Tooth & Nail Tattoo co-owner Tre Lapole, right, chats about his designs with some of the open house attendees on Sunday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — A new tattoo shop, Tooth & Nail Tattoo, opened on Sunday afternoon in downtown Shepherdstown.

Located at 133 West German Street, the business features the talents of two tattoo artists, Tre Lapole and Josh Stevens.

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Stevens said. “I think that this will be a positive environment for both of us to grow.”

One way Stevens hopes to develop, is in perfecting his individual style of tattooing. Much of his work draws on the art and tattoo styles connected with his Japanese heritage, which he then intersperses with aspects of Western tattooing.

“I choose to make Japanese tattoos in a more modern way, pulling aspects from daily life to help me develop a full version of my style,” Stevens, who has been practicing his craft for the past 16 years, said. “For a long time, I’ve been trying to translate Japanese style to this area — not necessarily Shepherdstown specifically, but the Blue Ridge Mountains area. I think that being in this area will help me to produce that type of work.”

A steady stream of attendees visited open house at Tooth & Nail Tattoo on Sunday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

Lapole and his wife, Valerie, decided to open the business a couple of months ago, after finding the space with the help of a friend, TJ Vance, who owns a business right next door to the location.

“This has been an idea of his, for quite some time. It’s been years in the making and planning for,” Valerie said. “As far as actively working toward, I would say we’ve been doing that for the past year.”

The couple agreed that they liked how the location for their shop was in the heart of Shepherdstown.

“We wanted to open this in Shepherdstown, because there wasn’t a tattoo shop here. There hasn’t been a tattoo shop here that’s been open to the general public and has been focused on tattooing and just tattooing, for some time,” Lapole said. “We want to have something, just for the love of tattooing.”

To demonstrate this, the interior of the shop is painted in complementary shades of pink and green and decorated with tattoo designs. This welcoming, tattoo-centric interior will, Lapole said, hopefully ensure the comfort of customers.

Tooth & Nail Tattoo co-owner Valerie Lapole, back right, chats with the many people lining up to sign the guest book at the open house on Sunday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

“The pink and green was to help soften the name, a little bit. We have a scary name, but with a really cute aesthetic. I want everybody to feel welcome here,” Lapole said. “I want anybody to walk in here and feel that this is the place for them.”

Lapole, who has been a tattoo artist for the past 13 years, trained in the craft at a tattoo shop in Martinsburg, before spending some time working in the District of Columbia.

“I do Western style tattoos and Josh does Eastern style tattoos — that way, we have something for everyone,” Lapole said. “We want to take care of our local community and care for our clients, to the best of our ability.”

Tooth & Nail Tattoo is open on Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 12-7 p.m. It accepts walk-ins and appointments.

Tattoo artist Josh Stevens, right, and his girlfriend, Jessica Jackson, chat with a potential customer at the Tooth & Nail Tattoo open house on Sunday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston