Where did you get started and who did you apprentice with?
I got started at Altered Images about 6 years ago, apprenticing under Matt Skelton, with the help of Rusty Biscamp and Joe Koncelik.
For how long did you apprentice?
I started before the apprentice laws, but they became enforced during my apprenticeship. Because of that, I was grandfathered in so there was no set time I had to apprentice for. I don’t even think it was a whole year. I actually ended up getting fired during my apprenticeship, but had already gotten my license. So, I just got a job the next day.
What shops have you worked for?
After Altered Images, I went to Abstract Ink, the Human Canvas, and now I’m at Cowabunga, which opened about 2 years ago.
Describe your style.
I like doing more challenging stuff. When I first got started I really wanted to focus on realism, but after a while I realized I wanted to focus more of American and Japanese traditional. Japanese traditional has actually been the hardest for me to comprehend. There are a lot of rules that you need to follow and you really have to form it to the body and have a lot of flow. It is one of my favorite styles, but also my weakest. What people respond to the most is the realistic stuff, but I’d rather create something that doesn’t already exist. It’s all fun though.
Who is your tattoo artist?
I’ve never actually been tattooed by the same person twice. When I go on vacation the first thing that I’m going to do is look for a tattoo artist. I like to treat my body kind of like a passport, so they’re kind of like stamps in my passport. Usually I find people on Instagram and will make an appointment months in advance and then go on a road trip. Sometimes I will also get tattooed at conventions.
Tell us about tattoo conventions.
You know, they are pretty cool, especially if you’ve got work. We’ve been trying to go to about two a year. Pretty much, you go to conventions to network with other artists and see what else is out there, and maybe buy some art for the shop. Tattooing kind of takes a back seat to that, in my opinion. It is fun to win awards, too. I won “Tattoo of the Day” in Tulsa for a knee piece. That was pretty cool.
What is the craziest request that you’ve had?
My friend Heather can come up with some pretty weird stuff. She once asked me to do a shark coming out of a banana. But apparently it’s not that weird because I started seeing them and now we text each other a picture every time we see one. The absolute weirdest thing I’ve tattooed was a Hulk Hogan portrait and under his mustache was another Hulk Hogan portrait.
What are your favorite machines to work with and why?
Right now my liner, that I got two years ago, is made by Steve Turner from Wichita Kansas. I know that because he stamped the date on there and that’s pretty cool. My other go to would be a Swashdrive Whip. It’s a rotary machine and is a lot lighter and easier on my wrist.
What else do you do as an artist?
I actually have been focusing more on painting lately. It’s hard to separate the two. I want to paint what I can’t tattoo and I think that’s different than a lot of artists. Most tattoo artist just paint to advertise their tattoos. Tattooing can be pretty limited and if there is something I can’t do in a tattoo that I just need to get out of me, I just paint it on something.
Any future tattooing plans?
We will be in Amarillo for a tattooing convention February 17-19. It’s called “Ink Life Amarillo”. I’ve got a lot of people hitting me up and volunteering to be tattooed so I can win another award, so that’s pretty awesome.
