TWO YEARS

It’s  really all a blur to me, then again, to me life seems that way most of the time. Especially now, it’s gotten hard for me to keep track.

About two years ago I was traveling to a different place and tattooing almost every month. I was constantly on the road. I went to NYC for my first time February 2019, I fell in love with the place. Shortly after I came home, I was featured in a local magazine for “Best Tattooer” and shortly after that was “fired” from my job at a local tattoo shop. By July, I was solo & renting a small room within a permanent makeup studio.

I traveled a bit more the remainder of that year. I spent a lot of time in Daphne, Alabama. A charming place, home to even more charming people. If any of you are reading this I hope you know I consider you a friend and think about/ miss y’all all. 

NYC was on my mind a lot throughout that year, and finally was able to make it back, in March 2020. & It’s a good thing I went to the city then, because that was the last time I was gonna be traveling anywhere for a while.

Literally as I had landed back in Kentucky, the first case of covid had been recorded. Within a week tattooing had been outlawed by our governing leaders and shortly after the world shut down. ***except for corporate business and other things deemed “essential” like candy stores & fast food restaurants*** As many of you know, this was an unprecedented event, that I had zero capability of handling financially or emotionally.

Honestly, after the initial shock and fear of the whole thing, I started tattooing again. Wherever I needed to, to make money, so I could survive in this world. & I spent about three months of my late 20’s either tattooing anyone who was brave enough to come out, or hunkered in my apartment drinking bud light (DO NOT RECOMMEND).

June 2020, I found the Hideout. I didn’t realize it, but this was gonna be the next great pivot point in the grand scheme of things (aka my life). I found the place on Craigslist of all places, and told my landlord to print that lease out as fast as possible. Once I started moving in I felt like I had finally found ‘home’. & Immediately people were coming in and telling me they thought the place was special.

*I think it’s worth noting that about this time is when my personal life starting changing a lot. Quarantine broke me, and through that I was fixed. I started living a completely different (healthier) lifestyle. My perspective on things had changed, and I felt like I was coming to peace with myself, my life and all that blah blah. I built a lot of the furniture in the studio, which was a really nice physical/ mental exercise. & decorating the place overall, just felt good.

Winter of 2020/ early 2021 was a hard time for me. Went through a lot of physically/ emotionally painful events. I’m grateful for the experience and for being stronger/ better because of it. But it was hard, and I’m proud of what I’ve been through and maintaining my business throughout that time.**

My business & I’d say tattooing in general, has exploded. It’s been hard to navigate everything by myself, using my personal lessons as the only guide through how to run my business. At first it was cool and exciting, now it’s pretty much just pure chaos. I feel like I do a decent job of maintaining the chaos, but I know that people see when I lose my cool.

I’ve been in the Hideout for almost two years now. It is the coolest art studio I’ve personally ever been to, and I think most of my clients would say the same. The place is amazing, it literally feels like you’re in some sort of inner city, brick tree house. With a view that makes a sunset seem perfect.

I feel extremely lucky that I have been able to experience the amount of success in creativity that I have personally experienced in my life. I understand it’s rare, especially among visual artist types. Though I’ve found myself at a point where I’m like a cowboy, absolutely yanking the reigns of a horse that I lost control of, and it’s not fun. 

Recently I’ve made leaps to try and make sure people understand more about my process and how my business operates. Not sure if it’s working? I’m starting to feel like less of a cowboy, and more of a clam closing my weird “mouth?” so I can focus on making a pearl. Done with my time of collecting sand, now it’s time to focus on making something beautiful.

That’s really where I’m at right now. I have gotten my life & business to a point where I know what feels right/ good, and what feels wrong/bad. & I am finding it impossible to compromise my happiness. The business isn’t worth losing my sense of inner peace. I have come to realize I deserve to be treated a certain way, and I like working with certain people. Especially people that treat me a certain way. & I feel like I’ve created an equal opportunity/ access to information that should get a total stranger acquainted with the way I am/ operate. 

I am interested in creating quality. A quality of life, a quality tattoo, a quality studio, a quality experience. I want everything I do, to be a genuine expression of my creativity. The compensation I receive for my work, is by social standards “something I deserve”. I’m honored, grateful, and proud that my work can support my life & business.

I haven’t felt like writing in a long time. Honestly it felt like I kinda lost this, it’s not easy to just sit down and think about/ write all this down in a way people might consume. I hope they do. I hope the people that read this understand that I’m just a simple guy doing the best I can in this complex world. I’m not out to get anyone, but I want to be understood and what I’m working for to be appreciated, or left alone.

I’m booked out till next year, I’m working in this year, my client for next month canceled, my client for next week is getting anxious, I got to make sure I’m ready for my cool client tomorrow, but right now I’m just trying to get through today.