InkSpired Story: Tyson Swartout
TYSON SWARTOUT
Words: Joseph Findeiss
Photos provided by Tyson Swartout
Tyson Swartout has been a part of the trade industry for twenty years, garnering his meager
beginnings in framing, roofing, and tiling in construction work - honest work and honest pay for
an honest man. For Swartout, there has always been an intense draw and sense of excitement
surrounding the street shop tattoo culture, even self-tattooing at the age of twelve. Swartout
has had the honor of Bob Robert, of Spotlight Tattoo in Los Angeles, tattooing him frequently
and remains in his highest of esteem. Thomas Morgan, a.k.a. “The Kid”, (as Morgan was the
last under Bert Grimm’s tutelage) granted Swartout his first gig to build out Morgan’s t attoo
shop, Skull Tattoo and later his Electric Cobra Tattoo Club in Portland, Oregon. Swartout is
adamant about the importance of the lineage of original and old-school tattoo artists that
gave rise to the tattoo culture and all its modernity. And he’s absolutely spoton.
Working with Thomas Morgan gave Swartout a hands-on approach to understanding the
basics of tattoo shop set, ergonomics and accessibility, as well as the history of tattoos
and tattooing. Much of the build-outs include pieces that are modular and incorporate
clever storage elements. Throughout his tenure creating for the tattoo shop environment,
his pieces have evolved and morphed to cater to the tattoo artist and the space itself.
Swartout, like most woodworkers, works with his hands to connect himself to the materials which then connects him to the Earth and provides an accessory to spiritualism,
but also is stimulating mentality and ever challenging as creative problem solving. Since
working with Morgan, Swartout has traveled up and down the West Coast working on
a multitude of shops, from Old Gold Tattoo in Bellingham, Washington to Rick Walters
World Famous Tattoo Studio in Sunset Beach and High Seas Tattoo Parlor of Hollywood, California. Swartout currently calls Denver, Colorado home, where he has
helped build out Landmark Tattooing, Think Tank South, and Berkeley Beauty and
Barber.
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