Rob Gwozdz
Cloud 9 Tattoo Company / Best Geometric
What drove you to pursue tattooing?
I’ve had a pencil in my hand for as long as I can remember. I’ve always wanted a career in some form of art, and tattooing just seemed natural to me.
Who or what inspires your designs?
My designs are inspired by a lot of great artists, photographers and films, but my go-to and personal favorite would always be from the horror genre.
Victoria St. Louis
Hailey Jean’s / Best Floral / Overall Color / Cover Up
What drove you to pursue tattooing?
Tattooing or even being tattooed was not on my radar until sometime early on in my college career. Eventually it caught my attention during an extremely difficult time in my life and I found a lot of peace and empowerment in being tattooed. I think it had a lot to do with finding myself, and eventually I wanted to share this with other people.
What professional challenges have you faced?
I think the biggest challenge was learning to retain the confidence in a time where experienced and talented artists have set the bar so high, while being so young in the industry at this point in time. I also think that at times the tattoo industry can still feel like a strange place to be as a female, even in 2020.
Tara D’Agostino
Iron Lion Tattoo / Best Character
What do you love about your job?
What I love most about my job is making people’s days with artwork! The look on their faces, and the gratification they feel when they get to see the completed piece, is priceless. I love meeting new people, hearing their stories and getting to make their visions come true. Running into your clients and seeing your artwork walking around in stores, gyms and restaurants is a pretty great feeling.
Who or what inspires your designs?
I am inspired by way too many artists around the world to even name! I find a lot of my inspiration from west coast artists. If they specialize in black and grey, I probably follow them.
Michelle Carter
1001 Troubles Tattoo / Best Line Work
Who or what inspires your designs?
Goddesses, gods, deities, mythology and folklore. I love cultural history and mythology whether it’s Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic or Mayan – there are so many interesting representations of interesting themes, and just badass brutal empowered women. With each deity usually comes a floral pairing as well as animal or crystal, it makes for beautiful interpretation into large scale tattoo work.
As someone in a close contact industry, what changes do you expect to make in pursuit of your craft when the economy opens up again?
As one of the shop owners, I am starting to plan for these changes, not all good. We will experience a shortage of gloves and face masks for our own protection, so even with opening there’s an uncertainty of how available supplies will be to continue. We will begin staggering appointments and only the person tattooed (that has their own face covering) will be allowed in, to cut down on the amount of people in the building. Either Plexiglass or partial walls will also be added to our open concept side of tattoo artists, and frankly it’s going to be a bummer for a bit, and scary since we are in such close contact. While I understand and respect people wanting tattoos, we need to do this safely for everyone.
Joey Moreira
Cloud 9 Tattoo Company / Best Traditional & Best Portrait
What drove you to pursue tattooing?
I have always been in love with art as a whole. I started drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil. And haven’t stopped. I got my first tattoo at 18 and I was so intrigued and mesmerized! I knew that this is what I had to do!
What professional challenges have you faced?
The biggest challenge would have to be this whole COVID-19 virus. Although I have been in the industry for a bit. I just opened my own shop in December. This has been an emotional roller coaster! You go from finally accomplishing your dream to not knowing if you will be able to hold onto it. Thankfully, I have extremely supportive and loyal clients!
