The Devil's Rose Lands Magazine Cover

Eric Wigger and Nick Arena may not be celebrities, but their business,  gained attention from the industry and the "inked" when they landed a magazine cover.

Blue Point's Devil's Rose may harbor some chilling décor - skulls on the shelves, hardcore rock's blaring and an antique Victorian couch- but its owners overpower the fright factor with their friendly, relaxed attitudes. They say they are just two ordinary men who have a passion for working and drawing on people day after day. It’s because of this reason that the business was featured on the cover of the October 2010 issue of Skin & Ink Magazine and the May 2009 issue of Tattoo Magazine. 

“If I’m at home and I got nothing to do, I could just be at work drawing or tattooing somebody,” Wigger said. “It’s very relieving. You can’t beat it.”

Arena agreed. “You get all walks of life in here, and stories,” he said. “I think it’s the coolest job. It’s like a big hang out and I get paid for it.”

Wigger, 38, and Arena, 32, first met while working at Lotus Tattoo in Sayville. In 2007, they decided it was time to move on and opened up Devil’s Rose as partners. 

“We both wanted to break out and do our own thing and sort of have a more comfortable place for people to come,” Wigger said as he sketched part of a dragon. “We wanted more of a relaxed atmosphere where people weren’t frowned upon for being a regular person getting a tattoo.”

Both Wigger and Arena typically enjoy drawing more traditional style tattoos, such as roses, hearts, and daggers. Arena describes this as  “Ed Hardy style.” However, the artists will tattoo anything and cater to a client’s exact specifications.

“Except fairies,” Wigger said. The owner chuckled while saying this, but made it clear he was, in fact, serious.

Brittany Ennover, 25, from Farmingville, went to Devil's Rose to get inked. Ennover, who has a bird tattoo, said she was extremely happy with it and the artist made her feel comfortable. “I felt good leaving there,” she said. “I think they hold a certain standard for hiring when they bring an artist in.”

Wigger said another plus about being in the tattoo business is tattooists usually become friends with their clients. “It’s a very intimate situation,” he said. “You’re constantly broadening your social horizons.”

Because of the social nature of tattooing and the friendly atmosphere at the shop, Wigger said The Devil’s Rose has no problem with business. Every tattoo leads to another tattoo, whether it’s for the same person or their brother.

Former Bayport resident Carissa Kase, 21, said she got her tattoo done at Devil’s Rose because her father and cousin got their tattoos done by Arena.

"My Dad really liked Nick's work and went to him on a regular basis," she said. "When my cousin was thinking about getting one, my Dad told him to go to The Devil's Rose because Nick was really awesome."

Wigger said families build up business. “It’s the whole family thing, it just snowballs,” he said. “Someone will come in and have a tattoo done. Then that person will come back with someone else, and so on.”

Many people with tattoos also feel a need to get another one, Wigger said. “It’s the psychosis of it all. It’s materialistic. You’re building an aesthetic. It is really for vanity.”

Wigger has a lot of tattoos. Why?

“It’s cool!” he said. “And who doesn’t wanna be cool?”

Wigger has about 100 hours worth of tattoos on his body, and a typical tattoo takes about two hours to complete. If you do some simple math, those 100 hours equate to about 50 tattoos (give or take a few).

“They are all pretty important though,” Wigger said. “My first one was groundbreaking. It’s an awesome tribal. I drew it myself.”

Wigger was always attracted to drawing, which attributed to his love for tattooing later on. He was born in 1972 and grew up in Shirley; he went to William Floyd High School. After Wigger graduated, he went to Suffolk County Community College to become an architect, but he only lasted about two weeks.

He began tattooing in the mid-90s, first out of his home and then received an apprenticeship at his friend’s shop in Rocky Point in 1996.  “Once he knew I could draw and saw that I had potential, once the time for an apprenticeship opened up, he gave it to me,” he said.

An apprenticeship is usually a full day or eight or nine hours of working without pay. An apprentice will train with the experts and learn the tricks of the trade. From there he went to Lotus and then opened up shop with Arena.

Wigger said he is proud of The Devil’s Rose and what he has accomplished with Arena. Although the shop is doing well now, Wigger said he is afraid of the “burst of the bubble” in relation to the economy.

“Tattooing has definitely not seen the huge affect of the economy, yet, but it has to, I assume.”

Wigger and Arena said they don’t want to be millionaires, they just hope to continue to tattoo people and make them happy no matter what.

“I wanna do something that they will carry on them forever,” Wigger said. “Like ‘I’m on you, that’s it, we’re together now, forever.’"

For more information, visit the Devil's Rose website.