Tattoo and coach/mentor to Nick.
Jim, what can you tell us about Nick? How has it been coaching and working with him?
He’s a pain in my ass! Hahaha... no, Nick’s great. He is just like me
which helps us get along so well! Nick is like family to me and to the
rest of the shop now.
I had a blast coaching Nick through his apprenticeship! I never had
to show him the same thing twice; when I show or teach him something, he just nods his head and runs with it.
I told Nick in the beginning of his training that I would show him everything I knew, and that my goal was to make him better than me.
But I said to him, “If I teach you everything I know and you decide
to just up and move away... I will find you and cut your FUCKIN’
thumbs off!”
did I know that while I was grinding away in Edmonton, Preston and
Jim Carter, a tattoo artist and shop owner in Victoria, were stewing
up an opportunity that was about to change my life!
When Preston arrived back home from the tattoo convention he told
me to pack my bags and that I was moving back home to start a full
apprenticeship with Jim Carter at Incendiary Tattoos.
Within a few days I was home again in Victoria and meeting with Jim
at his shop. Jim gave me the run down and basically had me start
right away. I picked up my old job again with the City of Victoria to
help pay bills and survive while I began my journey to becoming a
full-time tattoo artist.
As an apprentice with Jim, my job was quite similar to the one I had
back in Edmonton - scrubbing tubes, cleaning the shop, answering
the phone; however it wasn’t too long before Jim had me tattooing
on pig skins for practice. Soon after that I was starting to tattoo on
my own body, and before I knew it I was tattooing my friends! I will
never forget the day; Jim came in to the shop, walked into the back
room where I was drawing and said, “Nick, it’s time to start tattooing,
buddy!“
I was only allowed to tattoo my friends at first, and could only charge
$15/hour. That was a year ago. I graduated the apprenticeship program with Jim and today I’m a certified tattoo artist charging nearly
full rate!
What does an average day look like for you now, Nick?
I wake up at 6 am every morning and head to my day job with the City
of Victoria. At 4 pm I leave work and head straight to the shop and
work for another 3 or 4 hours!
What’s your long term goal? Will you continue as a tattoo artist?
Absolutely! My motivation is the vision I have of one day becoming a
full-time tattoo artist. If I play my cards right, I’ll be tattooing for the
rest of my life!
How do you like working at Incendiary Tattoo, and more so, how
do you like working with Jim?
I absolutely love it here! Jim is an incredible coach and I owe everything to him. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today
if it weren’t for him; he gave me a chance and I will forever be grateful
for that.
We had a chance to briefly chat with Jim Carter, owner of Incendiary
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