About

Create • Share • Inspire

Alkaemē+ Art

I’ve been tattooing in and around the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area since 2001. Over those 20+ years I’ve delved in and out of many styles, always in an attempt to best serve my clients. As the years progressed and I continued trying to figure out “my style” it seemed to wave with each project I was presented.

I constantly tell people if my old mentor saw how I tattooed today he’d shit himself, because I follow very few of the rules I was taught. Well, few of the application rules. I don’t line everything out, I don’t work dark to light, and I constantly go back and forth adjusting how I apply pigment to the skin.

However I do still follow guidelines of placement, flow, shape, and creating a design that can grow into something more once the client gets that tattoo bug.

So when asked I tend to say my “style” is Neo-traditional, leaning heavily on Japanese design principles while understanding that my work rarely looks the same from piece to piece.

A long time client, and friend once told me my style was “Is clean, not arrogant and not a douche“, and I liked that.

Rouges / Rebels

re·​bel | \ ri-ˈbel: to act in or show opposition or disobedience

I was never a rebel without a cause, I just had a hard time following rules and normalcies that didn’t serve me.

This led to running really long distances and adopting CrossFit loooong before it became what we know today, all in an attempt to be a physically better human in an industry that (at the time) was anything but healthy.

Fast forward a decade plus and long distance running days are in the past, and “CrossFit” doesn’t much happen. But there’s a dedicated corner in the basement for my KB’s, chicken’s run around the yard, and planning the annual garden is always enjoyable.

Basically, I feel one of the most rebellious things we can do in today’s world is to be as healthy and free as possible.

“The laborer works with his hands.

The craftsman works with his hands and head.

The artist works with his hands, head, and heart.”

– unknown