What is your primary medium?
My primary medium would be tattooing on skin. Other than that, you know, it all started on a piece of paper and kind of just evolved into tattooing.
How long have you been creating art?
Well, since I was two years old, that's as long as I can remember. My mom said I popped out with a pencil in my hand. I was just sketching all the time, drawing comics, little anime characters like Dragonball Z stuff, just kind of the average stuff at first and then it kind of just moved on to graffiti. And graffiti was my main love for a solid five years or so, while I was going to college.
What did you go to college for?
Well, I was trying to be a graphic designer. At first I was trying to make an urban street wear clothing brand kind of like LRG or The Hundreds or something like that. And at the time, I had just had my first daughter, and I think my mom just let me go because she knew that it would eat away at me if I didn't get to do that. I went for about six months to the Seattle Art Institute and it was a great experience, but I knew I had to come home and take care of my daughter because I didn't feel right about it. You know, it was too quick to make it, especially in Seattle it kind of takes like a decade to really get your name out and get business, especially as an artist, like there's so much competition there. So I came home after that about six months.
Are you from around here originally?
Yes, I grew up in Nampa, born and raised. Well I was born in Caldwell, grew up in Nampa. Been here my whole life. At first I tried to escape because I grew up in a rural area where there wasn't much to do so, kind of naturally, boredom became creativity and I started to draw and paint, you know, whatever to pass the time, but I realized Boise is actually really cool, like it's growing. It's a place where you can build something at this point and I'm loving it so far. So I'm gonna stick around, I don't see myself moving.
Do you think there are opportunities you've had here that you wouldn't have in Seattle?
I don't think so man, like, I think that it all has to do with how hard you work and like how much heart you have. Opportunities, they come and go, you just have to be present and prepared to execute on them and that's something I had to learn the hard way because there were plenty of opportunities that could've gotten me to a higher level or whatever but I just kind of let it go. I think there's plenty of opportunity here, definitely with tattooing there's a big scene and whatever it is that you want to do it’s possible.
What gets you out of bed and wanting to create?
What gets me out of bed, I would have to say, is the will to show my daughters and my friends and family that you can become something bigger than where you are from. Nampa is a small town, Boise is a small town, but it's growing and I want to show my daughters that you could just focus on whatever it is that you love. Make sure you love it, because if if you don't love it, it's gonna be tough. There's a lot of hurdles you gotta get through with whatever it is you're going for. And what makes me wake up to try and kill it is just to like, inspire my kids and whoever it is that wants to be inspired, you know, I just want to be an inspiration if I can.
Where do you get your inspiration for your designs?
All the inspiration and influence comes from other artists. Mike Giant was a big influence on me coming up as a graffiti writer. His designs were so solid and clean and well thought out that it showed me another level of draftsmanship. The ability to create with your bare hands and people like Mike Giant, people like Grimey. So Grimey, he's my favorite tattooer. He’s from San Francisco, he pretty much combined four or five different styles and created his own thing. And what he's doing is kind of what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to take influences from my favorite artists in the art that I've grown up looking at, and kind of make my own thing. It's a tough thing though, to do your own style, because every tattoo is a job and I want to make my clients happy so I end up doing a whole bunch of different styles. But at the same time, it's all kind of feeding the possibilities of creating my own thing at the end of the day.
What is it like to design art for other people?
It's cool. Honestly, it takes the edge off sometimes because it's not easy to read someone's mind, especially if they say “do whatever you want.” Like, it's really tough to read their mind and figure out, what is this guy gonna want, or what is this girl gonna want? Does she like bright colors? Does she like muted tones? Like, it's a tough gig to try and figure that out. But what I do is just ask them questions, you know, like, what is the background story to it? Because each tattoo has its own kind of story and individual characteristics so I'll just ask them, “what made you want to get this” sometimes and that helps a lot.
Do you think art is something you'll ever stop doing?
Probably never, no. I don't think that I'll ever stop doing art. It's honestly something that is part of me. It's kind of like a medication man, like when it comes down to it, if I'm not creating art, I get depressed. Like, no joke. I don't feel good. I’m not a good person to be around if I haven't painted something or drawn something for myself or somebody else that I'm kind of excited to make for them. So I don't see myself ever stopping. If anything, I see myself kind of studying something really intensely, like right now I'm getting into oil painting and it's been really fun to learn the techniques and apply them. Also very frustrating. Sometimes you don't get what you want, probably most of the time, but I just watch a lot of YouTube tutorials and find out what to buy. There's so many little products that you can get to make your work look a certain way and I like to figure out what those products are. Like, for instance, Liquin and Galkyd makes the oil dry quicker and you can glaze with it. And there's little things that I find out and it kind of makes my life more interesting, you know? So I don't think I'll ever stop.
