About Me
& My Tattoo Philosophy
I’ve always been an artist. Since before I can remember, I drew incessantly. I’ve also always had a naturally jovial nature, and a genuine love for humans generally.
I grew up on a small island near Seattle, inspired by Calvin and Hobbes, peaceful warrior characters like Jedi, and the nature of the Pacific Northwest.
I got a bachelors degree in Illustration from Ringling College of Art in Sarasota. After that I did art professionally for over ten years, including illustration, storyboarding and motion design for big companies like Amazon and Microsoft.
When I saw what was happening with Ai, I immediately knew I wanted nothing to do with it. I’d always assumed I would tattoo at one point, and the rise of Ai felt like a good time to leave the corporate world and start building a small business based on hand made art and offline human connection.
I started getting tattoos when I was 19. I would create designs myself and find tattoo artists who would trace them onto me. I made the designs extremely bold and simple for a few reasons. The main reason is that most tattoos I’d see out in the world looked bad. Too much of the natural skin color is covered up; whether it’s too much detail, shading, or dark colors, they usually don’t leave enough negative space, and the end result is often that people’s tattoos look more like a smudge than a shape. So I just didn’t trust tattoo artists, especially those within my 19-year-old-budget price range, to be able to make a design that would age well. But that’s only half the reason I created my own designs.
I was drawn to Buddhist meditation as a young adult. The Buddhist monks in Thailand practice an ancient form of tattooing called Sak Yant, using designs they believed have spiritual power. Ever since I learned of it as a kid, I knew I wanted to get tattoos in this style, or at least inspired by it. I’d always been inspired by this idea that tattoos can harness energy toward the light, protect against the dark, or have some other form of power. So the other reason I would draw my own designs, and keep them so bold and simple that they almost felt like ancient carvings, was because I was very intentional about the mark making and meaning behind every design I got tattooed, and I wanted them to feel like ancient symbols of power.
Then in my mid twenties, I lived in Thailand for a year and got my back covered in the traditional Sak Yant style by the Buddhist monks there. So when I decided to start tattooing, I knew I wanted to continue focusing on this approach.
The popular consensus of what makes a tattoo good is misguided. The current trends like photo realism and fine line details are fueled by how tattoos are perceived on instagram, rather than how they will look out in the real world when they are many years old. I could make more money if I focused on those styles of tattooing, but I didn’t leave the corporate world for tattooing just to prioritize money above all else.
I do love tattooing as a way to earn a living, but that’s only part of why I do it. I recently saw a sign inside a coffee shop that looked like a polished illustrated advertisement from ten years ago. I could tell it was Ai, and felt a bit of sadness remembering how a few years ago this would have been a hand drawn chalk sign. Even if the chalk sign was a bit sloppy, with finger prints and mediocre doodles, that human element was missing in this lifeless little sign. And that’s a microcosm of what’s taking place globally, human art is being replaced by soulless Ai slop.
So to me, tattooing is about much more than earning a living. It’s a rebellion against the corporate shitification of our world. I love connecting with people in person, giving them a positive experience and a piece of hand drawn artwork they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives. And I don’t take the opportunity lightly.
Talking about spirituality is like trying to draw wind; we get lost in the semantics of words like God, love, synchronicity etc, but whatever phrasing resonates with you, my intention is to channel that goodness into each tattoo. At each stage of the process, I pray the client has a positive experience, that they love their tattoo, that it heals well, and somehow aids them in living in harmony with that goodness.
All the designs I tattoo I draw myself without Ai, and my process for creating designs as well as doing tattoos, is to tap into flow state. I think this imparts a perennial vibration of inspired harmony into each tattoo. This might all be woo woo mumbo jumbo, but even if so, I love what I do and we’ll have fun doing your tattoo.
Regardless of if you want flash, a custom design, or you’re just brainstorming an idea, send me a message and let’s discuss your next tattoo!