Canora residents who are looking for a unique tattoo no longer have to leave town. On October 7, Patz Tatz officially opened to the public at its Main Street location.
Owner Pat McMillan is strictly offering tattoos at the start, but expects to have body piercings available in the near future.
“I enjoy the artistic freedom that comes from creating tattoos,” said McMillan. “I’m giving people what they want and they’re helping me create their story. There’s a story behind pretty much every tattoo, which I really enjoy. The most common requests are for flowers, especially roses and lilacs.
“But some of them are really unique. I recently created a memorial tattoo of someone’s mom, including the birth year and the death year. Another tattoo was for a woman with MS (multiple sclerosis). It’s a tree of life tattoo, where everything looks good above the ground, but underneath everything is red and irritated with crossed and messed up roots, similar to what happens to a person’s nerves with MS.”
McMillan said she moved to Canora from Kamsack about 12 years ago, and has been preparing for this for quite a while.
“Previously I was playing poker professionally, and I also bought houses and resold them,” she shared. “But COVID caused a lot of changes. At first I was doing tattoos out of my home, but I wanted to move out and make this into a real business.”
McMillan spent about a month renovating her store location on Main Street before the opening. She is very aware that some people might worry about the safety of getting a tattoo, and (she) takes all necessary precautions. She expects to get regular visits from health inspectors, just to make sure the operation is sanitary and properly run.
“I want customers to feel comfortable and safe. Everything, including needles, is sanitized and disposable, one use only.”“If you’re at a place where someone reuses needles for tattoos, beware, you should probably walk out. They should be taking the needle out of a brand new package in front of the customer for peace of mind, so they feel comfortable and safe.”
McMillan thoroughly enjoys the artistic side of tattoo work, and is looking to expand her horizons.
“I’m taking online courses in realism and portraits. The big thing with realism is that there is no outline. That gives maximum artistic freedom, which I really enjoy.”
Patz Tatz is a one-person operation for now, but McMillan is interviewing for a tattoo artist, and she’s also looking for a body piercer.
“After the business is established, I’m thinking about expanding and going into permanent makeup in the future. That requires different needles and different techniques than tattoos. It would involve things like eyeliner, getting eyebrows to stand out, as well as blush with colour and texture.”
McMillan hasn’t done a lot of advertising so far, but she has some regular customers who have followed her to Canora from Kamsack, and is also seeing some word of mouth business as she is getting established.