Do you think you’ll ever stop tattooing?
No, man. Honestly, I can't say I'll ever stop tattooing because it's become a part of me. Tattooing is such a satisfying medium, especially one shot tattoos when you start and finish them. You get to see the process of kind of messy, not scratches, but like a messy beginning and that ultimately manifests as a finished piece that the person can wear for the rest of their life. It's one of the best ways to create, there's a lot of preparation that goes into it, and it makes it that much more satisfying. Once you finish a tattoo and you get to look at it, and you put hard work into it, it's such a satisfying feeling. Maybe not immediately, because sometimes I'm dead tired and I can't appreciate it as much, but later on I see them in person or look at the picture I took and it's like, “damn, that's cool” I actually followed through with that, you know?
Why is art important?
Well, I believe art is a way of communication between an artist and their community, whether it be a tattoo or graffiti or a mural somewhere, it's a great way to communicate and express yourself. A lot of times people have the same types of feelings when they look at a piece of art and it's a nice way to escape from whatever thought that you might have had. Whether it’s negative or troubling, when you look at a piece of art, you're gonna wonder what it took to get to the finished product and it's always a journey. One brushstroke leads to another and the last brushstroke of the painting is very unique to that painting. I think art is gonna stay around for sure as far as my life.
Is there anything you’d like to talk about that we haven’t touched on?
I want to talk a little bit more about what each artist has to offer. Like, if you're looking for someone, whether it be for a painting or a tattoo, you should really ask them what they love to paint, or what they love to tattoo because a lot of times some of the famous painters, they get really famous because they focus on one thing, or a few things. Whether it be roses or floral stuff, that rose is going to be badass if it's somebody who's specifically painting roses all the time, you're going to get probably the best rose you can get, you know. I don't see people seeking out specific artists for specific things. Maybe they are and I'm just not noticing it, but another way I wanted to say that is, I've been studying traditional Americana and traditional Japanese stuff and I think it'd be cool if I could just do that. So, if I can just like, kind of focus on two styles maybe, or one, which should ultimately be the best thing. I feel like I could sharpen my blade to where it's like unbeatable, impeccable, you know, and I'm having a hard time with it right now. I feel like I do too many styles and it kind of creates a problem where I have to switch my mindset all the time. I get used to black and gray realism and I'm like, yeah, I gotta do smooth shading and then the next day, it's a traditional piece and I’ve got to punch in saturation super quick and it's like totally opposite. So, I mean, it's tough, but that's the that's the gig though. You have to be flexible. You’ve got to be versatile.
So you think people should be looking for artists who specialize in a style they want?
Yeah, I think so. At the same time, any older tattooer is going to tell you to do every style because at the end of the day, you never know if that's going to be obsolete, or you need to just make money for the shop. You can't just do one thing, you can’t be a one trick pony. But in this day and age, tattooing is evolving and there's so many people tattooing, that you kind of have to specify what you do so people will know you want to focus on this so that way you don't get lost. I think that the best way to stand out is to sharpen your blade at a couple things. For me, it's timeless stuff. I really love timeless tattooing.
Have you been able to develop a clientele that knows what you do?
Yeah, I do get those people and I'm very grateful for them. I also have like a ton of family here that want specific things that I'm kind of trying to move out of. But every time I do the tattoo that I didn't want to do, I kind of feel like damn, maybe I should do this, you know, because it was fun and I actually got into it, you know, it turned out really good. So it's just something that I'm wrestling with in my mind right now. It's just like, should I specify what I do or just do everything and be happy that I'm even making a living through art.
What's it like for you to make a living through art?
It's satisfying man. Like, throughout the pandemic I had a couple of jobs. I'm very grateful for my friend Brian who asked me to do a mural in his garage and that paid the rent for one month. That was graffiti, it's very tough to have that can control, especially if you're not doing it all the time but after I finished that I felt great man. I was like hell yeah all this stuff I did as a kid kind of paid off you know, because I'm able to do different things and not have to worry too much. And it was art that paid the bills, even though I had to specifically do what he requested. But still, there's a lot of freedom in it.