“I was counting down the
days before I was of age to
get my first tattoo.”
amie
Miles
J
F
or as long as he can remember, truck driver
Jamie Miles has had a fascination with tattoos. Maybe it was the art that he loved so
much, or the “thrill of feeling like a bad ass” as
Jamie describes it.
“I still remember when I was seventeen years
old. I was counting down the days before I was
of age to get my first tattoo.” When the time finally rolled around, Jamie ventured down to Universal Tattoo on Broad Street. With an idea in
mind and money in hand, Jamie got his very first
tattoo, a shamrock on his shoulder.
Months later, Jamie felt his other shoulder was
looking bare, so he decided to even things out
a little. Still impressed with the artwork from Universal, Jamie went back to have his second tattoo done - a fighting Irish leprechaun!
As it turned out, Jamie’s passion for tattoos
would motivate him to continue getting tattooed
for many years to come. Jamie now has several
tattoos ranging all over his body; he told us he
absolutely loves each and every one of them.
Let’s hope so!
“The funniest part of this whole thing,” says Jamie, “is that I never knew why I was so into tat-
10 | West Coast Ink | Issue 1
Photographer : Julia Loglisci
toos. Then one day I was chatting with my mom,
she told me that her father (my grandfather) was
a huge car fanatic. He would buy and sell cars
all the time. I have always been into cars and
have made a living over the years following in
the footsteps of my grandfather. My mother then
went on to explain how her father was covered in
tattoos. Call it ironic but I think the whole tattoo
thing might just be in my blood!”
I think the whole
tattoo thing might
just be in my blood!