59°
The Main Street tattoo parlor originally opened in Georgia 11 years ago before moving to Bloomingdale. Award-winning tattoo artist Johnny "Thief" Di Donna, of Haskell, started the store and now runs it with a a full team.
"We're a crazy, functioning lot of good personalities," his colleague Amanda Allen, aka Ace, said. "I think when you have a shop of artists, artists can be very high maintenance. It's important that the personalities vibe and they go together and aren't constant clashing. Here's it's very chill."
Allen and Di Donna both come from artistic backrounds, which she said made them a good team and stand out from other tattoo parlors.
Other Seppuku artists include Jamison Eckert and Nikki.
Allen said they draw everything out for customers before starting the tattoo, using their creative sides.
"It's really more labor intensive because you set up consultations with your clients, you draw for them, you have art reviews, you tweak it and you go from there," she said.
They also specialize in coverup tattoos, which involves reworking someone's prior ink to a style they prefer.
Seppuku is the word used for a discipline in samurai culture, which can be loosely translated to "death before dishonor."
The unique name fits Di Donna, who grew up in New York and studied at Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Arts. He won awards for "best back piece" and "best color" at a Jacksonville convention in 2008.
Allen said it's always an adventure to work with him at the store.
"He is super, super sweet," Allen said. "I would say he's very passionate about his artwork and the way he approaches it."
MORE INFO: Visit Seppuku's website.
Click here to follow Daily Voice North Passaic and receive free news updates.
