IN PENNSYLVANIA, A HUSBAND-AND-WIFE TEAM OF TATTOOER AND TATTOOEE SAVOR THE ART OF BODY ADORNMENT

by Edward M. Gómez

Elvio Critelli is an Italian-born tattooer — he prefers that term to the label "tattoo artist" — who has been active in the profession for many years. He is married to Stephanie Cavalli, a self-described half-Caribbean, half-Italian fashion model and businesswoman who came to the United States in 2002. Stephanie has appeared in the runway shows of some of international fashion's best-known designers and brands; in 2016, she and Elvio moved from New York City to a rural setting in northeastern Pennsylvania, near the border — the Delaware River serves as that dividing line — with New York State.

It's a lush region of small, former industrial towns, dairy farms, and other agricultural activities. In recent years, it has attracted numerous creative types from New York City and other urban areas who have searched for larger living spaces, direct contact with nature, and opportunities to contribute to the ecological movement or to the economic, social, and cultural life of small-town and regional communities in imaginative ways.