Sundew Tattoos is where ink, skin come together

Tattooist Phoebe Bordadora (pictured) performs her art on the lower leg of her fiancé, Nolan Boyer. It’s Boyer’s way of paying tribute to a beloved family pet. Photo by Lance Masterson.

Phoebe Bordadora began pondering life as a tattooist while working at the Enchanted Forest in Turner.

“I was actually a face painter and friends kept telling me I should be doing tattoos. So that’s probably why I started thinking about it in the first place,” she said.

Bordadora’s love for tattoos was well known by this time. The suggestion not only made sense to those who knew Bordadora, it made sense to her. But it took a year or so of college before she was ready to plunge.

‘I was mulling it over. I knew I wanted to change what I was doing and do tattoos instead,” she said. “I have always been really interested in art and stuff. I just didn’t think it was an option for a career.”

Her plan was to become a dental hygienist. But the more she thought about careers, the more she knew she wanted to become a tattooist. She took the leap when she signed up for Tattoo U.

Oregon requires people to go to “tattoo school. So I (enrolled) at Hot Rod Bettie’s in Salem,” she said.

Schooling was during the COVID days. Precautionary measures were in place. So most of her bookwork was done at home.

“But then at the end of it, once you’re done with all that, you do student tattoos,” she said, noting her education lasted roughly a year.

Photo by Lance Masterson

Upon graduation, she opened her own studio, Sundew Tattoo in Monmouth. Bordadoro herself was her first customer. Mother Toni Bordadoro was next.

“I gave her her first tattoo on her ankle,” Phoebe said of her mom. “I also tattooed friends and have given my little brother a couple of tattoos, and one of my cousins. It’s pretty fun to be able to do it for family.”

Bordadora prefers custom designing. Clients fill out a form that provides her with greater insight into what they want.

“I put that all together based on what they tell me,” she said. “They can send me examples or photos for inspiration if they want.”

Even if inspiration comes from a bovine packing a firearm.

“Okay, there was a cow on roller skates, like roller skating by a cactus wearing a cowboy hat, and shooting a gun,” she said when asked her most unusual request. “That was a pretty cool one.”

People get tattoos because they think they’re cool. Other get them because they represent a shared experience or meaningful connection. Symbolic imagery includes such designs as birth month flower bouquets, signatures and, in one case, a crustacean, she said.

“There’s some things you wouldn’t even expect to be meaningful to people. There was one I drew up that was just a silly shrimp design, and somebody picked that one out,” Bordadoro said. “And then they started crying at the end of the tattoo. I’m like, what’s going on? And then she started telling me how she use to make shrimp with her grandma all the time.”

Pets, too, receive tribute treatment. Nolan Boyer was at the studio to honor his former canine companion.

Boyer’s tattoo is based on a sketch “Phoebe drew of my dog from like six years ago. He passed away a couple of years ago, and I’ve been wanting to get this tattoo for a while,” he said.

Photo by Lance Masterson

Boyer is Bordadora’s fiance. This is his 10th tattoo, with this latest one destined for his lower leg. He lays back while checking his cell phone. The pain registers a 3 on a scale of 10, he said.

“The ribs were way worse,” he said of an earlier experience.

He expects more tattoos are in his future.

“It’s fun to be able to kind of customize yourself in a way, and then add something if you like it,’ he said.

As for Bordadora, she got her first tattoo when she was 18 and shows no sign of slowing down. 

“I don’t even keep track anymore,” she said when asked how many tattoos are on her body. “I just think of it as one big art piece.”

A portfolio of her work is posted on her website.

The name Sundew Tattoo shares its name with a carnivorous plant.

Toni Bordadora owns Sonny’s Coffee & Plants. The shop is next to Sundew Tattoos.

Sundew Tattoo is at 1276 Main St. E in Monmouth. Go to sundewtattoo.com for more information.