Have you had any art education or training?
I took art at school until I was 18, and since then I've been trying to pick things up along the way manly from other tattoo artists. Paolo was the one who got me back into painting saying that it would teach me how to tattoo and help develop my style. I've also picked up tips from Jeff Gogue and have been to a seminar In Montreal with Shawn Barber. I've often thought about going back to school to get some official art training, but If I do it wont be for a while as I'm so hooked on tattooing 24/7 at the moment
I think it's really beneficial for a tattoo artist to have art training but not essential, my art was terrible when I started tattooing, Id been out of practice for 3 years, but then I had to work my ass off to get my drawing technique up to a good standard.
Have you had any unusual experiences during your career as a tattoo artist?
I've had a lot of weird situations over the years. I've worked in so many places with a diverse range of characters. Some people in the tattoo scene are quite bizarre. One time I was at a studio in California and the piercer had his new girlfriend sitting on the sofa next to me while I was painting, he started showing her his stretched Prince Albert piercing and started touching himself 'n trying to get her to touch it, they were both drunk an he had a huge hard on, ha ha!!
What was your best tattoo experience?
My best tattoo experience happened just recently (Dec 09) when I and a group of tattoo artists went on a crazy shamanic trip infused with close encounters with condors, 4000 ft high temples and mad jungle. We all originally went over for two tattoo conventions but the conventions were cancelled and instead we ended up going on an incredible journey up into the mountains at Machu Picchu. We all climbed Wyna Picchu which took a 3 hour's of strenuous hiking up tiny steep steps up the mountain. At the top we all exchanged Inca tattoo's from a 9v battery surrounded by dense jungle and crashing Amazon River below, the whole trip was a life changing experience for me which was made even better by having a solid group of friends around. I think it was the highest tattoo convention in the world.
What do you think is the best part of your job?
I love being an artist; it's all I've ever wanted to be since I was a kid. I get so much out of this because it's my passion, and l get so involved in the process, time dissolves and I've had experiences where I feel really guided. I'm also really lucky In that I can travel so much with my work, the freedom is incredible, I would never have dreamed of being able to work in so many places.
How did you arrive at your current working situation?
All the studios I work at are networking, through tattoo conventions, friends of friends, the internet, it's such a great community and really easy to bounce around different shops. I love where I'm at the moment in Australia. I met Milly at the Sydney tattoo convention and it's great here.
How long do you plan on continuing to tattoo?
Forever.
How do you think about the current state of tattooing?
I've noticed great changes in the time I've been tattooing, people are a lot more educated and go out of their way to research an artist that suits them. They also seem to want bigger work and have more unique ideas which I love as I've been able to work with some really interesting concepts lately. When I was younger I only saw flash shops and never got a tattoo as I didn't like anything on the walls and they wouldn't tattoo custom work. It was really limiting, but now lack of imagination is the only limit. I'm really excited about where tattooing is going, its amazing what people are creating at the moment, it blow's my mind every time I see new work from artists I know and then see incredible work from guys I've just heard about, I cant wait to see what people will be doing in the next 10 years if things have come this far in the last 10.
The only thing that worries me is the amount of young girls I've seen with stars, flowers, hearts, diamonds etc tattooed on their face, I went to some conventions in the UK this year and was really surprised at how many there were.
