I got a tribal/celtic piece with dragons done by Pat Fish in Santa Barbara a few years ago. She has some amazing pieces and is a great artist, but I must warn all: she is quite a character!
She expects you to be ready for the long haul and No Whimpering! My tat was 4.5 hrs in one sitting with one potty break!!
(I actually thought about chickening out after the first five minutes, but realized I'd have a partial dragon muzzle on my hide to advertise my shame forever!)
A friend was put off by her lack of small talk, etc, but I figured less chatting--more tatting...

Good Luck!!