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1) Where do you live and work? 
1) WHERE DO YOU LIVE AND WORK? I just opened up a one-man tattoo studio at the beginning of 2002 in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia (USA) . I predictably named the studio BLNDSGHT, and will be represented by this name until my death bed. For those of you who know the area, I am specifically located inside of Junkman's Daughter on Moreland Ave. in Five-Pionts in East Atlanta. [back to top] I charge by the hour and not by the piece. My hourly rate is 100 dollars an hour in state(GA), and 120 dollars an hour while I am traveling. I chose to keep my rates reasonable since I do so much extensive work. I find that collectors are more likely to commit to a sleeve or back piece if they know they will be more able to afford it with a fair hourly rate. [back to top]
For the most part yes, I do have a three-hour minimum for a project. That simply means the tattoo has to be at least a three hour project for me to work on it. I have so much pressure to design and keep up with the extensive projects that I have found over the years that fitting in small work actually overextends and stress's my schedule out. I made the move a few years ago to focus on nothing but huge, extensive custom tattoos on a full-time basis. And now that I am officially out of the old street shop atmosphere, I am over run with big projects and have not done anything smaller than a quarter-sleeve in quite some time, except for the occasional friend of a friend "hook up" on some tribal-dolphin mania swooping over the ankle bone. [back to top]
Before we actually make a tattoo appointment we need to have a consultation and talk about your ideas. This can either happen on line via e-mail's, or it can happen in person if you live in the area. To begin with you contact me, introduce yourself, and tell me somewhat at length what your ideas are (theme; motif; etc.), where you want to get the piece (sleeve; back piece; leg; etc.), and what style you want (graphic black; black and gray; color bomb, etc.) After you give me a general direction of the piece I usually like to take over and run with your ideas. I have developed over the years a very distinct and highly personalized style that I like to explore and develop further with each new piece. It is constantly changing and growing and I like this uninhibited approach that enables me to give you a cutting edge, innovative design. So you just have to give me your ideas and I will take over from there. After we talk, and before I actually get the study complete (which is usually done a few days before the session) we are ready to set up the appointment. This will simply consist of a deposit covering the first hour of work, and an official date to start the piece. [back to top]
Yes, there is an international airport in Atlanta, just about 20 minutes from my studio. There are also a number of decent places to stay at that are just a few blocks from the shop. If you want to keep the trip economical there is really no reason to rent a car since everything you will need is close by. I will provide you with details on lodging and public transportation after we confirm the appointment. If we plan at least 4-6 weeks ahead of time the plane fares are a lot cheaper and affordable. Generally speaking with collectors flying in from other parts the country and abroad,we will try to have a two day session in order to get a lot of work completed, and hence make the trip well worth it. The first day is always the longer session (7-8 hrs.), with the second day being an easier shorter session (3-5 hrs). This of course is just a reference point to plan from. Some collectors can sit up to 15 hours over two days while others are content with just one day 5 hour session. How long we sit really depends on you and what your objective is. I can tattoo as long as you can sit there and it is rare that I will call it quits before you will. [back to top] It really depends on how heavy the tattoo was done to begin with, and what size it is. If it was done poorly and the piece as a whole is extremely light and faded, then I believe it can be successfully covered up. If the piece is very small it is probably not a problem to pack over it. I usually deal with serious collectors who will have a piece the size of a fist or even as big as a half sleeve. And when you back this up with a tattoo that is really packed in and very dark, it is close to impossible to cover it up with my style. I rely a lot on open skin in order to pack in a lot of pure undiluted color to maximize the brightness of the piece. With Cover-ups you need large areas of dark passages to blast over the unwanted image. Some tattooist have styles that are able to cover-up more effectively than others. My style simply does not cover-up well at all! So what I usually do is to completely overhaul and redo the existing piece and bring it up to date with the new work all around it. This is simply the lesser of the two evils. I think that a cover-up that looks like a cover-up because it is so dark and heavy, with the image still poking out in the light spots, is a lot more unattractive than an old piece all pumped up and redone with a new outline, shading, and color. So as rule of thumb that I follow in most circumstances, reworks are a lot more effective and successful than cover-ups. On another note, if you do laser removal and remove the majority of an old tattoo, then this will facilitate the possibility of adding a completely new project in its place. Most of us cannot afford the high rates that laser technology demands, so I rarely have to deal with this topic, although it has successfully been done on a small scale. [back to top]
