Total Tattoo – August 2019

What was it about traditional tattooing that first
appealed to you?
When I started out, I was working with a guy named Mikey
Slater. He'd been in the navy and he loved traditional tattoos,
and that was the stuff he did. I loved maritime art, and pirate
ships, and I loved gypsy imagery too – because of my mom –
and I was really drawn to all these designs that told a story.
The tradition of painting flash by hand was something I
wanted to keep up too. Traditional imagery holds up over
time. Someone once said to me, 'What would you rather
have, a warped crazy-looking skull or just a simple one?' It's
the simple skull that will last. The one that’s got snarling teeth
and stuff, you’re more likely to look at as you get older and
think, 'That was a dumb idea'.