Michael “Chops” Gray’s life changed forever Memorial Day of 1999 when, as one of his usual daredevil stunts, the self-proclaimed adrenalin junkie did a cliff dive off the Cliff Walk in Newport that went horribly wrong. Then in his mid-20s, he suffered permanent injuries that left him confined to a wheelchair, never able to walk again.
“Over time, I’ve accomplished more than anyone thought I could,” said Gray, now 35, married with three children and the owner/operator of Marks of Identity in South Providence, one of the few businesses in Rhode Island that sells tattoo and piercing supplies.
Gray, who grew up in the Newport-Middletown area where he still lives, began amassing that experience when he was a teenager “just hanging out with my buddies” at a shop called Anchor Steam Tattoo Gallery, still located on Broadway in downtown Newport. “I was a skateboarder,” he said, and like many teens he was often bored, so he started “tinkering with the machines” at the tattoo parlor.
“I didn’t realize that the knowledge I had would be useful to somebody,” he said.
He learned how to mix pigments, solder needles and sanitize equipment, functions that back then had to be done mostly by hand. Sanitizing is one of the most crucial aspects of his business, Gray said. “A lot of sterilization” is required for both tattoo and body-piercing work. He learned the ins and outs of tattoo machines, the devices that actually deliver the pigment to the skin, how to build and repair them. He tried his hand at tattooing, but didn’t like it for a paradoxical reason. “I have such a profound respect for it that I don’t feel comfortable doing it,” he said.
Gray has seen a lot of changes in the tattoo industry. Back then, 17 years ago, Anchor Steam was one of only a handful of tattoo shops in Rhode Island. Now, he estimates, there must be dozens. Pigments now come premixed and bottled in such 21st-century colors as “creamsicle,” “apple green,” “iris mist,” “canary yellow” and “raspberry.”
Gray’s shop, literally, has hundreds of colors and about half, he said, are organic and thus safer than the inks used in the old days when mostly sailors and bikers were tattooed. Today’s colors, too, are more vibrant than the dull tones of yesterday, so a well-executed and well-designed tattoo can become a true adornment.
“I buy everything but paper towels and ointment” from Gray, she said. “He has not only good equipment, but if I have a problem, he’s more than willing to exchange something. He’s in a wheelchair, but he delivers [to businesses], which is awesome.” Joslin said Gray has close relationships with suppliers across the country and “is so educated about it that, when an ink company changes a color, he’s in the know.”
After living for a time in California and Florida and performing various odd jobs, Gray decided to return to Rhode Island and, after his accident, to start his own business. “It’s a big challenge, but I felt I was ready for it,” he said. He has a silent partner who helped him get off the ground financially, but he frankly admits he is not making a lot of money.
With his wife’s income as a school teacher, “we get by,” he said. He is working on setting up a new website and has a presence on Facebook, but he does not take orders over the Internet and he does not offer a catalogue. His customers hail from all of New England, but mostly from Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Many learned about his shop through word-of-mouth.
He earns extra, too, from a sideline writing music and performing with a band.
Well aware of the prejudice that still can exist against tattoo-wearers, Gray said only in the last year or so has he stopped covering his tattoo-covered arms when he’d attend school functions with his kids. He used to be fearful that his tattoos would turn off other parents, but now he’s decided to educate people about it instead. “Tattoos are nothing to be frightened of,” he said. “A tattoo to me is a mark of identity. Everything on me tells a story. People just express themselves in different ways.” •
COMPANY PROFILE
Marks of Identity LLC
OWNER: Michael Gray
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Commercial supplier of tattoo and body-piercing supplies
LOCATION: 302 Lockwood St., Providence
EMPLOYEES: 2
ESTABLISHED: Jan. 15, 2010
ANNUAL SALES: WND
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
