Growing up in a quiet little town in Ohio, Cameran had no idea that she would be standing on the edge of a whole new life, one covered in ink, it all began when she walked into a tattoo studio shopping for some new skin art. One of those instant chemistry things happened when she met tattoo artist Tobe Drew and wedding bells were soon chiming. Now she and her husband own their own studio, On the Edge Tattoo, in Bowling Green.
Her extensive collection seen here was almost exclusively created by her husband. the list including the small tribal piece on her back followed by the dragon coiled around her left arm, one of many to follow. I fell in love with dragons and have been collecting them all my life, including several beautiful sculptures. In this case, Tobe drew it straight onto my arm. All I had to tell him was that I wanted a dragon with really bright skin. It's about five years old now, and has never been touched up. "While her right hip is still a work in progress, there's a dragon placed in the center, and it bears more than a striking resemblance to the dragon found on Tobe's arm. You've heard about people married to ink, in this case the two dragons further symbolized their bond. "I got that just after we were married," says Cameran. "And shortly thereafter we opened our own shop and that dragon became our logo and appeared on our business cards."
No one with a pair of eyes wouldn't agree that Cameran's next tattoo deserves to be called hot. "I wanted a tattoo symbolic of a thong so we put on a pair of my favorite underwear and traced it out, then Tobe spotted me out," laughs Cameran. The flames were already in place before the thong was added, so what was already pretty hot got scorching. "It's my favorite tattoo. because it has brought me a lot of attention and the shop a lot of clients," adds Cameran. Speaking of flames, her black-and-gray sleeve began with flames on the lower end while on the upper arm we find another of Cameran's favorite fantasy elements, a dragon, this one worshiping a female figure. She counts a total of five dragons on the sleeve alone. "The tails of the dragons are actually fashioned from flower motifs that we incorporated into the image, all of it drawn freehand by Tobe."
"I don't think could do an art design on your skin, but when it comes to make-up I'm really good at that. I can do your eyebrows, eyeliner, lip liner, and lips and a lot of corrective work."
Another big blue dragon writhes on her left hip. "I've got thirty-one hours in that piece, and I'm very proud of sitting through that one." says Cameran.
That left arm, currently in black and gray, will soon he full color. Cameran and Tobe have also started work on her back tying in the two tribal pieces. "I also have a scar on my back that I just got this year by running into a shelf." she laughs. "We're all ready to go and it will be awesome."
By the way. Cameran has stepped on the other side of the ink machine, taking her pre marriage training as a beautician then adding in training by her husband to become all accomplished permanent cosmetologist. "I always loved to do make-up and makeovers and when I met my husband of course I got into the tattoo industry. From the time we met I devoted myself to learning all I could. I don't think I could do an art design on your skin. but when it comes to make-up I'm really good at that. I can do your eyebrows, eyeliner, lip liner, and lips and a lot of corrective work like for all the little old ladies who had their eyebrows tattooed twenty or thirty years ago who come in with blue eyebrows. It's quite the challenge, call it a miracle, to get rid of those, but it works and they look wonderful."
You could say it takes beauty to make beauty.
-Paul Garson