Tattoo artist Cory Norris says that he's only as good as his last tattoo, since every client becomes a walking billboard for his work.

"It's pretty intimidating, knowing that you're marking someone for the rest of their life," said Norris.

With everyone from high-school athletes to housewives sporting body art these days, tattoos have evolved from the skull-and-crossbones of yesteryear to works of art.

At the Classic Tattoo Studio in Grass Valley, Norris is pushing the envelope of self-expression with his Japanese-inspired designs.

His clients travel from all parts of Northern California and Nevada to sit for $125 an hour while Norris inks their skin with graceful outlines and delicately shaded colors. He believes that his attention to detail is worth his clients' time and money.

"In the end, you turn up a good piece of artwork that no one can steal," he said. "It's better than jewelry."

Norris is so busy nowadays that he is restricting his appointments to existing clients and referring new ones to his colleague, Nick Chaboya.

The tattoo artist launched his career 12 years ago in Santa Cruz, dropping out of art school to tattoo full-time. Norris opened up his own studio on Colfax Avenue in Grass Valley nine years ago.

On a recent afternoon, Norris and Chaboya worked side by side on two clients.

Their electric-powered needles droned like giant mosquitos that added a work-like hum to the ambient sound of rock music on the sound system.

Their tools were laid out neatly on their side tables: tiny pots of sterilized, organic ink, disinfectant, alcohol and green soap.

Norris said he takes cleanliness seriously. Unsterilized needles could spread blood-born diseases such as Hepatitis B. The artists at his studio wear latex gloves and discard needles after one use.

As an extra precaution, an outside company documents that the shop's sterilization equipment is in working order.

Although Norris has won awards at tattoo conventions around the world, perhaps his greatest work of all is his father's tattooed body suit.

Jerry Norris, 57, says that his tattoo is even more special because of the time he spent with his son while the ornate pattern was inked on his body.

Call it father-son bonding in the extreme.

"It keeps us tight," says Jerry Norris, describing the five years of bi-monthly, four-hour sittings to work on tattoos that stretch from his collar bone to his wrists and ankles. Only his armpits and the skin on the sides of his body remain to be inked.

At conventions, Norris usually submits his father's body suit in contests. It's come up a winner 34 times, including a "best color" award at the National Tattoo Association in Seattle last weekend.

<i>To contact Staff Writer Jill Bauerle, e-mail jillb@theunion.com or call 477-4219.</i>

To learn more about Classic Tattoo Studio, visit

http://www.corynorristattoo.com/

Nick Chaboya's online portfolio can be found at

http://nickchaboya.com

Watch an audio slideshow featuring Classic Tattoo artists at work:

www.theunion.com/mediacenter

Tattoo this!

The funniest tattoo that Norris ever etched was for a plumber, he says.

On a body part that could be euphemistically described a patch of skin often exposed by workers in the plumbing trade, Norris gave the man a coin slot that reads "25 cents."

The plumber is thinking of revising his tattoo. "He wants to come back, have me ‘X’ out the ‘25 cents’ and write, ‘tokens only,’” Norris says.

Tattoo facts

• The word "tattoo" comes the Tahitian "tatu," which means "to mark something."

• About 24 percent of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed.

• Some 17 percent of Americans with tattoos regret getting them.

• An estimated 20,000 tattoo parlors operate in the United States

• "Tattoo" ranked #6 in Lycos.com's list of the top ten search terms from 1995 through 2005.

• Sun exposure fades tattoos. Apply SPF 50 sunblock to keep your tattoo looking sharp.

• Lasering is the only way to remove a tattoo.

• Sailors were the first non-tribal Europeans to get tattoos. An anchor means a sailor has crossed the Atlantic; a turtle shows the sailor has passed the equator.

<i>Sources: vanishingtattoo.com, about.com, tattoojoy.com, Harris Interactive</i>