Green River Tattoo makes its mark on Boundary County
Courtesy photos
Courtesy Photo A colorful rose adornes this customers leg.
Courtesy Photo Zachary Richards makes colors pop in all of his work.
Courtesy Photo Zachary Richards even makes black ink pop.
Photo by Tanna Yeoumans Zachary Richards, owner of Green River Tattoo. Two examples of his work are shown below.
BONNERS FERRY — In June of 2017, Zachary Richards opened his tattoo shop, Green River Tattoo, located in the shop adjacent to the city parking lot and behind the Rusty Moose Tavern and Grill, bringing to Boundary County a service that was not present at the time.
Beginning his career in art, Richards attended art classes in high school and excelled.
Speaking of his former teacher, Richards said, “He told me one day that I should go to college specializing in art. At the time, even though it was my senior year, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was excited about school being almost over, and had planned on going to trade school.”
But with his new wife being pregnant with their first son, plans changed.
With their growing family, the need for a higher income was imperative. Richards worked in many different job fields, before his wife at the time suggested he should look into the tattoo field.
“She urged me to try and said it was something I would probably be good at,” said Richards.
He then did research and found out what was needed to begin tattooing. “It was all a quest after that,” he said.
With the separation of him and his now ex-wife, Richards moved and began working as an apprentice at a tattoo shop in Coeur d’Alene, but he missed his two boys and he wanted to perform under the name of his own tattoo shop rather than someone else’s. Now, he has fulfilled his vision of showcasing his talent under his own banner.
“I got my dream of having a tattoo shop, ” said Richards.
Now he can showcase not only his talent with artwork on canvas, but on skin as well.
He utilizes the ideas people bring in and elaborates them with the vision he has when he gets the idea that the customer provides. Sometimes the elaboration brings a new light to the customer’s original idea and they end up loving the final outline. With his eye for detail, Richards brings life to tattoos in both color and grayscale.
“People bring me tattoo ideas and I put my artistic ability to work to make it the best it can be, and most of the time the customer loves it,” said Richards. “If they are unsatisfied, we go back to the drawing board and assemble their idea into a permanent portrait of it. I am happy to provide a good quality service for Bonners Ferry that has been unavailable for some time now, and provide quality work at a good price.”
“Zach makes you comfortable with your experience,” said Courtney Wells.
Wells and her fiancé James Cornett have both received tattoos from Richards.
“He is extremely knowledgeable as well as understanding. Having multiple tattoos by him, I will continue going back to Green River Tattoo,” said Wells. “He takes your ideas and adds to them, making them fit you or the ones you love.”
Richards keeps a clean and sanitary space so that those who wish to get ink know he is not only certified, but he cares about his customers wellbeing. He also sells some accessories such as piercing jewelry, including earrings and eyebrow rings, belts, necklaces, and more.
He has his tattoo stations set up in the rear portion of the shop, with the accessories located in the otherwise barren front portion of the store. Richards is looking to fill the front with something, and is open to ideas and possibly a partnership.
“This is my dream and I have been trying to build it for years,” said Richards. “My main goal it to keep it going, and if it’s in my power to do a good job, then I’m going to do it. “