked little smile crosses her face." I'm excited about having a couple of great guest artists in the shop, including Miles Carr from Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn." Lizzie goes on to say, "I love this time of year. School starts and all these kids have OSAP money burning holes in their pockets. Money they don't spend on books and beer they spend here. We start to take on a lot of clients in the winter months, so we encourage people to book well in advance."
    Lizzie's motto when it comes to customer service is simple; "If you're going to treat people like shit, you can expect them to tell as many people as possible about their bad experience at your shop. I don't give a shit about attitude, you can't buy credibility. Be cool and you'll get a great tattoo, if you're a tool, you'll still get a great tattoo but you might not be welcome back for your next piece. For the most part, I'm grateful for our clientele. I feel lucky to have them. They all rock!" Truer words were never spoken.
I foresee great things in the future for Speakeasy Tattoo.

Down with bad attitudes, up with great art!
Here are some tips from an artist on how to approach getting a new tattoo;
* Don't rip off other artists' flash and try to get it done somewhere else for cheaper.
* Don't be a flaky jerk when setting an appointment. If you think that you might not be able to make it to your appointment don't book. Its taking up valuable tattoo time from someone that CAN make it.
*When picking a tattoo or developing a concept do your own thing. Don't worry about what others will think about your tattoo. You're the one whose gonna live with it!

I took a ton of great photos but I shoot 35mm so they will be up soon. 

Speakeasy Tattoo Info