LITTLE ROCK — Shawne Ballard dreams of going to Rome to see Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel art, but he doesn't have to.
All he has to do is take off his shirt.
"I'm a deeply religious man," says the 32-year-old Cabot resident. "My faith is the most important thing in my life."
One way he expresses that faith is in body art. Both sides of Ballard's torso have intricate tattoos with imagessuch as King Solomon, hands in prayer, 24 angels, Scriptures and other religious artwork.
His latest is a representation of Jesus Christ as he is depicted in the Sistine Chapel. Ballard chose Simon Garcia of Nomis Tattoos in Sherwood to add to his body's canvas during the second annual Arkansas Inksplosion, held last weekend at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
It used to be that tattoos were mostly seen on rock stars, bikers, the military and the rebellious. Tattoo-wearers at Inksplosion included a law clerk, a surgical coordinator, a body piercer, a second-grade schoolteacher and a breast-cancer survivor.
As Garcia worked, Ballard was relaxed, his eyes closed.
"I don't feel the pain," he says. "It takes me to a different place. For me, it's an escape from reality. I don't have to think about anything ... work or school."
Ballard, who is employed as a salesman, will begin work on a doctorate in theology this fall at Rhodes College in Memphis.
And from all appearances it might be too late to change his major.
Style, Pages 38, 44 on 03/20/2008