“We had a fight and she really got to me. “I got mad as hell at Nicole one day,” Ellison says. “Yes, that’s a real tattoo,” Ellison says. The visitor is a little hesitant to ask about the three red claw marks up and below one of his eyes. Not to be outdone, Ellison turns forearms up and points to this skull, that Madonna. Nicole drops a shoe to the floor and points with pride to the dromedary camel inked on one of her toes. “Errrrr, ahhhh, wellll …” a visitor gulps. Nicole lifts up her pants legs and shows the totem of skulls on her appendages. He sort of nods in agreement and feels fortunate that his favorite two subjects actually are one and the same: “Nicole had two ugly tattoos when I met her,” he says. They’ve been very unlucky for me.” Ellison jokes, “Nicole and I are in debt together, so I guess you could say we’re married.”īut no doubt, it’s the love of ink that holds Bob and Nicole’s relationship together. Those two words, ‘I do!’ and that little piece of paper can really ruin a relationship. But we got to be friends and the rest, as they say, is history. To say we didn’t get along at first would be putting it mildly. Well, she got mad as hell and slapped me upside the head. “Nicole bought me a beer, but I don’t drink,” Ellison says. Though their eyes locked into each other at a bar in Gretna, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Nicole is a native of Gretna, and Bob blew into New Orleans as a search and rescue volunteer fireman after Hurricane Katrina. 29 when she turns 18 so she can experience the wonderful world of permanent dermal artwork for herself.Īpparently, that old adage rings true here: The family that inks together stays together. Nicole’s daughter, Gabrielle, can’t wait until Aug. One of those satisfied customers is his partner for the past six years, Nicole Bell. But most of my clients are by-appointment, lot of repeat customers, people who like our work and come and refer us … satisfied customers who really like what we do.” “We don’t get a lot of walk-ins, maybe five or so a week. “We’re right on the edge of everything,” Ellison says, his voice tinged with pride. Cars fly by almost directly overhead on an elevated portion of Interstate 10, and Ellison uses that vision to segue into an observation, one that points out that if Ink Obsession isn’t the center of an increasingly crowded universe of tattoo establishments around New Orleans, it’s at least at a geographical map point trisecting Faubourg Marigny, the 9th Ward and the 8th Ward. Well, Dad, if I’m evil, I may as well be the devil’s son.”Įllison cracks up at his own observation, and you just know it’s going to be an unusual night in the Ink Obsession tattoo studio on N. “When I was a kid, he always said I was an evil lil’ bastard. Tattoo artist Bob Ellison points to the pentagram surrounded by three sixes etched into his neck: “That’s in honor of my dad,” he says.
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