How long HAVE you been tattooing?

I have been tattooing since January of 1995, so, 2010 if my 15th year as a professional…

How was your apprenticeship

I didn’t exactly have a full or official apprenticeship…I spent a couple few months at a studio in Gary, Indiana, and as I was about to pay them $5000.00 for the full deal, but they were being sued by an ex-apprenti, and suing him in return…they told me it wasn’t a good time, and asked me to kick rocks…I couldn’t find another apprenticeship, but I found the money to buy a kit from Spaulding…I practiced on plenty of fruits, myself, and my friends, before I got a job at another shop in the area, 6 months later.



What drew you into tattooing in the very first place?

I had been admiring tattoos and drawing my own designs from about 13 years old, and then got tattooed when I was 16…the second the needle hit me, I just knew I wanted to be a part of this industry…looking back even further, I have always drawn, painted, or decorated whatever I could get my hands on, for as long back as I could remember…

What styles are you primarily drawn to doing and pursuing?

I am primarily interested in doing larger scale, full color, custom tattooing, that means something to the wearer, and fits the body as if it’s supposed to be there…I am in pursuit of expanding my horizons, and dabbling a little bit into color or black and grey realism, as well as more organic or bio-organic work…I kinda figure that, at this point in my career, I am an interpretive, or subjective tattooer’ist, who does what his clients ask for, pretty much no matter what it is…



What’s the most memorable tattoo you’ve done, then, artistically?

I don’t really know that I have a most memorable tattoo, that I’ve done…I mean, I have my favorites, but, nothing really sticks out as the most important…there are a few people out there that have collected a lot of my work, over an extended period, so, I guess they are kinda like my time capsules, showing my progression over the years, and still coming back for more…


In the last years you’ve been tattooing, do you think things have evolved in any way? Styles, attitudes, artists, etc etc.

I would like to believe that I am constantly evolving in what it is that I do…I put every ounce of myself into the drawings that I do at night, and the tattoos I do the next day, so I am always trying to find ways to better how I work…I think I go through stages, like any other artist, beat the shit out of whatever I am into for a minute, then move onto the next thing I am interested in, but bring along a touch of what I just learned, as to tie it into my way and style of tattooing.




Do you think there are some things that have been beneficial for the industry, or do you just have to take the good with the bad, even the stuff that’s detrimental?

There are plenty of things that have happened in this industry, since I’ve been a part of it, that have been great, and some that not been so great…I don’t believe that anything has been detrimental to tattooing just yet, but, if the industry and its practicioners on a whole want to see it stay legal, we should be more than careful about what it is that we are doing, in a proper sanitation or universal precautions sort of way…with the current popularity of tattooing in general these days, thanks to television, the internet, and cross marketing, if one person fucks up, and give some kid a hepaghonnasyphilaid, then we’re all screwed…who cares about the oversaturation of our industry, or the politics that surround selling out or being on television…none of that shit will matter, if we have to go back underground…surely, it would be nice to see some of the seediness return to tattooing again, and I surely hope that I am still around, when the industry gets out of the limelight, but, all the ego aside, we must remember that we are just tattooers, and we have a job to do…


When you’re not at the shop, or drawing, or doing anything for WORK, what do you like to do? When you’re just you, not _______, TATTOO ARTIST?

When I am not tattooing, drawing for a tattoo, thinking about work, or preparing for work in some way, I spend all of my free moments with my wife and two kids…that’s about it…I’m a pretty simple guy…family, eat, shit, sleep, fuck, tattoo…not that my schedule allows for much spare time at all, so I take whatever it is that I can get, and spend it at home…



Well then, of the people you haven’t tattooed, anyone in the world at all, who would you like to tattoo the most?

I really want to tattoo my mother, but she’s not having it…and trust me, I’ve been trying for years…


Is there anyone out there that you’re particularly proud to have put your work onto?

I find that the people who are closest to me, have my best work, because they let me do whatever…so, with that in mind, I would say that I am most proud to have tattooed my wife, my father, friends over the years, and the assholes I have worked with, from all the shops I have ever been at, whom have allowed me to mess with a little piece of their skin…



Are there any artistic mediums you’d like to try that you haven’t yet?

I would really like to try some sculpting at some point, maybe glass blowing, carving maybe, air brush work, and the ever so cool, but never appreciated art of collage…

What do you think you’d be doing with your life if you’d never found and gotten involved with tattooing?

If I never did get into tattooing, I probably would have followed through with the dreadful idea of going to college…in the end, I can only imagine that I would have ended up working at a music store, pretty much like I did anyway, from 15 to 25…hopefully, by this time in my life, I might have owned my own music store and coffee shop, but alas, there is always the golden years…



So what does your mama think about what you do?

I think my mother is proud of me, I think she finally sees that what I am doing, is what makes it possible to support myself and my family…at first, she wasn’t too keen on it, but ya know, not too many parents are…

Do you have any kind of unusual advice for aspiring artists?

I don’t think there is any unusual advice I can give that hasn’t been given already…all I can say is, that if you think that you want to be a tattooer, be wary, as it’s gonna fuck your life up…if the apprenticeship doesn’t ruin you, or your relationship with whoever, then it will most likely break you, if it’s done right…then, as you progress in your career, you will find that this is an all-consuming job, and surely, there are benefits that come along with it, but, we don’t fake you, we just fucking take you…it’s not a job, it’s not a career, it’s fucking lifestyle, and if you can’t give all of yourself to it, don’t bother, it’ll eat you alive.



What about customers looking to get their first tattoo?

If you are getting your first tattoo, do your research, figure out what it is that you are trying to represent and why…find an artist that you connect with, look at the portfolios and the studios in which they reside…make a smart decision, and for fuck’s sake, don’t pick some piece of crap off the wall…

So of all the things you’ve learned since you started, what’s the most valuable thing you’ve gained?

Patience and determination are key…



And for the member questions... (i have to put a disclaimer... i have NOTHING to do with what they ask sometimes...)

From bleedtheink:
What did you think of your article in Skin Deep here in the UK? And how they portrayed your reproductions of Derek Hess' work as some kind of new breakthrough style in tattooing? I don't think this is how you intended, just curious. It was great to see you getting some big page coverage after seeing alot of your stuff on inkednation. So please dont take this question as any form of disrespect on my part, because its not.

I don’t think they portrayed my duplication, or interpretations, of Derek hess’s work as ground breaking…I think what was meant to be said, was that my own sketchy style of tattooing, was kind of new, or out of the box, so to speak…I have been doing this sketch-type tattooing for about five years now, and when I started it, I don’t recall anyone else out there doing much of it on skin…surely, there are a few folks out there now, who have gained some notoriety for doing similar work to Derek hess, or dare I say, myself, but I don’t think many have done as much of it as I have…it wasn’t until I started, and had been doing my own sketches on people for about a year, that clients started to ask me to do some hess pieces, and I reluctantly agreed…I dunno what my point is really, and I don’t mean to sound defensive if I am coming off that way, but, it’s just that the sketcy thing is just one thing that I do…I don’t really want to be remembered for it, nor do I think that it’s all that big of a deal, I’m just sketching with a tattoo machine, over a sketched stencil…

From Uncle B:
Mr. Cece,
Toilet paper roll, over or under?

Toilet paper roll over, thank you sir…


From Leverings:
Your least favorite work?

I’m not sure how to answer that…I mean, least favorite work of my own, least favorite style of tattooing, or artwork in general? I don’t much believe in pride, so, I can’t much say that I am entirely enamored with anything I have ever done…there is always room for improvement, and everyone has a bad day, every once and a while…