than just tattooing. Instead of managing
only yourself and your drawings, you have to
worry about bills, supplies, and lots of things
that most artists never think about. It’s quite
stressful at times and can make it difficult to
focus on my craft. I had my good friend Jill
come help me out and she found us our current
shop manager Tiffany, who is the best! She deals
with everything except the actual tattooing.
Our shop runs smoothly and professionally
now, which allows the other artists and I to
focus just on tattooing.
What are some of your favorite styles to
tattoo?
I like all styles of tattoos if they are done
well! A great tattoo will really stand out on
someone’s body. The styles I really enjoy doing
are black and grey and color realistic. I really
like tattooing birds and animals. Sometimes I
like to mix styles of tattooing, such as a bit of
realistic with a neo-traditional twist to it. I feel
that I’m at a point in my career now where my
clients trust me enough that I can be somewhat
picky and tattoo what I want to.
paint and markers. I have tried a few mediums.
I enjoy using Prismacolor pencils and Copic
markers for a lot of my drawings. I’m just
getting into airbrushing and digital art.
You have traveled all over the world in your
tattooing career. What are some of your
favourite places you’ve been? Where do you
want to go next?
Every place is something different, the
languages, cultures, religions, and tattoo
cultures; It’s very cool to see and experience. So
far, Indonesia is my favorite. Bali is beautiful
and the tattoo culture is deep there. It is so
artistic, nearly everything you look at is either
a painting, a carving or something artsy. I’ve
been there a few times now and I just find it
inspirational. I have had the honor of tattooing
at Shotonk Tattoos with Gede Shotonk; his
black and grey is world class! I always learn a
ton when I work with him. Amsterdam was
great; the local architecture and the smoke
shops there are awesome. Evian, France was
my favorite tattoo convention in Europe. It was
such a well organized event and really busy; I
can’t wait to go back next year! I would love to
get to Brazil next and work some conventions
there. I also can’t wait to get back to Australia.
How many tattoo conventions have you
worked at the last year or so?
I’ve worked at about 16 different tattoo
conventions over the last couple of years,
worldwide and throughout Canada. I really
enjoy tattoo conventions, as I always take home
a massive amount of knowledge, a ton of new
connections, and you get to see all the new
products available for tattooing as well as hear
feedback from other artists.
If you weren’t tattooing as a career what do
you think you would be doing?
That’s a good question.... it’s hard to say. I feel
very blessed to be tattooing as it took me away
from an uncertain future. I had my hand in a
lot of things before I started tattooing, some
positive and some not so positive. Who knows
where I would have ended up. Now I get to
wake up every morning and be stoked about
going to work, seeing and hanging out with rad
people all day.
Do you practice any other mediums of art?
I’m a graffiti writer, that started with spray
What is the weirdest body part you have
tattooed?
I don’t tattoo weird body parts.
What artists have influenced you?
I’m influenced by a lot of artists. Every time
I see a tattoo that I think is really well done,
I take a screenshot and study the shit out of
it - zoom in, pick it apart, try and put together
the process in my head to try and figure out the
techniques they used. There are tons of amazing
artists out there and every day someone is
setting the bar for the standard of tattooing! A
great tattoo is inspiring, no matter who did it.
Have you ever apprenticed someone
yourself?
Yes I have. Two of my full time artists,
Louis Page and Matt Spletzer have both
learned the fundamentals of tattooing
from me. They both are killing it and I
couldn’t be happier with the team I have
at my shop.
What can we look forward to seeing
from you in the future?
I’m really excited to be working on a cool
TV project. I can’t divulge too much at
the moment but we’re stoked, it’s going
to be huge. Stay tuned to West Coast Ink
for more info!
Who would you like to thank?
First off, thank you to my son Kayle you are the reason for everything.
My beautiful woman, Joelle, for putting
up with my shit and for having a bangin’
booty.
My team at Dynamic for helping my
vision come true - keep up the great
work.
Shout out to my clients - some of them
have been supporting me since day one
and keep coming back for more!
All my good friends at Ever Ink
Aftercare, East Van Inc., Dermalize Pro,
Eastern Wolves, Hostile Intent.
To the organizers of the past tattoo
conventions - thanks for having me.
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