What is your primary medium?
Primarily tattooing, or it was before the COVID but I enjoy basically all mediums. Charcoal is probably one of my favorites. Drawing, painting, watercolor, acrylics. I mean, I like it all.
How long have you been creating art?
All my life. Since I can remember, like, drawing superheroes and coloring and drawing cartoons when I was a kid. Just drawing things as I saw them when and then just creating my own superheroes and yeah, since I can remember holding crayons I've been making art.
When did you decide you wanted to tattoo?
I thought about it a few times, like right after high school. I tried it. I went to a guy's house and he had everything set up and I ended up doing a tattoo on a friend and it did not come out good and I kind of didn't want to come back to it for a few years. I don't know, I just always have liked tattoos. I went to school for digital design and cosmetology. I couldn't see making it as a painter. Like I would love to make a living being a painter, but it's just really difficult. And I don't know, about like 11-12 years ago is when I really started thinking about tattooing. This month I've been tattooing for, it's my 11 year anniversary. So yeah, kind of just dove into it.
Are you able to get your creativity out through tattooing or do you need other outlets?
My dream job would be being a muralist. Just painting murals for a living. I don't know, I like painting big. Just something about the arm movements and stepping back and looking at it. Tattooing is kind of tedious and it can be kind of backbreaking being in one position, hunched over looking at something for hours. It's worth it in the end, but I think a little bit of both. Tattooing, there's a lot more limitations sometimes. Sometimes people are kind of specific to what they want, and it's understandable because it's going to be on their body. So my number one priority is making sure that they're going to be okay with what they're getting and like it. But I definitely have like, finally gotten to a group of clientele that have seen enough of my work and they allow me a lot of freedom with what I do. So they'll basically give me a concept or they'll tell me one thing that they want or a couple or whatever, but it's really nice to be given freedom because they know what I can do and my abilities, so I'm definitely given a lot more creative freedom with tattooing now than I used to be in the beginning. With painting it's nice because there's like no control that anybody's really given me like, they'll tell me to paint one thing maybe if it's a commissioned piece and I'll run with it. It's nice to be able to figure out what other elements I'll implement into it or like, I've just been really experimental lately with what I'm doing and trying new things and that's been really nice. It's a lot easier to be experimental painting versus with tattooing. I can experiment with tattooing, but it's just got to be like little baby steps. I’ve got to like, try things and see how they look and make sure it's going in the direction that I want. But still like even before experimenting with tattooing, I will experiment on paper, like on the iPad or tablet, whatever, to make sure that it's going to be a good choice.
Has your time at home with this pandemic affected your ability to create stuff?
It's been good. It's been really good. I've created like, I just posted up some of the stuff that I've made. A lot of it is really weird and experimental and it's not perfect by any means. I've been trying to just basically create without being too conscious of what I'm making, like, I guess what I mean by that is I'm almost like channeling maybe, but not really. I don't know, it's difficult to explain my process like, I'll kind of scribble sometimes and start to see things and then roll with it or get another vision of something else that I'm wanting to do with it. I've definitely started way more projects than I’ve finished and it feels kind of good because I almost feel like I get these bursts of inspiration to start something new and then I get it again and again and again. So I have a lot more work that's started than finished, but I think that's okay because sometimes it's hard to even start a piece. So once I have a vast amount of pieces started I can basically go and just work with what I'm pulled towards. Sometimes I'm just not into something I was into yesterday.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I pull my inspirations from everything. Nature has been really inspiring lately. I've been going out and just sightseeing and looking at canyons and scenery. So I’ve really been into landscapes and I got to go out and finally do a little bit. There was a cliff that I was looking at and I did a charcoal drawing of it, which was nice. It's difficult trying to just pick one piece of nature and then trying to capture it. It's definitely a challenge but it's nice once you can kind of capture different aspects of the scenery. So yeah, landscapes have been one thing that's been inspiring me. Sunsets, my kids, my girlfriend. Just trying to make art that they might like or appreciate. Also people that appreciate my art, like there's so much art. I look at artists every day and get inspired. Somebody I didn't know, I'll flip through a magazine or scroll past a picture just like stop and intake what they're doing and just see all the little details. I look at older stuff that inspires me. Architecture is one thing that I think is really beautiful. I love linear stuff, so straight lines and structured symmetry. Also, just geometry in nature is really cool. Weird thoughts, or inspiring thoughts that pop into my head that don't make sense. I love making art, like making a painting where I don't even know what it's gonna be in the beginning where it's just kind of like winging it and, I know something will come out of it the more time I put into it, it's gonna just keep pulling something out and I don't know exactly where it's coming from. I feel like a lot of creativity and art is being pulled from the same place, especially with visionary art. It's kind of something I've always been into as far as just different perspectives of landscapes kind of compiled on top of each other with like, different worlds cutting through and dimensions and I've been trying to just build a new world basically, or like bring more of my world through visually so that maybe it could change this world in some way.
