I was born and raised in southern Illinois which is closer to Children of the Corn than the suburbs of Chicago. At 15, I made a tattoo machine from a walkman motor and gave myself my first tattoo. From there, I found some guinea pigs to practice on (and believe me, they were easy to find.)


In '98, after several years of scratchin', I figured it best to learn how to tattoo professionally so I loaded up my girlfriend and we headed to Texas for an apprenticeship from hell. It was like a tattoo boot camp but I learned alot (and alot of what not to do.) So, after gleaming all I could from there, I loaded up my girlfriend again, headed back to southern Illinois, and opened my first shop.


Eventually, we got married and had kids, Breeze and Storm. She already had 2 so we pretty much need a short bus to get around.


We were in a small town so not only was I the only shop around, but I was the only tattoo artist and piercer in like a 35 mile radius. I had my shop for 4 years and business was great but I was feelin like I needed to work around other artists to learn more. My work wasn't bad but it wasn't the caliber I wanted it to be.


So, I loaded up the whole freakin family and we pretty much went on tour for about 3 years. I worked in a few shops, some good some bad, and my work had, indeed, improved ALOT. I also learned alot about how NOT to run a shop. I got to know some Samoans who taught me how to draw and read Samoan tattoos. I took my style and their heritage, and created my own.


We decided to settle in Gulfport, Mississippi and opened a shop there. It was a great location, just 3 blocks from the beach. This was where we were gonna stay. Business was booming, I had a couple of apprentices, and everything was running smooth for the first five months. I had my shop for five months when Hurricane Katrina hit and that great location turned out to be not so great when the gas station that was two doors down decided to relocate on to my new shop.


Before I even knew how bad the damage was, I called up an old friend I had met during my apprenticeship in Texas, Chris Bowman. He was now the owner of Blue Horseshoe Tattoos in Virgina. I told him I may be in need of a job and sure enough, I was.


So again, we loaded up the short bus and headed to Virginia. I've been working here for close to three years now. I've worked with some badass artists here, seen alot of them come and go, and still learn new sh*t all the time. I do a variety of custom work, color, black and grey, and an abundance of tribal. Alot of artists hate it but really, I don't mind tribal at all.


I'm not sure that this is where I'll be for the rest of my life. I'd rather BE "the man" than work for "the man". Sooner or later I'll have my own shop again. Who knows, maybe in a town near you.