Eternal Ink Tattoo Sparta to have grand opening Sunday
<span>Eric Catalano, an award-winning tattoo artist, will be opening his newest shop in Sparta on Sunday.</span>
<span>Eternal Ink Tattoo Sparta will open at 1505 N. Market St., Suite No. 4. Catalano also owns Eternal Ink Tattoo Studio in Hecker.</span>
<span>"I wanted to give people a middle ground from having to choose between Carbondale and Belleville," Catalano said. "I wanted to give people someplace to get tattoos at a high-quality, sterile place because I've seen so many tattoo places that are run out of houses.</span>
<span>"People from Randolph County already come (to Hecker), but I'm sure some people will be migrating down to Sparta."</span>
<span>Catalano said the new shop will also be offering full-body piercings and microdermal implants.</span>
<span>"I'm also a portrait artist," he said. "I've got nice quality portraits and to find someone who does portraits is very rare. People don't want to do that stuff because it is so difficult and nerve-wracking."</span>
<span>Catalano got his start in the industry in 2007. He opened a shop in Alton in 2008 and in 2009, he opened St. Louis Tattoo Company in Chesterfield, Mo.</span>
<span>"Both were for somebody else," Catalano said.</span>
<span>In 2010, he opened his own shop in Hecker and started working at Iron Age Tattoo on Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis.</span>
<span>"I've always been artistic," Catalano said. "So, I've always drawn and would get into trouble at school for drawing because my notebooks would be filled with nothing but doodles."</span>
<span>Catalano said the new trend in tattoos are "New School" tattoos, which use heavy outlines, vivid colors and exaggerated depictions of the subject, according to Wikipedia.</span>
<span>"One of the big selling points for me is two of my awards are for 'Old School' and two are for 'New School'," he said.</span>
<span>Sunday's grand opening will occur from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will include a cookout. Attendees can also get a walkthrough of the shop, speak to the tattoo artists and schedule appointments.</span>
<span>"I put in brand-new flooring, repainted the walls and added new plumbing to accommodate the sinks," Catalano said.</span>
<span>For more information, contact Catalano at 618-204-8877.</span>