Tiny Knives Tattoo was opened by Maddy Forster (19 years old) and Misaki Bates (20 years old) on Thursday, February 9, in the basement at 41 Southgate Street. The shop is open by appointment and offers tattoos with a variety of flash, custom work, freehand, and other options.
Maddy and Misaki met at Strange Black Tattoo Parlour Winchester. They are the youngest professional tattoo artists in the city and have just opened their new studio.
Tiny Knives Tattoo Parlour runs by Maddy Forster (left), and Misaki Bates(right). (Image: Newsquest)Misaki said: “I’m pleased I get to show [Maddy] It was so simple and easy to do. [her] So we could settle in. We spent six months building this place, building the sink, painting the walls, we didn’t put the floor in but we did all this stuff.
“And the sooner you get a start on something, the more time you have to perfect that. And so it’s a lot of pressure to be so young doing this, and sometimes we do get a little bit in our heads and think ‘are we ahead of ourselves?’, but we have so many supportive people behind us.”
Although the parlor only opened on February 9, it is already doing well. Maddy and Misaki received multiple bookings, even from customers who knew them at Strange Black Tattoo.
Maddy said: “We’ve got a lot of bookings in, given the fact that we’re quite small and that it takes a while to draw up the flash, so we haven’t been able to be like ‘Come in’!”
Tiny Knives is on Southgate Street (Image: Newsquest)Misaki agreed, saying: “I’ve got more bookings than I thought I would have in only five days. I’ve already done a tattoo and I have quite a few lined up for this week.”
They stated that their shop should be open to all, no matter how many tattoos they have had. Their focus is on customer comfort and welcoming everyone.
Maddy explained: “Our whole shop policy is that we want to be a safe space – anyone is welcome. We try to make people feel as comfortable as possible, so we don’t put too much pressure on them. It’s not like ‘we’re going to do this with this budget or time frame’, it’s very flexible. You can come in, chill out, whatever.”
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