Mags
Name: Mags
Age: 42


How long have you been tattooing? Five years.

Where you an artist before? I've been an artist all my life. My mother was an artist so I've been drawing seriously with charcoals from life since I was nine years old.

Have you had any art training? I've had 8 years of art history, 1 year of print making, 10 years of life drawing, 6 years of graphic design, 6 years of sculpture. I didn't finish college. I went to a high School for the talented and gifted so when I went to college I was bored because I was repeating all the same classes so I just took the classes I wanted. I Lived in N.Y.C. and showed in a lot of galleries and made a living as an artist for a number of years.

Why did you quit? I just didn't really feel like I fit in that world.

What made you decide to move into tattooing? I had always been interested in tattoos but I wasn't ready to commit to getting one when I discovered them. I was only 19 when I was offered a free tattoo by a famous artist for helping him with a drawing. Years later I met Richard Stell another famous Texas artist and I finally got one. Then when I moved to L.A. I stumbled across Bob Roberts and fell in love with the simplicity of traditional tattoo design.

How did you get into tattooing? The old school way. I answered the phones and mopped up at a shop. I was commonly referred to as "The Shop Bitch". One day I mentioned I was interested in learning and the shop owner tore apart a machine in front of me really fast, He gave it to me and said if you can get it running it's yours.
I got it running in about a half hour.

Who did you learn from? I mostly learned from two of the older guys in the shop. Tennessee Dave James and Rick Walters. I didn't really apprentice under any one person . I just learned everything I could from the guys in the shop.

Who are some of your favorite tattoo artists? I love Cory Flatmo for Black and Grey, I Love all the Sailor Jerry and old school traditional artists, Corry Lenherr from Arizona, Greg James from L.A.'s Sunset Strip for Japanese. Too many to list.

What brought you to Subculture Tattoo? I felt like I learned all I could from the guys at my old shop because they were too busy to focus on teaching me and wanted to learn more. I knew Eric Blair had a wealth of knowledge that I could grow on plus he's a really cool person and we get along very well. Already he's taught me so much. I can see myself here for many years to come.

View Mags' Gallery