Louisville, KY
A PAINTERLY APPROACH TO TATTOOING
I aim for the style of painters of antiquity, crafting narratives that are personal and archetypal.
HISTORY
My career as a tattooist followed a winding path that eventually led back to where it began.
From a young age I was interested in drawing. I copied comic books, studying the human figure and portraiture. In my teenage years, I discovered the surrealism of Salvador Dalí, and ink drawings of Ralph Steadman.
Around this time, I took art and philosophy classes at Red Rocks Community College.
BEGINNING
My tattoo career began in 2000, when I entered an apprenticeship under Richie Romano, owner of Capitol Hill Tattoo, a legacy of Peter Tat2, one of Denver’s original tattoo pioneers. Over the next five years, I tattooed professionally in Denver, Massachusetts, and Florida, coming up in the tattoo era of bikers and outlaws who graciously took me in and taught me the profession.
Over time, however, I lost inspiration, and began taking night classes in painting in pursuit of an aesthetic better suited to me.
EDUCATION
A turning point came during my travels to Madrid, where I encountered the Baroque masters in El Museo del Prado—Velázquez, Ribera, Rubens.
Upon returning to the U.S., I enrolled at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado—a Buddhist-inspired college where my studies combined art, writing, and world religions. I earned my BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies, completing a thesis concentrated on public art.
In the beginning, I focused on merging visual art with Eastern philosophy. I was drawn to the work of Paul Cézanne and the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa, while also being conceptually inspired by the avant-garde as modeled by Wassily Kandinsky. The idea of living at the cusp of cultural evolution fascinated me, bringing with it a profound sense of social purpose and responsibility.
My mentor, Robert Spellman, encouraged me to explore this path. More importantly, however, he taught me to explore my own inner workings through a contemplative approach to art, teaching me to see with an eye that was uniquely my own.
Eventually, my path shifted again as I began to sense a certain pretense in the world of painting. I didn’t want my work to exist only on the white walls of galleries or in the private collections of art-collector elites. I wanted to create art that could speak directly to people.
My home art studio in Old Louisville, KY.
ART FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
This led me to study under painter and activist Leo Tanguma, renowned for his inspiring and provocative murals, including those at Denver International Airport.
His work taught me to see art as a living, revolutionary narrative—capable of awakening and motivating anyone who encountered it, much like the religious masterpieces of antiquity, but imbued with a spirit of social justice and harmony
During this time, I painted a 30-foot sculptural mural and received recognition for my campus activism, yet I sensed something still didn’t quite fit. Political art, though well-intentioned, often felt theatrical, pedantic, and overly simplified; though I earnestly sought social change, I no longer felt this was my path to it.
I wanted to explore a more universal, humanistic idea—one that didn’t rely on ideology, but leaned closer to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey—while also making it accessible to an even broader audience.
I explored storytelling by merging archetypal imagery with the visual language of mass media. I pursued an MFA in Animation and Visual Effects at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. My thesis—a satire on heroism—earned several awards and led to an internship at NetherRealm Studios in Chicago, the creators of Mortal Kombat. I later co-created the indie game Curse of Eternity, available on Steam and Xbox.
My 3D work can be viewed here
A RETURN TO TATTOO
Despite these successes, I found myself drawn back to tattooing. While the game industry was well-intentioned in other respects, it often felt bogged down by commercialism and economics, compromising aesthetics and vision for marketability.
After more than twenty years in the tattoo industry, I returned to square one, taking courses with world-renowned tattoo artist Thomas Carli Jarlier. His technique and dedication to tattooing as a fine art medium inspired me to approach the craft with a fresh palette and a renewed sense of purpose.
Currently, I study with my close friend and mentor, oil painter Seth Fite, student of Odd Nerdrum. I continue to refine my craft, maintaining a philosophical lens on my work, challenging myself with new technical skills, and regularly returning to traditional study, immersing myself in the work of the old masters.