A Day in the Life: Skin in the game
23.05.12
Patrick Sans' tattoo gun is no louder than an electric toothbrush, but what it leaves behind can be big and bold.
Sans is a tattoo artist. By extension, he's a student of body art forms and also a bit of an unofficial therapist for the people who sit long hours in his chair. He owns Burly Fish Tattoo & Body Piercing with his wife Jill.
Sans has been tattooing since he was 15 years old, going from putting small "stamp" tattoos on Fort Huachuca soldiers in his Sierra Vista hometown to learning from masters the world over and bringing their influence to his Beaver Street studio. In his 23 years with a tattoo needle, he's cultivated an especially abiding respect for the complex and eye-grabbing Hori style of Japanese tradition -- to study a subject matter is different than studying tattoo application technique, he said, and to take from a culture, you must honor it.
Some people get a tattoo for aesthetic reasons, to collect art pieces on their body, as memorials, or to show their spirituality. Tattooing can be part of some religions, and he's considerate of that.
Source: Arizona Daily Sun