The new kid... (That'd be me)

[Spike]

Ok, so I'm supposed to introduce myself, right? I'm terrible at this stuff.... And Spike is a nickname, but I'm a girl, in case yer wondering.

A Virgo born in Florida in 1982, I grew up in a tiny town in Western Colorado and have been creating art for as long as I can remember. I have tried every 2-D medium I could get my hands on, but I prefer colored pencils and have recently started trying my hand at digitally coloring my inks as well. In 1992 I was diagnosed as a type 1 "brittle" diabetic, and spent a lot of time during my high school years in the hospital. So unfortunately, I didn't get to go to art college, but I've realized there's nothing a person can't teach themselves with books, practice and the desire to learn. (Amazon.com loves me.)


After high school I spent a few years in South Florida where I met the love of my life in 2002. (His girlfriend picked me up.) I've always been interested in tattooing but was never able to get an apprenticeship, so in 2005 I bought my first tattoo machine (and autoclave, and red cross contamination classes) off the internet. I had no idea what I was doing, just propped my leg up on the table and went at it. I did a half dozen tattoos on friends in my living room before quitting a government job in 2006 to start tattooing in a ghetto little shop in North Miami that didn't get much business, (and I didn't get taught jack shit either, I've figured it out on my own).

We got sick of the city life in 2007 and moved to a peaceful, woodsy house in Virginia where I started staying up late and doing a whole lot more drawing. With all the practice, my skills improved by leaps and bounds. Later that year I got a job at Ancient Art, where I worked for almost four years. I just worked my last day there today, now I'm taking a couple months "off" and draining my savings while I open my own shop closer to home. Build out on the new place started yesterday.

Random facts about me... I adore books and art, and nature, I specialize in pin ups. I like sleeping in, I don't watch tv, I'm a pervert and I like ice cream.

I still stay up late drawing, writing and listening to music. I find it's the best way to find myself and lose myself at the same time.

In case you're wondering, a "spike" is a druggie term for a needle and "jones" is an addiction. An 8th grade teacher gave me this name because there were already 3 other people in my class named "Kris" and at the time I was doing four or five insulin injections a day. Now I'm down to two, but as addicted to ink as I am, it still applies!

[mystoo]

Hello

[TheDeathKnight]

Welcome aboard!

[Mr Karl]

hello

[SyntheticShock]

Hello and welcome! Where in Colorado were you living? I was born in Grand Junction and lived there, Clifton, Palisade and Denver.

[Spike]

Synthetic Shock> Awesome! I grew up in Rifle, but lived in Boulder for almost a year toward the end. Used to go to Junction a lot. I miss the mountains... hiking, camping, snowboarding... I just took my snowboard out of the attic and took the bindings off. Gonna paint it cause I'm probably never gonna get to use it again.

[VoltaireBlue]

welcome.

[Raza]

Sup.

I grew up in Rifle, but lived in Boulder for almost a year toward the end. Used to go to Junction a lot. I miss the mountains...

Sounds like you Coloradans(?) name your towns like Forest and Amelia name their photoshoots. =P

[Spike]

Sup.


Sounds like you Coloradans(?) name your towns like Forest and Amelia name their photoshoots. =P

Haha, indeed. There was a Silt and a Parachute near Rifle too.