Located in Sandpoint Idaho, Sandpoint Tattoo was originally opened by artist Kevin Lavender under the name Purple Dragon Tattoo. A year later the name was changed to Sandpoint Tattoo.
When it was opened, it was the first-ever tattoo studio in Bonner County and to date is still the oldest professional studio in North Idaho providing world class tattooing services, body piercing and jewelry sales.
Studio owner Michelle Eagan took over the studio in 2009 when Kevin retired from the business after over 33 years of tattooing professionally. She first started tattooing in 1994 when Kevin took her on as a tattoo apprentice. She had been his body piercer for a couple of years prior to learning the trade.
Born in Bellevue, Washington, she lived in Renton, Washington until she was 4 and her family relocated to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for a year until finally settling in Sandpoint in April of 1981. Michelle attended school in Sandpoint where, sometimes she'd get into trouble for drawing in class instead of her class work.
In 1994 she was approached by Kevin to do body piercing for the studio and since she had always loved jewelry decided to become a piercer. Eventually she started a body piercing business called "Lady of Death Body Piercing", so named after the comic book series of the same name. A year later she began a tattooing apprenticeship and continued on as a partner in the business after completing her training. Michelle continues to provide world class tattoos and piercings and will continue to operate the studio for many decades to come. To date, Michelle is the most experienced female tattoo artist and body piercer in all of North Idaho!!!