The Arthouse Inc

I went to The Arthouse based on reviews from some friends who have been going for years I got my first piercing, and I LOVED it! The piercer is super nice, professional, and the place is lovely. Definitely recommend it!

When choosing tattoo shops in Calgary there are for sure a lot of different artists to turn too. My recommendation is that you go to the Arthouse and be tattooed by Katina Scheffler. She is a wonderful artist who I received my first and second tattoos from. They were 100% what I wanted and she gave me great recommendations on places I could put them that would minimize fading and stretching. Other staff is friendly and knowledgable and it’s a highly clean environment.

I got my first tattoo done at art house the person who did it was Kat, & she was extremely rude, told me that my tattoo would just look stupid if it was facing towards me & she was just plain rude, today I went into to get it touched up cause it was fading after a month of being done and again Kat was rude, she told me its going to fade why bother touching it up & she refused to touch up the blue part of my tattoo only did the out line, she also proceeded to tell me that It looks stupid again, which in my opinion isn’t her problem cause it’s on my body. I’m very disappointed in the way she treated me, Ive gone to art house to get my piercings and i thought getting my tattoo done there would have been fine being that the lady who does my piercings is friendly & kind but Kat was just awfully rude. I will never go back to art house after the way I was treated.

I went in to Arthouse with a friend to inquire about getting a tattoo on my ribs. Upon entry the girl at the next looked my friend and I up and down and then scoffed at us, I was a bit taken aback by this but decided to continue on.
I told the girl at the desk that I was hoping to book an appointment and she asked me what it was I was looking to get, first I told her I wanted a quote, she stopped me and rolled her eyes then rudely said that she doesn’t understand why people always want to get quotes when a picture is worth a thousand words…
She then asked me where I wanted the quote and when I told her that I wanted it on my ribs she told me that no artist there would do it because when I gain a lot of weight the lines of the quote will warp. Seemed strange that she would say when I gain a lot of weight rather than if I were to gain a lot of weight… Which I won’t anyways as my entire family is small and none of them gain weight with age.
She asked me if I could think of a picture to put on my ribs instead I told her I would think about it, I left and went straight to bushido where they are amazing.
Mind you this happened a little over a year ago, things could be way better there now but I won’t go back to find out.

I am a heavily tattooed individual. I have been tattooed all over the world from North America to Central and South America to United Kingdom and so on.
Generally, the person getting tattooed is the one who’s responsible for making sure they get a good tattoo by a good tattooer.
I was referred to this particular tattoo parlor by a fellow yogi who had a small tattoo on her body. I mainly have very large tattoos, but was interested in getting something small and sentimental. A lot of tattoo artists aren’t into providing this type of tattoo which is understandable because they also don’t pay that well.
June of last year, I went to see the person who tattooed the girl I had been referred by to see if I could get the tattoo that I wanted.
Luckily, she was still working there and I was able to get the tattoo.
While she was tattooing me we talked a bit and she let me know that she had come from Manitoba, was passing through Calgary, and would finally end up in Vancouver.
After my tattoo healed I noted that there were some blowout areas. These are common in tattoos, common in more people than some. I wasn’t worried about the blowouts I just wanted to go back and have the tattoo touched up. Every tattoo company on earth will or should provide free touchups on any of their work.
I called in and left a few voicemail messages for anyone there noting that I would like to come in for a touchup. The shop was closed for a couple weeks. I waited patiently for about a month to get a phone call back after being persistent.
I did finally speak to one person who called me back, female, and stated that they weren’t sure if my particular tattooer was still going to be in town, however she was returning in about a month or so so to call back and have her do it then.
I called back just over a month from the last phone call I had made, and was basically met with shrugged shoulders over the phone.
No one offered to have the tattoo touched up for me because no one at that studio had given me the tattoo.
I was left with the feeling that I have to somehow play Carmen Sandiego and find my tattooer to get her personally to fix it.
This isn’t really how a tattoo parlor works. I have so many tattoos and have had so many touchups and so many coverups I know what I’m talking about.
I’ve never had a tattoo parlor refuse the touchup before. Especially one this small that would take about 10 minutes.
I explained all this over the phone but here I sit over one year later with a blown out tattoo and a reminder to never return to that particular tattoo parlor and to let everybody know about the truth of the type of service I received there.
I even got a referral to a laser removal company from them and went and spent a lot of money starting laser removal on another tattoo. And I’m sure that there was some kind of referral bonus for the studio there too. I feel pretty slighted.
I’m just reviewing it today as I’m going to cover up the tattoo that I had partially laser removed.

This is truly a magnificent place for anyone looking to get a fresh piece of artwork on them. This little gem in the Kensington district is located above a bike shop and it offers piercings, tattooing and a showcase of beautiful, exotic jewellery. I had my very first tattoo done here by a amazing artist, Paul, and although I recently got a new tattoo in a foreign country, my first tattoo still appears brighter and newer than my latest! The artists all have unique and impeccable artwork and Sandra is a brilliant person to work with. I brought in my own tattoo design and Paul helped me give it the perfect stylized flair that made it absolutely flawless. Amazing quality, hardly any pain whatsoever and brilliant conversation. It also boasts a very relaxing atmosphere and excellent detail to organization and cleanliness. This is the only place I will ever get another tattoo at in Calgary – and probably Alberta for that matter! The quality, service and staff simply cannot be beat.

I have no experience being tattooed at the Arthouse but have had three piercings done there since 2007 and have been delighted and more with my experiences.
I’ve always had good luck with piercings (if by «good luck», I mean that I’m maniacal and paranoid in my after-​care), but the service and the work at the Arthouse are top notch. The help with aftercare and jewelry changes have been awesome, and the staff are always friendly and helpful.
The Arthouse is the only place I’ve had recommended to me for piercings in Calgary and I tell all my friends to get their piercings done exclusively there. I can’t have enough good things to say.
All of my piercings have been walk-​ins and they take the same for tattoos, but I’d recommend making an appointment or at least calling ahead for tattoos.

Much like my relationships, the majority of my piercing experiences have led to pain, and rejection down the road. Sandra has always been sure to protect me from such disappointment by being honest about what will work in my face and actually making custom jewelry to fit. Never will I be tempted to get pierced anywhere else.
La Fin.