Local Artist Inks Her Future in South County

These days, little girls are taught that when they grow up, they can do anything they put their minds to. A typical second-grade girl, for example, might have dreams of becoming a doctor, an athlete or even the president of the United States.

When Brandie Morton was a little girl, she had dreams, too. And like the many determined young girls of today, Morton didn’t stop until her dreams came true.

For the past three years, Morton has been the owner of Steel & Ink Custom Tattoo and Piercing Studio, located at 3651 Ritz Center.

“I’ve always done this. When I was a kid, I had a dream and I was tattooing,” Morton said. “I knew it then. It’s like this was supposed to be obtained.”

Morton hails from the neighborhoods of both northern and southern California, a place where the art of tattoo and piercing is much more widely accepted as a form of expression than it is in Midwest. On the West Coast, body art is mainstream. In South County, the practice holds a certain level of mystique or even taboo.

Morton discovered just how much of a contrast there was when she stepped out to open her store.

“When I came here, I had started working at St. Anthony’s (in patient care) and I had saved some money to open my own studio. When I found this place, I told the (real estate agent) what I wanted to do and he said, ‘Oh no. It’s a great idea, but it’s illegal (in South County).’” she said.

Morton had to go to Clayton and present her case before the board. She was required to hire contractors and get permits for various things. She had to get a survey. In total, Morton spent nearly all of the $25,000 she had saved. To get the conditional use permit that was necessary to open the shop, she had to have the support of at least five board members.

“I told them, ‘I’m a mom. This is how I feed my kids. This is how I’ll always feed my kids,’’’ she said.

At first, it didn’t look promising.

“I ended up with four yeses and I was like, ‘Oh that sucks, because I just spent all my money to get what you guys said I needed,’” Morton said.

But armed with the notion that this plan was meant to happen, Morton persevered. The issue came up for a second review; a meeting in which Morton’s presence was not required, but determined to make her case, she showed up anyway.

“Only seven members were there. I still needed five (yes votes),” Morton said. “Right away, the first two said no. The next four said yes. I was down to the last one. She hesitated, gave me a wink and said ‘yes.’ I was like, ‘YES!’ It turns out, she was a nurse,” Morton said.

Now, Morton is squarely making a name for herself and happy to be calling St. Louis home.

“We try to stay in the community and do art shows and projects,” she said.  “St. Louis has a really good art community. It’s really big and eccentric. We try to mingle in between. We try to stay not just within the tattoo community."

Perhaps the best thing about seeing her dream come to fruition is the financial component.

“Honestly, artists really aren’t able to feed their families on their art,” she said. “That’s probably my biggest reward is that I’m able to do what I love and support my kids on that as well. It’s rare for artists. They usually have to take a second job and do it as a hobby.”