It is one of the most painful art forms available, yet the permanent body art of tattooing is no longer just for bikers or sailors. Today, tattoos have fully entered the mainstream and their clientele is much more diverse.

Gone from the subculture and into the mainstream, it is nearly impossible to stereotype a tattooed person. They are business professionals, stay at home moms and everyone in between.

"It's about self expression," said Hannah Bryant, an attendee of the Seattle Tattoo Expo on Aug. 8. "I really think art's important, so why not have it with you everywhere you go?"

Bryant already has several tattoos for her young age, each with a different motive. The Space Needle on the back of her left arm is a replica of the tattoo a deceased friend of hers had. She also has a girly, pink cupcake on her bicep, "because I'm a baker," she says.

No matter their choices, today's clientele certainly have more artists to choose from than ever before. There are over 50 tattoo shops in Seattle alone. Festivals like the Seattle Tattoo Expo last weekend also allow interested customers to meet artists from around the country and research a design.

West Seattle is home to two well received tattoo shops. Admiral Tattoo has been around the corner on tucked around the corner on California Avenue and Southwest College Street for five years. Mike Barker purchased the shop just a month after he moved to Seattle two years ago.

Barker says he has been drawing for as long as he remembers and always wanted to be a visual artist, but had trouble making a living that way until he entered the tattoo industry.

He, and the rest of the artists at Admiral Tattoo, tailors specifically to custom work. There are no designs on the shop's walls to choose from so that they only tattoo original artwork on each of their clients.

"If you put a lot of flash art on the walls, people will find a picture and be less open-minded," Barker said.

The artists at Admiral Tattoo will adjust any design endlessly until the client is happy.

Their clients seem to appreciate that process, but also put significant trust in the artists themselves. When 23-year-old West Seattleite Sean Rosoanliec decided to have his entire right arm tattooed, he allowed one artists to draw freehand on him without applying the design to paper first.

"They're all a bunch of cool guys," Rosoanliec says of the artists at Admiral Tattoo. "You give them an idea that they work up on their own and then adjust it however you want."

Located on a slow street, the shop does not get a lot of foot traffic. Most of its customers hear about it through word of mouth.

"I like that because we get clients who are actively seeking out good artists," Baker said.

Alki Tattoo, a newer shop that has been located on Alki Avenue for just two years, often works with spontaneous customers that walk by the shop and decide get a tattoo. But Ian Duca, the shop owner, says the artists at Alki Tattoo also do a lot of custom work.

Like Barker, Duca originally went to art school for drawing and painting but found the life of a starving artist less than appealing. As a tattoo artist, he now makes a comfortable living and is able to surround himself with many new, interesting people.

"Tattoo shops are a great environment for artists," Duca said. "And you meet people from all walks of life."

Duca also finds the medium of people's bodies pleasantly challenging. Unlike paper, he says, you have much less control over body parts and skin types.

"And, of course, there's no erasing," Duca said.

But despite the permanency, many Seattleites are content with the various markings on their bodies.

"It's like looking at a photograph," Rosoanliec said. "Each of them has a memory related to it."

Rose Egge may be contacted at 932.0300 or rosee@robinsonnews.com