Hello Deviants

My name is Ronnie. I've been on quite the adventure. I came from Mississauga and moved to a town called Brooks. I was told by a family member that I had the opportunity to work in a Tattoo shop. Being intrigued by the whole industry of skin art for some time, I felt moving out and exploring this "offer."

I soon found myself in a desprate situation. Before I left I had gotten drunk at a kegger in Guelph and passed out. when I woke up I was in my friends house. one hour away from the party. He had called his parents who drove us home. they came all the way to get us. Unfortunately during the party I had met allot of artistic individuals and they wanted to see my sketch book, which I had in my trunk. Eager to show off my talent's I quickly brought it in and showed then my work. they were quite impressed.

A jam session and binge keg drinking later made me pass out in the bathroom. The entire night had been blank after that. I was not conscious enough to retrieve my 100 hours of valuable drawing's. When I woke up I was too far away and I didn't remember what house we were at for the only reason we were there was because we went to see my cousin's's band play at a bar called the Harp. after the show his band asked if we wanted to go to a kegger with a bunch of their friends.

After this unfortunate event. I showed up to the town of Brooks with nothing. trying to start a tattoo apprenticship. the condition was quite simple when I showed up. I was told that I owed ten thousand dollars to start and apprentice. My cousin had lied to me to make the move. The reality of the situation was that the owner of the Tattoo shop was gone for a few months to deal with family matters and my cousin had thought he could teach me all I needed to know to be an active "Tattooist." before he came back. I choose
to ignore my cousin's's teachings for I knew that he had been a scratcher [underground tattooist] for a long time and felt had bad habits.

I went on to other jobs for I felt moving back would be unproductive in my ventures. Later my cousin had struck a deal with the owner of the shop. 2500 to start the apprentice. The deal seemed fair. I would give him the money and in return he would teach me everything about tattooing the old school way. right down to build tattoo machines.

I started my life in a Tattoo shop. My production was high. In the time that I worked there I had implemented better sales systems and learned about building machines. The unfortunate part was that I soon found myself sliding into financial doom as I was not getting paid for my time at the tattoo shop and I was not experienced enough to perform a tattoo which is the only source of income besides the chump change you make piercing.

I had to make money to survive. I had set up a roofing project in Red Deer and planned to make a whack of cash. long story short, i got screwed by crack heads who stole my gear and didn't pay me.

I came back but I could not continue my training. The Owner of the shop produced an expensive "habit." which I will not mention and spent all of my apprenticeship money that I gave him. I had nothing. When I got back I was forced to get two jobs to battle the accumulated debt from my unlucky experiences.

Now. I'm sitting with my friend ie: Joel trying to spark inspiration. being beset by my irony has left me blocked in the creative department. I'm looking for community of people who can help me expand. I'm a gifted individual in the visual field. I look forward to producing for myself and my peers.

TrueShape

Ronnie