I was Born 1968 in East Los Angeles, California. After graduatingfrom South Gate high school I attended Los Angeles Trade Tech. College where I studied commercial art, sign painting and off set printing. I started to tattoo, in 1990, at Spotlight Tattoo in Hollywood where I apprenticed under Bob & Charlie Roberts for two years. It was there where I first met Henk Schiffmacher( a.k.a. Hanky Panky). Henk saw potential and asked me to work for him in Amsterdam. Of course onething led to another and it’s been over 20 years, a beautiful Dutch wife, and 3 children later.
I specialize in lettering due to my previous occupation as a professional sign painter and graphic illustrator. But the education I received from Bob & Charlie Roberts along with working for 7 years with Henk Schiffmacher I have developed the ability to tattoo a wide range of tattooing styles and customize a client’s specific idea very well.
I have been exposed to and worked side by side with some of the best in the business including Dave Shore, Paulo Suluape (R.I.P), Filip Lue, Jack Rudy, Goodtime Charlie, Freddy Corbin, Ron Ackers, Luke Akinson TinTin, Bernie Luther and many others.This combination of old school education and over 20 years experience gives me the ability to tattoo anything from a Japanese style sleeve to a Micky Mouse on the ass. I feel a good tattoo artist should be able to do whatever the job might ask. Although I prefer tattooing traditional subjects like,skulls,roses,tigers,pin- ups, etc,I welcome all styles and ideas.
Of course working in Hollywood I have tattooed my fair share of celebrities including: David Arquette (actor), Steven Dorff(actor),Kate Hudson (actress), Angela Schrijf (actress), B-Real and Mr.Scandales (Cypress Hill), Fred Durst and DJ Lethal ( Limp Bizkit ),Chris Robinson (Black Crows), Stuart Hamm ( bass player for Steve Vai /Joe Satriani ), Evan (Biohazard), Robbie Williams, Patrick Kluivert(Ajax & AC milan), Clarence Seedorf (Ajax) , and even Henk Schiffmacher himself.
Although I live and work in Amsterdam, my quest to learn everything about tattooing has kept me traveling to the four corners of the world. To add to my tattooing achievements, my graphic background has also kept me busy with other projects such as t-shirt designs, logo designs, posters,paintings, stickers, and working with artists like Olivia Beren (a great American painter) on a joint project for the poster expo in San Francisco 1992, Assisting Henk Schiffmacher in painting a mural for Golden Earring’s sound studio. In 1994 I was proudly granted a residence permit and permission to open my own company, Hollywood Hardwear. I was also asked to serve as a copywriterfor 2- Unlimited’s first cd-i (cd interactive) which won an award formost realistc cd-i..In the August 25-September 1,1999 issue 35 of the Nieuwe Revue I was nominated as one of the 10 best tattoo artists in Holland.My most recent commercial job was designing images for GUCCI in Milan ,summer collection 2002. I feel I have come a long way since my first award as most promising artist given to me in 1993 at the Amsterdam Tattoo Convention but I also feel I have much further to go.
Although I usually like to work for and with other people I felt it was time to make a name for myself. I showed this by making my debut (under my own name) at the 1st International Tattoo Convention in Tokyo October 1999 were only a select few were allowed to attend.
I work in the centre of Amsterdam on the Elandsgracht 65 in my own shop. I opened fall ’07 check the ”opening night” section on this site.The shop is located right in the center of Amsterdam.If you would like to make an appointment or have any questions just call or write and I will get right back to you.
Call +31 (0)20-4284860 or send us an email hollywoodmarktattoo@gmail.com
