Tattooing
Welcome to these Tattoo Pages of mine. Putting
these web pages together is not just the technical task of scanning and cataloging
photos of tattoos and advertising do-dads. It's a chance to verbalize a little
not only about the highbrow opinions I may have, but also about the things and,
especially, the people who have influenced me as an artist or even to be an
artist.
I also find a certain fascination with talking about art (in general) as an intellectual concept. Right brain vs. Left brain. The paradigm is misconstrued because art is not intelectual at all. It is base. Once you begin to "organize" and "catagorize" any sort of expression that someone has made, you "bind" the Kinetic energy that should be flopping around between expression and interpretation. Somehow, though, that is how art sensability is conveyed whether you're an apprentice in an art guild or working on your Master of Arts Degree. Artists who express life and emotion in the most dynamic and appreciated works are surely the least likely to look beyond and beleager the obvious. Still we Ponder.........
Here are some pictures of tattoos for you to ponder while you read Rustys Ramblings.
I started tattooing around the fall of 1976. I had just bought my first Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and the reason that has any bearing on tattooing is this. I found that my circle of friends was changing and that in this group of folks, there were a lot of tattoos. The more I saw them up close the more I began to want a tattoo myself. Then came the desire to learn to do a few, for maybe my wife or some friends.(I did my first tattoo on myself and the next on Gale, my ex-wife. I did redo and cover part of it for her some 15 years later.)
I traded some
motorcycle parts for my first equipment and inks. This was from a fellow known
as Tat2 Bill. Bill had worked around for a few years, having been taught by
Tom Slick in Portland OR. I also got my first bit of instruction from him. Bill
later worked for me for several years. I did kick all around, tattooing part
time and learning what I could for a few years. There were a number of people
whom I met and picked up lots of bits and pieces from - including my tattoos.
Randy Adams, Terry Tweed, East Coast Al and Lyon King were a few.
My biggest influences in the late 70's and early 80's, though were Randy Adams and Mr. Tramp. Not only did I emulate Randy Adams easy and relaxed style but his sense of the art of Tattooing. Randy would draw a design on you that could just as easily have been stenciled on, (Hey youngsters, this was in the days of acetates and charcoal stencils!) and I learned from him, the importance of being able to draw "on request". Randy also enlightened me on the very technical aspect of "packing color". Mr. Tramp was the "quick draw artist" in the flesh, for the same reason. Besides his life lessons and tips on being the gypsy tattooer, Tramp also instilled a discipline of the importance of lettering that I'll never forget.
During this whole time
I did not tattoo as my main carreer. I actually didn't know where I was going
but I was never sure at that time that I really wanted to "be" a tattooist.
I was a Carpenter for much of that first few years. Did some contracting,
took an automotive vocational course, worked in a couple of motorcycle shops
as a custom painter then a mechanic. I continued to tattoo, and all the time
I painted, drew pen and inks and sketched. I submitted art work to all kinds
of publications. Had some printed in a couple of the motorcycle rags. That interest
ultimately led to a partnership, first as the art director, with Red Roberts
and the Texas Scooter Times. I eventually went on my own as a publisher of 3
tabloids, 1 magazine and a promoter of motorcycle swapmeets and races and shows
and such. You can see some of the pen and ink artwork I did for these, in my
SAVAGE ART GALLERY. (see link at bottom of the page) Did that for most of the
early and mid 80s, tattooing occasionally. Then I tried a "straight" business
and applied my printing knowledge to opening and running a small print
shop. I was very bored. I'd just gotten divorced and wasn't tied down by anything
and I started tattooing more and more until thats all that I wanted to do anymore.
By the end of '86 I was working motorcycle swapmeets across the northwest, and
then had a chance to return to my old haunts here in Eugene OR. Worked for a
fellow by the name of Doug Pelzer for a while and then opened Studio Tattoo
in November of '87. I tattooed in my shop and still traveled, as well. I started
on theTattoo Convention circuit in 1989, and incorporated my convention travels
with guest spots with some of the most celebrated tattooists of our time. It's
been an actual honor to have been in the arena with these people. I count some
of the dearest friends of my lifetime in this group. I thank them and owe them
for their influences.
Oh yea I should mention
my shop STUDIO TATTOO, previously
at 1011 west 6th avenue in Eugene Oregon. I had advertised as the largest and
most modern tattoo shop in the Northwest. I spent 13 years there. Since 1987,
there have been a number of experienced Tattooists who have worked here, and
quite a few more Guest Artists. I traveled extensively, until the last 5 or
6 years, tattooing at conventions and as a guest artist, in addition to tattooing
at my other shop in Syracuse NY (Studio Tattoo East)
1991-1994 and at another shop in partnership with Lyon
King in Portland Oregon (Actual Fine Art Tattoo)
1989-1991. Many of images, stories and introductions that I'm archiving here
have been the highlights of my second ten years chasing the craft and
craftsmen (and craftswomen) of tattooing! Now I have opened my LAST Tattoo Studio
in Springfield Oregon. Studio Tattoo Springfield
is at 329 Main St in Springfield OR 97477. It is
even bigger with more flash than my Eugene Shop.
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