A Chicagoan born and raised on the northwest side, Nick Colella is not just another tattoo enthusiast. He says the art form saved his life.
“It was a good outlet for my anger and kept me out of trouble,” says Colella, who is covered from head to toe in tattoos. “I was 16 when I got the first one, a cross on my arm. Tattooing found me. Tattooing saved my life.”
Colella received a tattoo kit as a gift when he was 19 years old and used it to ink his first tattoo – a Celtic knot on a friend’s ankle, done in his parents’ dining room.
“I was with some rough people doing nothing and it saved me from myself,” Colella says. “It gave me a future… I don’t know where I would be or what I would be doing if it weren’t for this.”
Colella has turned his passion for the art of tattooing into his life's work as a tattoo artist and co-owner of Great Lakes Tattoo, 1148 W. Grand Ave., which he has co-owned with his wife, Sarah Colella, since 2013.
“My wife and I opened our shop with the goal in mind to create a Chicago institution. We wanted to be the go-to tattoo shop in Chicago,” Colella says.
Running the shop is Colella’s way of keeping the traditional style he practices alive in the Chicago tattoo scene.
Colella embraces tradition and history by displaying tattooing-related artifacts in Great Lakes Tattoo. Old equipment, news articles and design sheets are a few of the historical tattoo artifacts on display for visitors to view.
Working in the shop is almost like working in a tattoo museum, says fellow tattoo artist Mario Desa, who has known Colella since the late 90s.
Desa met Colella when they started working together at a shop called Chicago Tattoo & Piercing Co., 1017 W. Belmont Ave. Now, Desa has moved to Colella’s shop and works alongside him with the same passion for traditional tattooing.
“We love tattooing; it’s almost like being a certain ethnicity and displaying my faith. This is very much who I am. We feel the history deserves respect. The history is all I have and is all I do. And it will get passed on eventually.”
-Mario Desa, tattooist
The style of the artists who work at Great Lakes Tattoo – like Desa and Colella – is recognized for being distinctive and classic, according to Sarah.
Both artists cite the famous tattooist Ed Hardy as one of their biggest style inspirations. That traditional style has become a trademark of Great Lakes Tattoo artists, Sarah says.
Their style is clear, clean, colorful and solid, and the tattoos can be recognized “from a block away,” Sarah says.
Colella and Desa have been keeping the Midwest style alive in their work and sticking to classically influenced designs.
The style of the artists who work at Great Lakes Tattoo – like Desa and Colella – is recognized for being distinctive and classic, according to Sarah.
Both artists cite the famous tattooist Ed Hardy as one of their biggest style inspirations. That traditional style has become a trademark of Great Lakes Tattoo artists, Sarah says.
Their style is clear, clean, colorful and solid, and the tattoos can be recognized “from a block away,” Sarah says.
Colella and Desa have been keeping the Midwest style alive in their work and sticking to classically influenced designs.
"I’ve always been drawn to Americana classic Western style. I draw a lot from Mexican folk art. I guess you could say it’s reinterpreted Classic style,” Desa says. “Nick is more straightforward; I reinterpret it more modern with color. Nick is more of a purist.”
Not only is Great Lakes Tattoo a shop where people can go for clean, classic tattoos, but it’s also a gallery to view artwork and history.
The walls in the shop are covered with tattoo designs for customers to look at for inspiration for their own tattoos.
“This shop is the destination shop in the Midwest,” Desa says. “We get a lot of people from Canada and Europe, and this is one of the shops they come to. It’s very flattering they come to us.”
Colella has been part of the Chicago tattooing scene for 23 years, and his repertoire is apparent in his shop. He has tattoos done by everyone who works in his shop and all of them are his friends – some long-time friends who attended his wedding almost 20 years ago.
“It’s the nicest shop I’ve ever worked in,” Desa says. “As far as design and layout, it’s top notch. Everyone who works here are best friends. They’re my family.”
Although the relationship among the artists in Colella’s shop is communal, the Chicago tattoo scene is different from other cities. Colella attributed this to violence in the city overall.
“In other places, all the tattoo artists are buddies. But in Chicago, none of us are close because there’s too much violence or gang banging going on,” Colella says.
Colella says he does not see himself or his work as mainstream, but tattooing as a whole has become more accepted by society, even in some work places.
Colella says the scene has changed tremendously since he first started, with more people pursuing careers as tattoo artists and becoming involved in the scene, but there are still people practicing the art who are passionate about the tradition and sanctity of tattooing.
While Sarah is not an artist in the shop and mostly works on the bookkeeping, she knows how passionate Colella is about tattooing and wants to support that passion.
“I think the way I support him most is understanding what tattooing means to him and loving the shop like he does,” Sarah says. “I love the industry as much as he does.”
Colella doesn’t let the popularity of his shop get to his head. He tries to differentiate himself from the mainstream tattoo scene and stay true to the art, saying things like awards for tattooing are a joke. He maintains that tattooing is a service and aims to please the customers who come into his shop.
“I do tattoos on anyone who walks through the door or who is in rotation to be next. “They’re not my tattoos. The tattoo belongs to the person wearing it, and I just turned their idea into a representation on skin.”
-Nick Colella
When Colella is ready to take on the next client, he has coffee at the ready, pencils and pens along with sheet paper setup. Then he begins drawing flowers surrounding a white tiger – a symbol in Korea for wisdom and experience.
“There’s a lot of great things coming out of the city,” Colella says. “It’s better than it’s ever been. Because it’s so popular now though, there’s a lot more shitty tattoo artists than good ones. It’s great it’s popular in the city, but there’s a lot of bad tattoos out there.”
Desa agreed there is a surge in the popularity of tattooing but said Great Lakes Tattoo will continue to be around even if the popularity dies down. He added that the popularity of tattooing on the internet and Instagram has helped attract people to the shop. Sometimes they travel to Chicago solely to visit Great Lakes Tattoo.
Photography by Ciara Barnett and Gracie Morales
Nick Colella
Sacred Practice, Profession and Therapy: Tattooing is More Than Ink and Needles
By Ciara Barnett
Edited by Arabella Breck
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