AUBURN - Consider a canvas alive with images so personal they bridge a level of privacy. It is a world exploding with expression. A place where tattoo artist Chris Chisholm proves that beauty isn't just skin deep.

“Ever since I was 6 or 7 years old, I remember being fascinated,” he said of tattoos.

He remembers the first one he saw belonging to his grandfather.

“He was a Navy man - you could barely see it; you know what I mean?” he said. “It was just a blob, a heart with ‘mom' written in it. But then, anywhere we were at, if someone had one, I'd get a glimpse, you know, just quickly, without being too rude.”

Invariably, the eye does the same, with him in the room. His fingers spell the word love. His arms are intertwined with pictures that chase one another under his short sleeves, and pop out again on his neck. To a certain extent they speak with him. Every movement becomes an accentuated event.

For some, it's a hard concept to understand.

“There's the taboo part of it. The average person doesn't want to put ink on themselves,” Chisholm said, adding that part of the passion is in the commitment of connecting with a work of art strongly enough to make it a permanent part of you.

Documenting different feelings at different times, for Chisholm, range from his very first tattoo - a skull on his upper arm - to his current favorite - a portrait of his three children, ages 1 to 6, on his right knee.

Chisholm distinguishes himself with his portraits. Even those questioning the aesthetics of tattooing could not argue with his delicacy. Put on paper, Chisholm's portrait work would stand on its own as a capturing of facial features that give insight to what the subject is thinking. It is no wonder that at the tattoo studio he worked at for 14 years in New Windsor, near New York City, he had a solid following.

Since early April of this year, when he moved to Auburn with his family, he has been artist in residence at Dream Weaver Tattooz and Body Piercing, at 12 South St.

Chisolm said there is no typical customer.

“Lawyers, doctors, bikers - everybody gets them,” he said.

Only body placements vary.

“You definitely wouldn't see a dentist with a tattoo on his neck,” he grinned. “You're going to find people in the public eye will not have them on their hands. They'll put them below their collars, above their sleeves. A lot of women (because of work) won't have them on their legs. They put them on their lower back, on their shoulder blades. There's always going to be that (stigma) to a certain degree. It's all about first impressions.”

The only line in subject matter Chisholm draws is at the ethnically offensive, he said. It remains the discretion of the customer how profane, or where.

“I'd tattoo somebody's face if they wanted me to,” he said, adding he's no stranger to diversity. “I'll do some scary looking stuff one time, then the next time I'll do a Jesus portrait.”

Just as in fashion of clothing, fads come and go regarding tattoos, he said. Over the past 15 years, he has seen Chinese characters, flowing floral themes, doom and gloom, and dragons, among others. In a profession that has seen a continuous upswing in popularity, he currently sees a trend toward more realism, more dimension.

“I've seen an increase in more realistic images over the past five years, as opposed to cartoons. And three times as many portraits,” he said. “Most of the time people want to get their children, their 2 or 3 year-old. They're proud of their kids.”

Occasionally they want depictions of loved ones who are deceased. And, he said, with the gaining of tattoo popularity, also has come a reluctant acceptance by some.

“It has changed. When I first started, I'd go in the store and be in line and I could just feel the person behind me glaring at me,” he said.

Returning to the aspect of fads for a moment, Chisholm said, it is another reason, besides the law prohibiting, why he would never work on someone under the age of 18.

“Even at the age of 18, you really don't know what you want,” he said. “There are even four or five tattoos I probably would have done different.”

Regardless of age, anyone entering the shop under the influence of alcohol is refused and, depending on their selection of subject matter, they may receive some friendly advice.

“If someone comes in and wants a tattoo where the theme is ridiculous, on the edge, I make sure they're not doing it impulsively. You can tell if they're unsure. I say, 'Listen, why don't you think about it a little longer.' The last thing you want to do is have them come back and regret it. If we talk someone out of it, and a couple days later they come back and say, 'Wow, what was I thinking,' that's good,” he said.