Art, Ink, & Coffee
Tattoo and coffee shop breaks stereotypes
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An artist at work: Patrick Cameron works on a tattoo for a customer. - Crystal Huskey
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Patrick Cameron looks at the finished product of a tattoo he has just completed on a customer’s arm. - Crystal Huskey
Patrick Cameron and his wife, Brandi, were ready for something new.
After owning a tattoo parlor in Knoxville for years, the crime around North Central Avenue got to be too much for Cameron.
“I was wanting to close my shop down and do something different,” he said.
At the time, he and Brandi weren’t even dating.
“I sent her some flowers from a secret admirer,” he said sheepishly.
They became friends and she helped him get his shop ready to sell. They cleaned, packed up and put everything in storage.
“She always wanted to be a barista,” he said. “She loved coffee, I loved coffee. I thought, ‘That’s a really cool idea.’”
As things progressed, they started dating and dreaming up new ideas.
“So I ended up buying this 1970s Kurbmaster delivery truck, and we spent all summer long stripping it down and taking the paint off of it,” he said.
“We bought all this coffee equipment.”
The plan was to operate a mobile coffee truck.
During that process, the couple moved in together and decided to sell their homes. They wanted to move out to the country.
Andersonville ended up being their new home sweet home.
“I realized the truck I had wouldn’t make it to Knoxville, with the gas and wear and tear. So I sold the truck,” he said.
They started to look for a brick and mortar location where they could have a place to continue Cameron’s tattoo work, as well as open a coffee shop.
They looked at many places and thought they had found the perfect location, but then discovered it had already been purchased. But, across the street…
“Brandi looked over and saw a ‘for rent’ sign,” he said.
It was for the space above Johnson’s General Store at 139 N. Main St. in Clinton. They walked in and saw that window was already cut out.
“I thought that would be a good spot for the coffee shop,” he said.
Then he saw the lobby area and the rooms that could be used for tattoo booths.
“I said, ‘I really dig this.’ It was laid out perfect,” he said.
There was already a kitchenette. He told the owner, Charlotte Johnson, that he wanted it.
“She said to do whatever we want, but don’t mess up her floors!” he said.
The approval process was simple; that’s no surprise, considering how neat, clean and beautiful the now-renovated building above Johnson’s General Store is.
The Camerons got married in New Orleans on Oct. 18, two years to the day of when he first sent her flowers as a secret admirer.
He is now busy Tuesday - Saturday serving coffee and baked goods to customers.
When he’s not giving them tattoos.