InkSpired Magazine BEST OF ISSUE | Page 58

Do you see tattooing as a job or a way to express your creative side? Definitely the second. But I think the best word for how I feel about it is “obsession” because it’s on my mind 24 hours a day. Describe how your role m odels and any other sources of inspiration have affected your tattoo style. My inspiration from others really makes me want to work harder and harder. It’s always like, “Wow! I want to know how to do that!” And that’s why even if I have really good clients in Ireland, I keep doing guest spots - to share time with artists I admire and learn from every day. Do you have a funny tattoo story? I have many, but I don’t know which one I should tell… Once, I was guesting in a tattoo studio that mainly tattooed American Marines, as the studio was set up at the entrance of the biggest OTAN base of Europe - in Rota, Spain. A lot of the Marines came drunk to get their tattoos, that was very usual. I only denied to do it if they were too drunk. One day, 6 big Marines who probably had steroids every day for breakfast came in. One was screaming while pointing at a lower arm tattoo I had done the previous day. “Who did this?! Who did this?!” It wasn’t small, I spent 2-3 hours doing it. So, it didn’t even cross my mind the guy was so drunk he wouldn’t even remember it… He was screaming so much it took me a while to confess. “I did…” I said while I was waiting for them to jump on me. He came at me and to my surprise gave me a hug and said, “I woke up without remembering anything, looked at my arm and said, ‘fuck yea!’ That’s fucking awesome!” 56 InkSpiredMagazine.com