Anthony Valente and Friday Jones

On wrists, necks, shoulder blades, ankles, in Celtic patterns, Indian designs, portraits, or even Pegasus etchings: tattoos are everywhere these days. Once considered a type of outsider art, they’re now nearly mainstream—but that doesn’t mean you should pick one without a second thought. One woman has been working since the ‘90s to not only elevate the status of tattoo culture, but also to heighten the actual tattoo experience. With her couture tattoos, Friday Jones of Xac Anthony Salon combines the tattoo experience with massage, Reiki, and a variety of other desensitizing agents to ensure that her clients actually enjoy getting inked. We recently sat down with the lady behind the needle to discuss her start as an artist, tattoo trends, and a certain “secret” celebrity tattoo.

How did you come up with the concept of couture tattoo?
When I was tattooing people like Angelina, Queens of the Stone Age, and a bunch of other high end clients, we had a place in the Hollywood Hills that was very underground, which is what they wanted. They wanted privacy, and they wanted it to be cool. My best friend was a massage therapist, and we had the idea to open a studio that was super private, but then 9/11 happened, and we packed it up and moved out East. Fast forward four years later and I was working on the Lower East Side, building up my clientele, and Xac (owner) had this beautiful space. A lot of my clients were stylists at the salon, and soon other people were really intrigued. I was only supposed to come one week per month, but that only lasted one month. The buzz started, and it just snowballed from there.

Victor Ortega and Friday Jones

How did you get started?
I was driving across the country in 1991, on my way to college. I knew that I didn’t want a regular job. What am I going to do- get a business degree? Kill me now. Somewhere around West Texas I had this epiphany that I could be a tattoo artist, and a good one at that.

What was the first tattoo you gave?
You’d be surprised –there are tons of young people full of folly lining up for free tattoos that you can practice on. This one kid who lived in a trailer park near the shop would always get apprentice work. He wanted a dragon, and I was supposed to do the scales on him. I’d been apprenticing for about six months and my boss came in and tsk-tsked [at my design]. The environment was very sink or swim, swim with the sharks.

Which tattoo did you give Angelina Jolie?
I did the secret Billy Bob tattoo that you will never see. She would come to the house all of the time, because my roommate was her best friend. She was always like “Tattoo me! I’m jonesing for another one,” or “I want Billy Bob’s name on me!” So I put his name down there. [Yes, that “down there.” –Ed.]

Friday Jones' sketch of tattoo re-design

Have you noticed any recent tattoo trends?
Japanese is huge, and black and grey portraits, but I think the way tattoos are going, it’s going to be higher-end, color-driven portraits that are more vulnerable and would need to be better maintained. 



What’s your favorite thing to tattoo?
I love anything organic, having to do with nature or fantasy. I’m a champion of the unicorn and the Pegasus. 




Is there anything you really dislike tattooing?
Tribals. There are just so many tattoo artists that can do that.

Do you think tattoos are becoming too mainstream?
No, I’m excited! We couldn’t have done this five years ago. I just feel like now more than ever our corporate worker bees need to have that soul, and need to be able to feel free to do this, especially now that we’re all living on credit, and all of these other things that go away. Tattoos can’t be lost or stolen.

~Courtney Stoutamire