Definitely not! Not only is it unlawful in most parts of the country, but I strongly feel that a minor is just to young to be getting any serious tattoo work done. I think that we really do not find ourselves emotionally, intellectually, and psychologically until our early to mid-twenties, and that this is a more productive time to get tattooed. Mainly because were older and our ideas and concepts about ourselves and the world are a bit more mature and realized. For instance, if I was tattooed when I was sixteen I am sure I would of had the Iron Maiden insignia found on all the early albums, right up next to a wall of bricks with "The Wall" written across it, and possibly "OZZY" on my knuckles! I can say now that would have gotten old really quick! [back to top]
When it comes right down to it, the total cost revolves around how many hours the project takes to complete. And to calculate this and give an estimate really depends on a number of variables on how long a sleeve and/or a back piece, etc., will take. You have to consider the overall surface area being tattooed; if your working around and/or reworking older pieces; and what style you want (e.g., color takes longer than black and gray). Most sleeves take anywhere from 25-40 hours, depending on these variables. And back piece take anywhere from 35-55 hours. Smaller work (half and/or quarter sleeves, etc.) obviously take less time, and the same variables are used to estimate the time involved. So you can figure out the math and give yourself a rough estimate. All projects are paid by the session so the cost is always spread over a period of time. And how long the project takes to complete really depends on how aggressive you are in finishing it. I have finished sleeves in 3-5 months and have some that I started three years ago that haven't even made it to the color stage yet. [back to top]
I have been tattooing for eight years as of spring, 2002. I started with my twin when we were twenty-two years old and still in art school. Now I'm in my thirties and I do not plan on stopping anytime soon. I am hell-bend on making the ten year mark and will not even consider slowing down until I reach this goal. [back to top] Yes, I have a small collection of different mediums I have done over the years that can be viewed in the "Art Gallery" section of my site. If you click on the "purchasing" link, a diagram lists each piece, if it has already sold, and if not, what the asking price is. [back to top]
As a general rule NO! The main reason is that I have had nothing but bad experience's dealing with getting paid, and not having any creative freedom at all! When I'm tattooing nine out of ten times my clients give me free reign on designing there tattoos and do not inhibit me at all with my interpretation of there ideas. With that precedent setting freedom over the years, I have developed a very distinct and personalized style that I thoroughly enjoy working in. When I have tried to provide my talent in other commercial mediums they have almost always had everything laid out for me with no room for my input at all, let alone my stylistic interpretation of there concept and theme. So I have put a halt to it over the years simply because I do not want to design other peoples stylistic ideas. If you are interested in me doing something for you, and the price is right, just give me your ideas, what medium you want it done in, what the dead line is, and just let me run with it and we will both be a lot happier in the end. [back to top] I stumbled upon this compound word in a book by Leonard Slain titled "Art and Physics." In the closing chapter there was a section on the phenomenon of blindsight, in response to testing the blind. The tests consisted of putting a totally blind person in front of a bright light in three separate positions. They would shine it in front of the person, to the left, and to the right in random order. The inexplicable part of the outcome of the test was that something like 80% of the time, the blind participants would "guess" the right direction of the light! It was a phenomenon beyond the laws of chance and understanding, and can only be described as syncronicity. How did they choose the right direction so many times when they could not see the light at all? The author was using this anecdote as a metaphor for the artist and scientist who simply "knows" intuitively, that what they are exploring and developing is in the right direction toward the light, that they just know is there, but no one else can see. So I thought it was a beautiful and exquisite concept that I wanted to represent my work. When I tried to register the domain name blindsight.com it was already taken by an institute for the blind. A more computer savvy friend suggested we try it without the "i's" and bingo, the domain was available! Within seconds we realized that this was a highly more appropriate variation on the concept. Blndsght without the "eyes" was so much more suggestive and poetic than with them. We really do not need our eyes to understand who we are and where we are going: simply close your eyes and you will see! I've always enjoyed when the unexpected hand of serendipity puts a pleasant twist on things. And an interesting phenomenon with this name is that most people never even notice that the "i's" are missing! [back to top]
The three most idiotic and moronic questions and the response you should give at all times? These are actually the most asked questions that I am haunted with weekly at gas stations, grocery stores and bowling lane allies. -Does it hurt? No, it didn't hurt at all, it actually felt like a warm cup of coffee on a cold mountain morning. Yes, I'm ambidextrous and double-jointed, and I used a mirror on the parts I could not see, especially my back piece -Did you get it all done at once? Yes, I got drunk one night and tattooed all night, by myself in a fun house of mirrors, and it didn't hurt at all.
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