Stephn St. Godard has Chris Wade of Sick Luck Tattooz put some finishing touches on his full back tattoo.

Image Credit: Infotel Image/Stacy Pavlov

Getting inked in West Kelowna

Two years ago, Chris Wade’s dream of bringing his love of art and ink together came alive after following through with a promise he made to someone special.

     Wade, owner of Sick Luck Tattooz in West Kelowna left a successful auto body career behind to follow his artistic passion for tattooing, something he’s done on a casual basis for 16 years.

     He didn’t choose to take on a new career and become a business owner on a whim, it held much more meaning.

     “I made a promise to my best friend who passed. He was one person who really believed in me that I could do this, so I didn’t want to let him down,” said Wade, who has been tattooing close friends for years in his home studio.

     Named after the fact that tattoos are “sick” or cool, and his nickname Lucky, Wade aptly named his shop Sick Luck Tattooz, which incidentally gets plenty of attention.
Walking into his West Kelowna location, customers find no shortage of art to check out; metal work, wood carvings, paintings and more. Some of the pieces on the wall were created by his grandfather, who Wade gets much of his artistic style from.

     Growing up, Wade was surrounded by a number of artistic family members.  Since he can remember, he’s been drawing and sketching in their footsteps, with their influences. Now, he channels his talent into intricate, unique tattoo creations including full custom work, water colours, anime, portrait and realism styles. Wade also specializes in cover-ups, re-designing improving and re-creating old tattoos that may have been done poorly, or those that have faded and lost definition.

     “I love the reaction from people when they say, ‘It’s better than I thought it was going to be.’ That’s the best compliment for an artist,” said Wade. “We want it to be right.”
But for him, it’s not just about laying down some ink to make a living. Wade spends time talking with his clients to help them think beyond the initial idea of getting a tattoo. He will chat with a person to determine the right design, the right place to put it, and what’s involved in the tattoo process.

     “I take a piece of them, and I give them a piece of me to create just what they want,” explained Wade, who has one particular client who has a full-colour, full back piece of art which has taken over 60 hours to create.

     Tattoo before and after care is very important to Wade and his staff, so they ensure clients fully understand everything.

     “We keep our studio clean and only use one-use needles, surgical gloves and an autoclave to sterilize our tools and instruments,” he assured.

     The one tattoo people will find that Wade won’t do, are names of boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands or wives. “I’ll do your kids’ names or your parents or pets, but that’s it,” he laughs. “Things can change.”

     Although many clients will come in for just one specific tattoo, many have full body artwork, or sleeves with a theme. With tattooing being around for 1,000 years or more, today, it’s become the norm, says Wade. People who don’t have a tattoo are in the minority. Since the 1980s there has been a huge surge of women getting inked. As much as 90 per cent of those getting tattoos today are women, Wade estimates.

     Wade’s first tattoo was a dollar sign that he did on himself.  “I wanted to know the feeling of my tattoo because I wouldn't do something to someone that I wouldn't do to myself,” he admitted.

     To learn more about Sick Luck Tattooz or book a consultation, check out their website at www.sicklucktattooz.ca

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