One afternoon in Sacramento, Calif., at the young age of 14, Chris Peltier decided he was ready for a tattoo. After making up his mind, he asked an older friend who had a tattooing machine to tattoo him, and got his first tattoo on his leg that same day.
Peltier’s love of ink followed from there. Shortly after getting his first tattoo, he was taught how to make a tattooing machine and started tattooing all of his friends. He’s been tattooing ever since and is now Pullman’s local tattoo artist and owner of the 509 Tattoo shop. “Tattooing has been my dream since I was a teen,” said Peltier.
However, Peltier’s professional career as a tattoo artist didn’t start until he moved to Pullman, where he met the mother of his children. Peltier’s then girlfriend and mother of his two young children is a Pullman local and was working as a piercer at a piercing and tattoo shop at the time. Peltier soon became friends with the shop owner where she worked and was offered an apprenticeship.
The offer couldn’t have come at a better time; he’d been getting into a lot of trouble and the apprenticeship lead to the opportunities of a lifetime. At the end of his apprenticeship, Peltier took out a $1,500 loan from his mother and opened the 509 Tattoo shop located on S. Grand Ave.
Peltier’s shop is a large, rounded building with huge open windows in the front that displays the huge, bright green 509 logo. The inside is very spacious with two tattoo chairs facing the big windows, along with a mini basketball hoop and tons of artwork and tattoo ideas. While Peltier is very pleased with his shop now, he does favor the location of the old shop where he used to work because it was closer to the university and the students.
When asked what he loves about his job, his response was simple, “Tattooing, everyday.” “It has its own rock star fame,” said Peltier. “I get to be what everyone else wants to be.”
However, when he’s not working, he is the busy father of two young children. He has joint custody and recently trained his four year old off of training wheels. Peltier describes himself as a morning person who loves to travel, see movies, eat out, and shoot guns. “I’m ADHD, I have lots of energy,” he said.
While hanging out in the shop last Thursday with his brother and girlfriend waiting for his next appointment, Peltier struggled with the idea of choosing one word to describe himself. “Loud!” his girlfriend chimed in. “Charismatic or schizophrenic,” offered his brother.
When it comes to his work, however, Peltier is his own worst critic. “I judge myself very hard,” he said. “I try to go above and beyond each time.”
Peltier takes his work very seriously, according to a senior at Washington State University Deon Ford who has had multiple tattoos done by him. After refusing Ford’s request to tattoo his neck, Peltier informed him he does not tattoo college students from the wrist down or collar up. “He didn’t want to tattoo any nonsense,” said Ford. “It’s easier for him to tattoo better if he can relate to the piece.”
Ford has a total of 25 tattoos and plans for more in the future. However, Peltier made a deal with Ford that if he came back the week before graduation he would do the neck tattoo for free. But looking back now, Ford is happy Peltier denied him the neck tattoo and claims he won’t have to hold up his end of the deal.
Even though Peltier spends every day doing what he loves, he admits that his job is never easy. “Felt like I was going to quit multiple times the first couple years,” he said. “It’s the most discouraging thing I’ve ever done.” Peltier has had a total of five apprentices at his shop, and only one has made it. The best advice Peltier ever got was, “If you can’t handle messing people up, quit.”
Peltier’s single apprentice that did succeed is still working with him today as the second artist at the 509 Tattoo shop. With every tattoo they improve, and are both still learning new things every day. “It’s art, it’s nothing you can ever fully know,” said Peltier. “It’s all accidents and all on purpose.”
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