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I like your tattoo work, but is it safe to get a tattoo nowadays?Getting professionally tattooed is safer today than it ever has been. A good tattooist is licensed by state or local health and/or cosmetology boards. He or she continually keeps educated about modern "safe tattooing" issues like the prevention of bloodborn pathogens in his/her workplace by using disposable materials and autoclaveable stainless steel hardware - if you're getting your tattoo by a true professional, you have *nothing* to worry about with regard to your safety! Does it hurt to get tattooed?Yes. It doesn't hurt TERRIBLY, but it does hurt a little. There are a lot of factors involved in how a tattoo feels, the most influential factor is WHERE you're having the tattoo placed on your body. Some areas of the body just feel like a mild irritation, while other spaces you might get tattooed are downright painful. If you're really concerned enough about the pain to let that be a deciding factor in whether you get tattooed, maybe you should wait, because a little temporary discomfort is a part of the process.. it's a rite of passage, we don't "numb it up" or pretend that it won't be a little uncomfortable. Ask your local professional tattooist to reccomend some areas of the body that are a little less painful, and he or she can help you steer clear of getting something in a really tender spot! If I decide I don't like having a tattoo, can it be removed?If you're asking this question, i SERIOUSLY reccomend that you forget about getting a tattoo right now! Tattoos *should be* thought of as FOREVER, and if you're reluctant to commit to FOREVER, then don't do it! Tattoo work in bad taste, poorly done work, there are many reasons to have tattoos removed that should have never been put on to begin with. Modern laser tattoo removal methods are available, but EXPENSIVE and (i am told) more painful than having the tattoo put on to begin with. What's the strangest thing you've ever tattooed?I hate this question, because we all have different ideas about what's a "strange" or "wierd" tattoo. To *ME*, putting on a product logo (like the Nike "swoosh" logo) is about as strange as it gets - why wear product endorsements on your skin if you're not being payed MAJORLY by that company to wear their logo? Or, I see trendy little cartoons like Calvin and Hobbes or Pokemon or [fill in current cartoon sensation here].. WHY? If Warner Brothers or Disney were paying you to advertise their characters, i could understand that. If the guy who CREATED "Pokemon" wanted to get his multi-million-dollar character on him, i could understand that too! But what's with people getting Yosemite Sam on a whim? Whatever happened to MEANING, to getting tattoos of honor and beauty and pride? Get what you want to get - but don't ask anyone else what's "strange" or "wierd" - we all have our own favorite flavors. How long have you been involved in BodyArt, and how did you get started?I've been in the business since about 1991. I met a GREAT guy named Victor Whitmill, who inspired me to pursue Tattoo as a career. I took an apprenticeship with "East Coast Al" In Kansas City, Kansas. He showed me the ropes and got me through all my education and testing, and gave me a great place in his studio to work through my early tattoo years. After 3 years with Al, I moved on, out to Illinois for awhile, where I tattooed in Carbondale, a shop called "LadyHawk Ink" owned by Sprite Kiger. After a short hitch there, I moved back to my "hometown" in Mid-Missouri and went to work for "Doc" Balch at "Fay's Tattoo Shop" in St. Robert, Missouri. I enjoyed about 5 years of tattooing at Fay's Tattoo shop, then went outside of town and helped build a shop called "Skin City Tattoo" - Skin City did well for about 4 years, my brother, myself, and Adya invested a lot of energy and hard work in building a great reputation for that shop - sadly, the time came to leave the area because the landlord of the complex the shop was located in kept getting himself and his properties in trouble with the military community who we so much enjoy working with, and we all decided to move away from his influence so that we wouldn't have to contend with sharing the reputation he was gaining with the local community. It's no fun being repeatedly put "off limits" to your best and most valued clientele. My brother Will, and our friends Dean Jones and Eric Mezzennoti opened a fantastic new shop this past summer, "Show Me Skin Art!" The shop is truly my favorite shop I've worked in, the location is fabulous, the crew is great, it's a top notch place! I've been thinking the Tattoo business would be a trade i'd be interested in, how do I get a start in the business?Do it the RIGHT way! Take an apprenticeship with a bona fide accredited professional tattooist. It
may not be cheap, and it SURE won't be easy, but it's THE way to learn RIGHT and to have the respect
of your peers in the business. Buying a junk starter kit out of the back of a tattoo mag and
experimenting on your frineds is NOT the way to learn to tattoo. You'll make some enemies, you won't
get good, and if you're not careful you'll infect/hurt someone.
I work at at Show Me Skin Art, in St. Robert, Missouri. We tattoo on many fine men and women in uniform, as we are located just outside the gates of Fort Leonard Wood. See my
Contact Info for more info about the shop, and how to reach me here!
Yes he is!
I taught Will to tattoo back in '96. After learning to tattoo while working along side me, a friend of mine in Kansas City named Frederick Watson (aka Freddy Vegas, or online, "Wuyang") gave Will his first job working in a street shop environment.
Fred helped Will out a lot as far as getting him acclimated to working with people, dealing with a shop environment, customer relations and all that and the time he spent working with Freddy really seasoned him in for his first six months of tattooing professionally.
Check Freddy's site out too! http://www.vegastattoos.com/
In November of '96 Will moved back "home" to the Ozarks, and started working full time with me at Fay's Tattoo Shop.
Since then his tattooing skill has developed tremendously, and he's become a very adept tattooist.
Check out his gallery of work!
It's not bad. =)
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