ARTISTS
GREG MURPHY
West Coast Ink catches up with Greg
Murphy on the “State of the Union” at
Union Tattoo.
tattooed nowadays is endless so I try not to
paint myself into a corner, so to speak. I do
really enjoy anything organic though, pin-up’s,
animals, flowers, really anything that I can
create a bit of flow with. I’m also having a lot of
fun with statue reference pieces lately.
photography: Julia Loglisci
What made you want to get into
tattooing?
My whole life I’ve been very interested
in anything art, and I knew from a very
young age that this is what I wanted
to do for a living. I had a heavy graffiti
background before tattooing, which in a
lot of ways got my foot in the door.
named Jay Doherty, and I’ll be forever grateful
to Jay for giving me a shot like that. At the time
I was still just a young punk and he didn’t have
to help me like he did. Great guy, great tattooer.
When did you start tattooing?
I got my first apprentice gig in 2003 and
actually started tattooing pretty much full
time shortly after, probably could have
waited a little longer and learned a little
more before doing so but I was pretty
eager. Luckily, I had some good buddies
that knew I was just learning and were
down to sacrifice a hunk of skin to help
me out.
How do you like having your own shop as
opposed to just working in one?
Being an owner and being an employee both
have their ups and downs. I like being an owner,
but additional stress on an already stressful
profession can be taxing. Luckily I have a lot
of support from my co-owner and good buddy
Leroy Valentine, along with an awesome crew
in Terry Oh and Craig Lunn.
What shop did you start at, and did
anyone mentor you when you started?
I got my first apprentice gig at Millenium
Tattoo in North Vancouver under an artist
6 | WESTCOASTINKMAG.COM
When did you open your own shop?
Leroy Valentine, Leigh Moore and I opened
Union Tattoo back in 2007.
What are your favorite styles of tattoo to
perform? Are there any styles that you would
like to do more of?
I try to be as versatile with my style as possible.
The range of material that people are getting
Who are some artists that have influenced
you?
I have so many artists that have influenced me
in my career. Every tattoo I see will influence
me in some way. The ݽɱ