When I was a child, I enjoyed stories about adventures, where people would set out in their travels, and not really knowing what to expect. I dreamed about traveling and seeing the world! At eighteen, I joined the service during the Vietnam War Era and was a member of the U.S. Navel Seabee’s. I got my first tattoo, just after getting out of Boot, but never thought at that moment II would end up making a career doing tattoos. Times were difficult for me after the service and returning to civilian life was hard. As they are for many of the men and women who serve during a time of war.
I enjoyed motorcycles and long bike runs and wild parties! That’s the second time I got tattooed by a tattooist called Coney Island Freddy! Back in the early seventies it wasn't popular to get a tattoo let alone find out how to put on a tattoo. He gave me the opportunity to learn and he shared his secrets of tattooing with me. I would listen to his stories of working the shops at Coney Island. That was when I realized I had found my adventure, a chance to travel. Having been raised in New York, I got to spend time with Huck Spaulding. Huck was very helpful in my first learning stage, as he was with so many other people.
After tattooing my friends for two years, I seen some tats from the West Coast, with lots of color! All I knew was black, green and red, so I packed up my small bag, fired up the motorcycle and headed west. I ran out of money in a small place in the desert, a place called Tucson. This place was right out of the story books just like old wild west movies. So, I stayed a few years, but I still didn’t find that color.
I remember reading an ad in National’s Tattoo Association newsletter looking for an artist to relocate to L.A., so I applied for the job and received an incredible experience working for Cliff Raven. Working on Sunset Strip in the late 70’s and early 80’s was the place to meet so many talented artists who stopped by to see Cliff. Working for Cliff was my first exposure to real professional tattooing: how to treat people fairly, the proper way to run a business, being accountable and most of all, the need for sterile tattooing methods. Raven’s Sunset Strip shop was a big move in my tattoo career. After a while, the desert still called to me. I remember Lyle Tuttle told me “find a place to hang your hat, and travel from there,” and so I returned to Tucson.
Most of my career in tattooing was done in a shop. I felt it was important to master different styles, and learn to enjoy people. Tattooing has also brought so much into my life with having a special moment with all the people I have tattooed and to share our stories. I’ve enjoyed working with a longtime friend, J.D. Crowe on putting together Tattoo Tour conventions, where people meet to share their ideas, a learning place to continue the good growth of tattooing. I believe in education!
; I’ve met a wonderful lady who walked right into my life, literally through the front door of my shop. She is truly a Godsend. I’ve since married Gina, and we now enjoy working together.
During my time sitting in shops, I began to build tattoo machines. I’ve been blessed to meet so many people in this industry, sharing ideas on how to make the best of it! Developing new ideas and refining the past has become a passion for me in building machines.
Since 1971, I’ve enjoyed tattooing and am grateful for the experiences that this profession has offered me, like the excitement in meeting all types of people, sharing their experience, and visiting places around the world. At times it has been very difficult to make a living, but with times of sacrifice and tough challenges I continue to do what I love. Through these adventures I began to ask the God that made me, to save me! Even as I asked, He gave meaning to my past, and opened a whole new world to me. He has shown me that “Love is the Way.”
I beleive you should give your best, no mater what the task is.
I believe you have to build friendships, not find them.
I beleive your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no", saying you'll try is already an escuse.
I beleive we should do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Dennis Dwyer dennisdwyer.com, precisiontattoo.com.
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