Ames can now add another tattoo shop to its list of businesses, with Inkblot.

Inkblot, a new shop on Main Street, had its grand opening on Aug. 24.

The shop is much different than other shops in Ames for a few reasons. Walk-ins are not common for the studio because there is a $100 chop minimum and an $80 hourly rate. The shop often produces larger tattoo pieces.

It’s a wide open studio that is mostly white and has a large hand painted mural of a skull in the window corner.

The shop is opened up to the public for musical performances. Inkblot was a venue for a few of the many bands that performed this weekend in the Maximum Ames Music Festival.

The most unique quality of the shop is that it’s a one man show.

Daniel Rainey Forrester, originally from Memphis, Tenn., runs everything at Inkblot. He has had quite the adventure while becoming the tattoo artist he is today.

He moved to Iowa for a girl years ago, but chose to pursue tattooing. He first started working here in Iowa at Jaded Angel as a piercer. From there he went on to work at Lasting Impressions and Sacred Skin in Des Moines.

Forrester ventured to the East Coast in hopes of chasing his dream of becoming a skilled artist. He worked in Harrisburg, Penn. In a little less than a year, he decided he did not like the environment and that he wanted to try the West Coast. Forrester moved to Mountain View, Calif., and worked under Paco Dietz.

“Honestly if I had to say any body taught me how to tattoo, it would be Paco Dietz,” Forrester said.  “There’s no such thing as talent, there’s only skill, and skill is something that you learn how to do.”

Forrester’s mentality on art shows why he has come a long way in the profession. Forrester said Dietz had the most influence on his work and pushed him to progress his artwork.

Forrester always seems to end up back in Iowa and claims Ames as his home base. He has spent the majority of his adult life here and has turned it into his new home where he has the most connections.

His favorite part about Ames is the little-big town atmosphere. He said it is artsy enough and still holds humble people.

“The perfect demographic would be like an associate professor,” Forrester said. “You know, just someone with a little bit of disposable income that is still young and cool and wants tattoos.”

Forrester chose Main Street because it is the most invested part of town and holds the majority of his target demographic, which is just a little older than the fresh students that swarm Welch Avenue.

Forrester still travels quite a bit and is planning on going back to California next month to give and receive tattoos. He will be working a guest spot at Current Tattooing in San Jose to work on some of his “regulars” and will be getting his own sleeve worked on as well. He plans on being back at the end of October to open his shop back up and get going on some new ink.