What gives you the motivation to put pen to paper?
What I found is like, sometimes the motivation, it’s not always there. You have to make your own motivation. You just have to push yourself basically. I've started multiple things where I didn't feel like doing it, but I knew I needed to do it or like there was something in me that told me that I needed to do it I guess. So basically once I can work on something for an hour or more, I can eventually get immersed in it and once I start to see something coming through, then at that point it gets exciting knowing that something is going to be coming from this process that I'm doing. And even though it's maybe not something I want to do, it's always a good practice. Right now, since I haven't been working, I've been trying to make art that I can sell, but there's certain pieces that I've put, you know, like 40 to 50 hours into and it's, it's not a painting that I'm gonna let go for real cheap, but I think it's gonna be a little difficult to sell that higher art. It's how you market it and whatnot and I'm not really pushy, I don't have a website.
Are you from Boise originally?
No, I'm from New Mexico. I've been in Boise about 12 years, 12-13. My kid’s mom moved here. Well, her parents moved up and then we moved up. I was living in Gallup, New Mexico. It's a small town and just as far as like, potentially like making an art career there seemed really difficult to do. I was bartending at Applebee's for three years. I really wasn't taking art seriously at the time. I did a little bit of art, but before tattooing, I was a graffiti artist. So I did a lot of things like painting on trains and just painting. Like, I just love to express myself in different ways, but something about painting trains, it was a nice rush.
Are there opportunities you’ve had here in Boise you might not have had elsewhere?
Yeah, definitely. As far as the tattoo shops there, like, I didn't really even want to get tattooed because of the quality work. I wanted a tattoo but I was really picky on what I was going to put on my body. I actually tried to apprentice in Gallop. I had a friend Rudy who was tattooing at the time and I just went and hung out at the shop. I was working at Applebee's and I would just kind of come and hang out there. That was only like a few times and then I moved here. Once I moved here, I was working at a call center, and then I did door to door sales, and then I just got tired. I've worked a lot of bullshit jobs, just jobs that have not been fun. A lot of labor and restaurant work. There's definitely more people here and the demographic is a little bit different from New Mexico. I feel like with the art that I do, people are a little more receptive here. Gallop was a small town like I said, there's a lot of artists there that are really good that are still struggling to make art and sell paintings and jewelry. I feel like there's definitely opportunity in Boise and I like living here because I think it's a good place to raise my kids. The scenery is like pristine nature, mountains. Everything about living here is beautiful. I mean, the sunsets are definitely a lot more beautiful in Gallup, they're nice here too, but like something about the sky. Like Arizona sky too, it's just, I don't know what it is down there, but it's just beautiful.
What’s it like being able to support yourself with your art and creativity?
