PACOIMA, Calif. — When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, tattoo shops were forced to shut down.

As businesses reopened, however, some tattoo artists saw a surge in clients.

Alexis Perez recently went into FTF Tattoo in Pacoima to get a portrait of her grandfather, Rudolfo Navarro, on her arm. Navarro passed away in May 2020, just months after the state shut down, so Perez has been waiting to get the tribute added to the artwork on her body.

"I feel like it’s still hard for us to deal with because we didn’t get to say goodbye to him," she said. "We didn’t get to give him a proper burial or honor him the way that he deserved to be."

Perez's grandfather was in a nursing home and had coronavirus symptoms when he died. Perez and her family were unable to see him when he passed away due to the quarantine.

"This is my way of saying, 'Apa, I’m not going to ever forget you,'" she said.

Perez's tattoo is also a way to heal, which is a story tattoo artist Juan Rodriguez has been hearing a lot more lately. As the owner of FTF Tattoo, Rodriguez says a lot of people tell him that getting a tattoo is their therapy.

"They’ll sit here, they’ll take the pain, a lot of times they’ll talk about how much that person meant to them," he said.

Rodriguez explained that since his shop reopened, he’s seen a surge in all types of tattoos.

“Once we got the green light to tattoo, everyone just started coming up to me saying, 'Hey, I’m ready for this, I’m ready for that,'" he said.

In fact, Rodriguez's business doubled compared from what he had pre-pandemic. He says he’s booked up about a month and is working six days per week, 10 hours a day to keep up with demand. It’s the busiest he’s been since he started tattooing in 2007. He noted that the hard work definitely pays off when he sees his clients' reaction to his artwork.

When Perez saw the finished tattoo, she got emotional. While she didn’t get to give her grandfather a proper goodbye, she now has a lifelong tribute to him on her arm.