Todd Lambright has the look: Tattoos cover his arms and neck. His head is shaved bald. A long goatee falls from his chin. If you were to meet him on the street and he told you he’s a tattoo artist, you’d hardly be surprised.
Lambright, the owner of Identity Tattoo in Maple Grove, is also soft-spoken with gentle eyes, not exactly the hard-partying personality you’d expect from a tattoo parlor owner. He’s a family man, with a 6-year-old daughter and a fiancée.
The walls of his shop are littered with paintings, animal skulls, sculptures, and a mishmash of knick-knacks that some might interpret as dark. Heavy metal music plays through the speakers at a more than reasonable volume.
Lambright is a hard-working small businessman; a down to earth guy who loves art and just happens to work with the human body as his canvas. If he epitomizes anything, it’s that tattoo culture is so mainstream in 2015, trying to typecast any of its followers is just plain silly.
Lambright went to school for art and worked odd jobs hoping to make a living off painting. When he was able to save extra cash, he got a tattoo. At the time, tattooing was hardly mainstream. “The artistry wasn’t quite what the craft is today,” Lambright says.
He realized he could make a good living in the tattoo world, and it also fed his desire to be an artist. He started working in tattoo shops as an apprentice, building his skills and working his way toward opening his own business.
“I just started chasing [my dream], and 18 years later, I’m still after it,” he says.
Lambright is drawn to a classic Japanese philosophy of tattoos. Instead of choosing a tattoo and placing it somewhere on the body, he focuses on making the tattoo work with your body by using the natural curves and lines as part of the tattoo.
“A big part of a good visual image is that it fits the body well,” Lambright says. “You can take a great image and place it poorly and it’s an ok tattoo. You can take a good tattoo and place it perfectly and it can be an amazing tattoo.”
Making sure the image fits your body helps the tattoo age better. As the body changes over time, the tattoo will continue to look good. That was the philosophy when Lambright opened Identity Tattoo in 2005.
In the 10 years he’s been in Maple Grove, Lambright has cultivated a steady group of loyal customers. His easy-going personality and expertise on the subject are what draw people such as Melanie Miller to his shop.
Miller was introduced to Lambright by her boyfriend. She chose a weeping willow tattoo because the tree has special meaning to her family. An extensive piece, the tattoo takes up the right side of her body from her hip up along the ribcage. It took three sessions to complete. She told Lambright what she was thinking and says he made it everything she wanted and more. “He is able to read your body and just knows exactly what needs to be done,” Miller says.
After getting her first tattoo, Miller went back for another. She is in the process of finishing a full sleeve tattoo on her arm that is a single portrait signifying her relationship with her daughter. Once that tattoo is complete, she has plans to do more.
Miller’s story is a common one among Lambright’s customers. Once they get one tattoo, they keep coming back for more.
