Downtown Bowling Green business owner Libby Northern Sheffield doesn’t mind a little red ink. Or blue, or any shade on the visible spectrum. It’s what keeps her business in the black.

Sheffield owns Permanent Paint Tattoo and Fine Art Studios, and her move of that business in February to a spot on State Street near the lawyers and accountants who populate downtown stands out like a screaming eagle tattoo drawn on the neck of your Uber driver.

Tattooing, as Permanent Paint’s presence in a location that has been home to accountants and jewelers attests, is now not only mainstream but Main Street.

“I’ve been in this business for 10 years, and I’ve wanted to move downtown for several years,” Sheffield said. “The business has had its ups and downs, and it has definitely grown the most in the last three years.”

And it’s not just Permanent Paint’s move to downtown that illustrates that growth.

At Carter’s Tattoo Company on U.S. 31-W By-Pass, owner Wes Carter and tattoo artist Jerrad “Doughboy” Derossett have such a following that they made a move in 2017 to a new location with more room for parking.

At Age of Reason Tattoo on Nashville Road, owner and artist Tim Phelps has customers drive to Bowling Green from as far away as Chicago and Oklahoma for one of his photo-recreation tattoos.

Just down State Street from Permanent Paint, partners Ben Butts and Frank Armstrong have spun off from Carter’s and opened their Tattoo Heartland business in the former home of the Shots pub.

“There are a lot of stereotypes about tattoos,” said Cara Carter, co-owner with her husband of Carter’s Tattoo. “But it’s more socially accepted now.”

Phelps has seen that growing acceptance of tattoos during his 14 years in the business.

“It seems to be a big thing in Bowling Green now,” he said. “I can remember when there were two or three shops. Now there are eight or nine.”

And the number of tattoo artists is much higher.

According to records at the Barren River District Health Department, Warren County is now at 23 licensed tattoo artists and growing.

“I think Bowling Green is a cool place to tattoo,” Butts said. “We’ve been all over the country tattooing. It has definitely gotten busier since I started my apprenticeship.”

Armstrong, Butts’ partner in Tattoo Heartland, said the tattoo business has seen rises and falls in popularity but now benefits from improvements in technology and artistry that have expanded its reach.

“During World War II there were fewer tattooers, but it was popular as sailors got off at docks and lined up for tattoos,” Armstrong said. “They had to do it fast. Now it’s not like that. We’re able to fine-tune designs for people now.”

That enhanced capability has made tattooing more of an art form, Sheffield said.

“You definitely should be an artist first before you ever start,” Sheffield said. “The inks are better now, and the machines are better.”

As a result, Sheffield said there is no longer a stereotypical tattoo customer.

“We’ve done university professors, teachers, nurses, lawyers,” she said. “We had a 70-year-old get his first tattoo.”

Phelps said most tattoos these days depict a positive message and are more personal.

“I remember when you walked in to a tattoo shop and picked some picture off the wall and that was your tattoo,” he said. “Now it’s more custom. The customer gives you an idea, and you draw it.”

Phelps said that personal touch can make tattooing rewarding as he meets clients’ needs.

“It’s less about what I want and more about what the client wants,” he said. “I’m there to provide a service.”

Phelps said the memorial tattoos that many customers ask for can be the most rewarding.

“A lady walked in to my shop and had just lost her dad,” Phelps recalled. “I tattooed a picture of her dad on her leg. I may have helped her get through that loss.”

Armstrong at Tattoo Heartland takes a similar approach with his customers.

“We want to show people what the possibilities are,” he said. “People have ideas, and we try to make it the best we can. We try to steer people in the most responsible direction possible. If your idea isn’t going to work, we’ll steer you away from it.”

Bowling Green resident Ben Fox-Ezell, who has numerous tattoos from different artists, believes the tattoo business has evolved in a positive way.

“In the past, tattoos were viewed as prison culture or something,” said Fox-Ezell, who works at a downtown coffee shop and as a woodworker. “It’s not that way at all now.

“It has become more popular, and people have become less and less worried about letting the tattoo show. That’s a good thing because it’s art. There’s no real shame in having a tattoo. Your body is your own.”