For me… it’s been over 16 years since I first started inking. It was hard back then getting into the industry, getting the grudging trust of grizzled tattooists that you wanted to learn from. Be like them…there was no internet back then. No backyard starter-kits you could buy online with your mum’s credit card. No How-To books or DVDs… no latex skin you could butcher on…it was practising on your own leg, your arm, whatever body part you could reach. Scar up your own flesh, make the mistakes you had to make on yourself…before taking the gun, the needle, the permanent ink onto a volunteering friend or relative.
I was fortunate enough to get an apprenticeship from Bob Hammond who ran a busy, production-line tattoo studio on William St. just down from the red light district of Kings Cross. As long as clients stumbled through the door, sober or drunk, we were open nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was very humbling but the passion to learn, to achieve my best meant turning up every single day of the week. Clean the shop, run errands, be the lackey…In return, I was allowed to watch, learn, go home & practice. No matter what any great tattooist will tell you, we all started as back-yarders.
A LIFE TIME HAS PASSED and today I proudly run and operate Mischief Moon. The style of tattoos I do vary and caters to what the individual client wants. I really enjoy doing black and grey pieces from oriental inspired to dark fantasy to bio-mechanical and tribal images. These days I am in a position to pick and choose what tattoos I want to do and enjoy doing the most. This may sound self-indulgent but simply I’m surrounded by a very talented crew of good artists and tattooists. If I know one of the guys here can do better justice with a certain tattoo than I can…I won’t hesitate to recommend them over me.
Tattooing is a life-time passion. It’s not a job, it’s a life-style. It’s being surrounded by friends and artists, not fellow workers. Each and everyone here at Mischief Moon is a proud professional in what they do, there’s no ego, no bragging, the quality of work that we do will always & forever speak for itself. See folio
Realism, Surrealism
I grew up in country N.S.W, studying visual arts at school, then TAFE, and finally ending up in Sydney at uni. Having been a practical based artist, uni wasn’t for me, and from there I started to follow my adolescent intrigue in tattooing. It was a timely process then, going through airbrushing courses, piercing and picture framing, continuing to further develop my drawing skills, before finally meeting happy, who I owe a lot to, for then taking me on as his apprentice.
I’m now going into my fifth year at Mischief Moon, and have learnt a lot about the ins and outs of tattooing. It was a pretty steep learning curve, absorbing as much information as possible from all the people I’ve worked with, to the point now where I find myself comfortable and enjoying most styles of tattoo application. Personally I prefer black and grey realism and surrealism, dark styled Japanese and contemporary tribal....but as working in a street style tattoo studio, I’m always up for a challenge.... See folio
My interest in tattoos started early on. My dad's friend had tattoos on his arms, he had a roughly done snake and dagger on one and a skull on the other. I was fascinated by them and then at the age of rebellion I started drawing them all over my arms but never went the extra step and got a tattoo until I hit 20... then I was well and truly bitten by the bug!
I have been drawing/scrawling on things since before I can actually remember. I drew all through school which led me to pursue visual arts at TAFE and silver smithing. From there I studied object design at university but after a year from graduating, my interest in design waned and I went back to drawing and painting for fulfilment. Then one day, a friend let me tattoo an orange to see how it felt. I was instantly hooked and thus started me on my path.
I enjoy all aspects of tattoos – the culture, the stories, the history and most importantly, the process. I like tattooing all things but I lean towards doing colour illustrative and realism tattoos with a keen interest in biomechanical and geometric black work. My favourite colours are hot pink and lime green. See folio