The Face of Tattoo Artistry: Norm Gardner

Kamloops loves its ink. In fact, tattoo artist Norm Gardner estimates almost 80% of adults in the city have tattoos.

He should know. He’s the co-owner, along with girlfriend Bobbi Farrer, of Psychocity Tattoo, Apparel and Supplies at #3 - 177 Tranquille Rd.

“Tattoos are creating a new history,” said Norm. “It might just be someone with a small tattoo or it might be nurses, doctors, firefighters, athletes and lawyers with full sleeves and tattoos all over. Tattooing might have started for sailors and prison inmates, but it’s definitely mainstream now.”

The reasons are myriad. “Your body is a canvas that can be decorated,” explained Norm. “It’s personal. It’s an expression of your personality. Tattoos can be a roadmap of your life, depicting your loves, your kids, your parents, your travels or just something you simply like.”

As such, getting a tattoo and wearing it the rest of your life is an experience. “Quality is the “NORM” in the industry now,” said Norm. “We don’t just sell tattoos, we sell trust. We set ourselves apart by providing a quality product and great experience. We’re not just tattooing someone, we’re giving them an experience. Tattoo artists are basically entertainers and therapists. We’re hands-on, so there has to be a bond between tattoo artist and client.”

Norm’s forte is black and grey realism. He prefers not to do colour in the tattoos he creates. But that doesn’t mean clients can’t have colour in their tattoos because artist Kate Black utilizes colour and sports in a neo-traditional style. Artist Kelly Norwood also embraces colour along with traditional, old-school-sailor-tattoo artistry. If colour and new school trends are your thing, then artist Jason Crawley is your guy. Norm started Psychocity in Saskatchewan in 2003.

However, the ride on his Harley Davidson through Kamloops in 2012 led to him and Bobbi to pull up prairie stakes, move to the Tournament Capital and set up Psychocity Tattoo here in 2013. They knew two people in the city then and have built the business based on great customer service.

Norm is so dedicated to his craft that when he had throat cancer in 2014, he and Bobbi drove early every morning for five weeks to Kelowna for his radiation treatments and then straight back to Kamloops so he could put in a day of work at Psychocity.

Norm’s been cancer-free for over five years now.