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The LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the grand opening of Ink Up Art Studio with a ribbon cutting Thursday afternoon.

The new tattoo and art studio on Mooty Bridge Road is co-owned by a trio of artists, Traeger Simpson, Deon Willis and Travis Grant.

“We decided to come together to do something artistic, to basically express ourselves in the way that we know best,” Simpson said.

While the studio specializes in tattoos, that’s not their only offering. The shop also offers airbrushing. Willis is the airbrush artist of the group.

“We do a lot of different types of airbrushing from t-shirts to car tags, to hats, just about anything that paint will go on,” Willis said.

Simpson said they created the studio to express themselves in the best way they know how, which is art. 

“We felt like there was a certain need from an artistic standpoint when it comes to doing skin art, which is tattooing, when it comes to custom t-shirt printing, when it comes to airbrushing. All of those things are either hard to get a hold of, or you get poor service in one area,” Simpson said. “So we felt like, with all the talent that we do have, by us combining and bringing it to the city, it’ll be something that’d be appreciated and needed.”

Simpson and Grant both specialize in skin art but Traeger offers logo services and custom t-shirt printing. Travis also creates portraits and murals.

The trio have years of experience at their crafts. Simpson said he has been providing tattoos since he was in the seventh grade, decades ago.

Ink Art Studio is located at 309 Mooty Bridge Road in LaGrange. The studio is currently by appointment only, so no walk-ins.

To book an appointment, visit inkupartstudio.com