bio

At 17 I left for art school… At 20 I was back at home… adrift without a paddle. If I had any guts at that time I would have pursued tattooing. The thought occurred to me but it didn’t feel like the right time.  I got a job with a sign painter, spent 9 years painting signs, lettering trucks, and doing graphic design work. Although I learned a lot, and it was after all “ART” It didn’t satisfy me. When sign work was slow, I bartended, and became more of a hustler than anything else. I deluded myself into thinking as long as I did enough to get by that it would work out for me.  One thing that I’ve never compromised is that I am an artist. I wanted a career, and would not be comfortable accepting just “a job.”

In 2006 I began an apprenticeship under Bill McNulty of Eternal Grafix in Newton, NJ. Learning to tattoo is by far the most humbling, frustrating, thing that I have ever done,

But I can honestly say that I wouldn’t choose any other path for myself.

It occurred to me recently that my job combines my two favorite things… Creating art… and Bullshitting.  How cool is that?

I have many artistic influences, there are too many artists to name, but above all I am inspired by the lines, colors, shapes and movement of nature. So if you come in for tribal and I try to talk you into a trout… That’s why.

Thank You…  Jen, I am humbled by your generosity and how you believed in me when it felt like rock bottom. My girls, Milla and Tasha, thank you for fueling my creativity. To Mom and Dad, who I often take for granted, thank you for letting me learn from my own mistakes, and encouraging me, as frustrating as it must have been.  Stephan, Thanks for listening to me bitch while we fished. Thanks to Bill McNulty for giving me a shot and the freedom to do my thing. And last, to all of my friends who offered themselves as guinea pigs when people didn’t want tattoos from the new guy.