Written by Sara Terrell
Photographed by Sara Terrell
Situated on 19 East Bay St., The Butcher is open for business. The space is comprised of a tattoo studio and a sophisticated art gallery which, although they carry the same name and signature logo, are entirely separate entities.
Opened in 2009, the business was originally just a tattoo parlor called One Nine Fine Art. Its next-door neighbor was art gallery, though, and the gallery’s manager, Jenny Hawkes, was eager to merge to two establishments. They did so the following year in 2010, but in January of 2011 Jimmy Butcher took ownership and renamed One Nine as The Butcher.
It wasn’t long before Butcher hired tattoo artist Cory Hand as part of his permanent staff. Shortly after Hand came Kimberly Reed and Kelly McDonald. Together Butcher, Hawkes, and the three artists form a family of their own. They work hard to create a relaxed and positive environment at The Butcher.
As the longest running artist employed by The Butcher, Hand expressed satisfaction with the way everyone got along and worked together.
“We can come and go as we please,” said Hand. “We can decide what kind of style of work to do. It’s really relaxed. More than anything, it seems like as a whole everybody is trying to progress rather than trying to make the shop money or make the boss look better.”
Butcher, a West Virginia State University art graduate, began professionally tattooing in 2004. At first he had aimed for a career in graphic design, but when things didn’t work out he fell into a different field altogether.
“I was hanging out in a tattoo shop and kind of fell into it, for a lack of having anything else. So I asked for an apprenticeship after hanging out for several months. There was no turning back from there.”
Butcher apprenticed for nearly two years, learning the trade inside and out. While he certainly picked up some valuable tricks, he recalls the experience as taxing. Learning how to tattoo, more specifically learning a new art form and technique from the very beginning, was a separate challenge altogether. He claims that painting and tattooing are nothing alike when it comes to application.
“You may be able to recreate an image that you were able to paint before you started tattooing,” Butcher said, “but not until you start it all over.”
Even after 10 years of experience, Butcher said he still learns something new every day as both a business owner and a custom tattoo artist.
Today Butcher claims no specialty in a single genre or style of tattooing. Just looking through his vast portfolio one can see that he’s telling the truth, for his art covers a wide gamut of different tattoo approaches.
The portfolios of his fellow artists in the shop are the same. Their styles range from traditional American, to animal and plant realism, to new-school and anything in between. This versatility attracts a large customer base that keeps the artists working hard.
Despite owning many different styles, the artists at The Butcher pride themselves on tattoos with customizations personalized for each client. This is the main reason behind The Butcher’s lack of generic “flash” tattoos on display.
The space that this “flash” tattoo art might occupy is instead taken up by the gallery.
Full of natural light, open and roomy, the gallery space at The Butcher draws people in that might never have considered entering a tattoo parlor before. And that’s the point.
“It’s important to have the place look welcoming, look clean, comfortable to come in to. If you think you want a tee shirt you come in and check out some artwork. And then you find out it’s a tattoo shop and you’re intrigued by the portfolios,” said Butcher. “We don’t just want people to get tattoos – we want people to come in and have an experience.”
The gallery’s bright appearance highlights the positive and welcoming attitude displayed by the tattoo parlor. The client’s comfort is a priority. To Jimmy Butcher, the experience itself tends to be more important than the tattoo.
“You can get a great tattoo by a person who makes you feel uncomfortable, and then feel uncomfortable about the tattoo. Or you can get a pretty good tattoo by a person who makes you feel great. You feel great about the tattoo! The experience that you get is so important.”
Over the years this attitude has brought The Butcher much success, with most of their customers fast becoming regulars. Many of them include SCAD students and those in the military.
Like most shops, The Butcher attracts some of its clients by word of mouth, but they also take a unique approach to draw in customers. After feeling that television and local rock station ads were not as effective, the shop took to branding, a personal passion of Butcher’s.
Butcher applied his graphic design experience and created the shop’s logo, which can be seen on the apparel displayed in the window and on stickers stamped all over Savannah. Social media has been crucial as well. The artists and the gallery pull a combined 4,000+ followers on Instagram, and the studio has over 2,000 fans on Facebook. Some clients even request appointments through these formats. In addition to Jimmy’s branding, Pat Crump – a SCAD student currently apprenticing under artist Cory Hand – has for the past year designed some of the shop’s promotional posters, stickers, and business cards.
These tactics have proven successful, as the studio is booked solid for the whole of next month.