I feel really lucky, blessed and thankful that I can do art as a career. It wasn't easy. It was a lot, a lot of work to get to where I'm at. A lot of sacrifice. Tattooing till 2-3 in the morning, later sometimes. I didn't especially like the beginning of tattooing. I didn't have a clientele. I’m not from here, so building a clientele was a really difficult thing to do. It took, I don't know, 7-8 years I would say to build a nice solid clientele. I definitely always dreamt about it. I just kept working and putting in the time and there were multiple times I wanted to quit tattooing. I was really harsh looking at my own work, thinking like why am I tattooing? You know, just trying to figure things out as well, and just learning, and a lot of repetition. It's definitely one of the hardest things to get good at, I think but I'm glad that I stuck with it. And just knowing all the crap that I had to go through to get to where I'm at, I feel good. I feel like nothing was given to me. Like I definitely put in the hours and put in the time and broke my back basically getting to where I'm at. But I'm still like, always thankful for where I'm at and try to stay humble and everything. I never talk down on anybody's work basically, or judge other people's art and I just kind of focus on what I'm doing and get inspired and try to get other people to be inspired as well. I love to try to get people to be involved with art. And I think that everybody can be an artist, even people that say they can only draw stick figures. It's just like, it's what you find passion about. Some people just aren't passionate about art so there's nothing I can do to change that. But I definitely love to try to inspire people to create, especially my kids and friends and people that haven't really experienced things with creating things.
Why do you think art is important?
I think art is important because it's a way of self expression. And I think art is a way of telling stories, or creating messages that will be passed down through like, lineages. I also think art is a way of decompressing. Sometimes, just being stuck in your world can be stressful and a way to escape it, at least for me, is to do art where I kind of like step outside of what's going on around me. And it's a way of mindfulness I think, just kind of being in the moment with what you're doing and creating. Sometimes it's not even about the outcome, just the process of going through the steps to create something that's, you know, going to be beautiful or it's just practice. It's just a good practice. And it's a way of meditating, I think and it's therapeutic.
Do you think art is something that you'll ever step away from?
No, no way. I have so many ideas and like things built up. I don't have enough time to get everything out that I want to. It's difficult to try to decide what I want to work on because there's so many projects, so many things that I want to do. I don't think I'll ever have enough time to get to everything that I'd like to. But art’s always going to be part of my life. It's something that I was born to create, and I can't ever stop doing that. It's just, I find it really fun and I'm obsessed with it. All I think about is art 24/7 besides like kids and stuff, but it's just constantly on my mind. Things that I want to work on and do and yeah, it's just, it's gonna be with me forever.
Is there anything I missed asking you, or you are dying to say that I didn't ask you about?
Art is, I guess sometimes it's kind of an escape in a way. My mother passed away when I was 12. So I had to go through a lot of therapy and counseling and talking with people. So one thing I remember with all that is it was really difficult for me to deal with emotions then. So I did a lot of art and that was kind of a way for me to deal with those emotions, or to be able to express myself or even just sit and talk with somebody. Like if I was drawing, it was easier for me to talk about things and kind of like, get in touch with those emotions because I had that thing that I was, I don't know, I was kind of in two places at once, almost, versus just dealing with my emotions, so I was able to kind of spread that through both if that makes any sense. I wish that I took art more seriously when I was younger. I mean, I thought that I was going to go to college for art. I got accepted to go to an art school, but I didn't, because I had a girlfriend that I stayed back for, and she ended up breaking up with me shortly after. I mean, I don't regret anything from my past because it's all led me to where I'm at now. So who knows, if I would have gone to art school, maybe I would have been designing. I always wonder what it's like to do another career in art as far as like, being an illustrator or graphic designer. I'm sure it's fun but I feel like the work, like it's a little more strict, and there's a lot of work you’ve got to put into it, and I don't know. With tattooing I am so like, I can't see myself doing anything else really, besides like creating art and selling it. But I think it's maybe more because of the structure factor of doing other work, like keeping up with the demand of art and like I think you need a team of people that can help. Like right now I'm trying to get a website and like, I don't have a team of people. I'm doing everything myself, so I need to build a website, I need to take pictures and upload things and there's a lot of things that I've been trying to get to but I've just been pulled to make art lately. Like, I know that eventually I'll get back to work and get caught up on things.