{"id":36213,"date":"2021-05-17T12:32:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T16:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=36213"},"modified":"2021-05-17T13:05:18","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T17:05:18","slug":"couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple Opens Tattoo Studio And Art Gallery In Ballston Spa In The Former Lincoln Hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_36214\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36214\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-36214\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc-1024x734.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"734\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc-1024x734.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc.jpg 1518w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36214\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Ransom Backus opened Ransom Tattoo Galley in Ballston Spa. He also creates artwork that can be found hanging on the shop walls and is for sale.<br \/>\u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\">By Jill Nagy<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">After 10 years as an itinerant tattoo artist, Michael Ransom Backus and his co-owner and fiancee, Sharon McCarty, have opened a tattoo studio and art gallery in Ballston Spa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Ransom Tattoo Gallery is in the former Lincoln Hotel, now a combination apartment and commercial space at 104 Milton Ave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">A Saratoga Springs native, Backus said he has \u201ca decent following\u201d and business has been good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">In addition to tattooing, he creates the artwork that can be found on the walls. Along those lines, he is about to begin a large commission, \u201cthe largest watercolor painting I have ever done.\u201d The painting is for the wall of a client\u2019s new home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">He also does India ink drawings on paper, fabric and wood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Backus said as a tattoo artist, he does mostly larger tattoos, many in a Japanese style. Tattoo art, he explained, began in Asia and was brought to the United States by sailors and seamen who visited Asia. Many of the original designs they brought remain popular.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><!--more--><\/span>He also offers geometric designs and traditional American-style designs. He said more than 50 percent of his tattoo clients are women, who, he thinks, see it as another form of body modification like getting their hair or nails done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Backus said<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>he wants the studio to be<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201ca very inclusive space where you would want to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Costs vary, he said, beginning at $100 and ranging upward with size and complexity. The wall artwork is also for sale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Visitors are offered a lagniappe, a New Orleans tradition that means an extra something that is free of charge, usually a pin or sticker, or a \u201cplantiappe,\u201d a plant cutting to take home and grow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Backus and McCarty also plan to do a lot of charity work and community outreach, raising money for a different charity every quarter. This quarter\u2019s beneficiary is Wellspring, a counseling service in Saratoga Springs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">They plan to run a regular fundraiser they are calling \u201cShoot What You Get,\u201d a play on \u201cGet What You Get.\u201d Participants shoot a nerf gun at a poster of tattoo designs. Wherever the suction cup dart lands is the design for the participant\u2019s new tattoo. Proceeds go to the charity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u201cYou\u2019d be shocked at how popular that is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">While Backus does the tattooing and artwork, McCarty runs the studio, he said. She takes care of bookings, social media, and generally looks after things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Previously, Backus and McCarty had a mobile studio. They spent six months in Louisiana working out of an RV before the pandemic. Moving from state to state became difficult because of quarantine requirements. Then the RV was destroyed in a hurricane. The signs seemed to be telling them it was time to settle down for a while.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The studio is open 1-7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Walk-Ins are welcome, if Backus has the time, but he prefers to have people make an appointment. The studio can be reached at 518-309-4444. Its website is ransomtattoogallery.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jill Nagy After 10 years as an itinerant tattoo artist, Michael Ransom Backus and his co-owner and fiancee, Sharon McCarty, have opened a tattoo studio and art gallery in Ballston Spa. Ransom Tattoo Gallery is in the former Lincoln Hotel, now a combination apartment and commercial space at 104 Milton Ave. A Saratoga Springs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":36214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-businesses"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Couple Opens Tattoo Studio And Art Gallery In Ballston Spa In The Former Lincoln Hotel - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Couple Opens Tattoo Studio And Art Gallery In Ballston Spa In The Former Lincoln Hotel - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jill Nagy After 10 years as an itinerant tattoo artist, Michael Ransom Backus and his co-owner and fiancee, Sharon McCarty, have opened a tattoo studio and art gallery in Ballston Spa. Ransom Tattoo Gallery is in the former Lincoln Hotel, now a combination apartment and commercial space at 104 Milton Ave. A Saratoga Springs [&hellip;]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-17T16:32:07+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-17T17:05:18+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1518\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1088\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/\",\"name\":\"Couple Opens Tattoo Studio And Art Gallery In Ballston Spa In The Former Lincoln Hotel - Saratoga Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-17T16:32:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-17T17:05:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/05\/couple-opens-tattoo-studio-and-art-gallery-in-ballston-spa-in-the-former-lincoln-hotel\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/05\/ransom-tattoo-hc.jpg\",\"width\":1518,\"height\":1088,\"caption\":\"Michael Ransom Backus opened Ransom Tattoo Galley in Ballston Spa. 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