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Last Updated on Monday, 02 April 2012 10:43

Published on Monday, 02 April 2012 10:21

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INTERVIEW WITH MORTZ  - KOOL TATTOO

Hi Mortz, thanks for doing this! How are you and where are you currently?

Thank you my wife and I are good, we are in the UK for winter 2011/2012 then I return to Cyprus for April to November.

Why Cyprus for you chosen residence?

Cyprus was purely accidental we originally intended to set up in Tenerife, but as we knew that once we went to Tenerife which is a 12 month season we would be stuck there and working constantly for 12 months rolling we would not really ever get a holiday of our own, even though Tenerife is a holiday place we would have been working so it wouldn’t feel like a break so before we started the onslaught of Tenerife we chose to have a quick one off break in Cyprus as we hadn’t been there for about 6 years and knew we wouldn’t get a break for a long time.

When we got to Cyprus it didn’t take us long to realise that it would be more lucrative and make better business sense to work in Cyprus than Tenerife, so before leaving Cyprus we rented a flat for a year, bought a cheap banger car went back to the UK and rented our home out to cover the UK bills side of things the headed straight off back to Cyprus to setup working there.

Do you have a UK studio?

That’s kind of Yes and kind of No, I did have one in York as a second studio to Cyprus but after having 12 years of never having to work between November and April and having 5 months a year off to do whatever I wished with I found it extremely frustrating to have to work my precious winter that I have grown to love and expect, so I sacked it completely and sold it to my good friend Wil Purnell who now runs it as Black Tides Tattoo Studio in Acomb, York. I know only do special private sittings to select clients in my Professional home studio occasionally when I feel like it as value my free time in winter as precious ‘me’ time for my wife Hilary and I.

Some weeks I will want to do lots of tattoos in winter to fix my withdrawal symptoms from it, tattooing is addictive for both the client and myself, I have to do some ink as I love my work and love doing art, its in my DNA.

How did you arrive at being a professional Tattoo artist?

That’s a big question and a very big answer so be warned!!, It’s a long journey that took over 44 years so I’ll try to shorten it.

I've been an artist all my life as far back as I can remember, drawing advanced pictures from as early as 5 years old, winning countless competitions through school life and having my art displayed in Art galleries from Yorkshire to The London Art gallery.

As a child pocket money was thin on the ground so I had to find extra means of making money and got the opportunity to draw and sell tattoo designs to a local Tattoo Artist who was blown away by my work after seeing it whilst my brother was being tattooed, this was my very first introduction to tattoo art and the process involved.

Instantly I was hooked like it was meant to be. I did this job as a schoolboy for about 2 years I used to draw tattoos on friends at school so it would scare their parents half to death for fun as they looked so real and eventually had a few goes at tattooing on the tattoo Artist to test my inking abilities of which my first was awful then I slowly progressed getting better and better until the tattooist moved away elsewhere then it all ended suddenly for me.  The tattoo industry is very secretive and in the 70’s was near impossible to source equipment so I had to diverse into other art forms.

Later at 16 years old I became a commercial Signwriter and vehicle Airbrush Artist, then I also diversified into computer engineering and manufacturing for a break and a change where I learned graphic art and pc desktop publishing. I got tired of the PC industry after four years and yearned for art related work again.

My house had a radiator leak that had leaked for 2 years without my knowledge and had subsequently destroyed the bottom floor of my house which I found when I went to change my carpets, so I claimed on the insurance and I had to be evacuated whilst repairs took place, I requested Tenerife for temporary accommodation as it was cheaper than York accommodation and this insurance were happy to oblige. One day walking round the Tenerife promenade I noticed a guy doing henna tattoos, curios I watched and it dawned on me I could do that too…live and work in the sun, and born was the idea of doing tattoo related work abroad…..ding! on went the light bulb lol.

On my return to the UK I bought some Henna and trialled it in Scarborough and pitched myself next to the Doctor Who policeman’s box on the harbour and to my amazement I made a killing, then I realised I needed to be in Tenerife where it was sunny 12 months a year. We trialled it in Tenerife and intended to do it there until we visited Cyprus where after a trial doubled the sales compared to Tenerife.

We headed out to Cyprus after letting our York house out and did our first summer there. I got asked hundred of times about real tattoos whilst I was there, I also got my own tattoos from the 70’s covered over by an great artist named Eduard Vorobieva from Russia (now in Bali) who was working at Alien Nation Tattoos. When in his studio getting my ink I instantly realised that tattooing real tattoos is what I should be doing even though the Henna was great fun, so I asked Ed if he would train me up on the Hygiene and modern procedures needed since the advent of HIV and Hep B blood borne diseases, he was leaving Cyprus permanently 1 week later so he didn’t mind showing me as would not be his competition to him. I practiced on melons, Bananas, Apples and Oranges lol, they are awkward in shape and taught me how to move over curved surfaces lol

My wife and I opened our own Studio called ‘Kool Tattoo’ which is and ironic name ‘Kool with a K’, reason being there are so many out there who think they are cool with the biker/rough image and think its cool to come across as scary rebel kind of places, well in my opinion it is not cool at all its actually old fashioned and so predictable, even though I love bikes and still have a chopper bike in Cyprus I think its an old fashioned image, and so here we are, 12 years later still loving every moment of our trade and the wonderful experiences it brings in our modern unisex no discrimination studio with its Mediterranean Aqua colours and décor still doing awesome ink. Now that’s what I call an answer!

Were you formally trained as a commercial artist?

No, everything I have ever done was self taught based on my instincts and artistic gift I was born with, I have a sharp mind and consider myself reasonably educated and intelligent and can work things out myself by kind of backward engineering everything, Eduard was the only one to ever help me, he gave me some of the most valuable tips and foundation training I could have had. I had 1 intense week of training from him on how to make needles yourself and why and what different kinds of work they are used for, though today nobody makes their own anymore as everything is robot made and pre sterilised now. He also showed me basic setup of coil based tattoo machines, in the 70’s it was rotary machines which are completely different to coils in manufacture and the way they insert ink into skin, and also how to lay in colour ink compared to grey shading tattoos and Finally he showed me sterilisation procedures/techniques and that was it.

Do you regard Tattooing as 'Art'

Of course, it’s the most advanced art form out there, Instead of a work of art on the wall of your house its on your arm instead, it’s the most difficult yet most satisfying art form I know of. Tattoing is no longer ‘billy stamper’ style pictures like the sailors of old and prison inmates used to have anymore it is full on works of art on skin for the duration of the clients life, its very serious, very rewarding and very fulfilling. The skin is an organ, it moves, it grows, it hurts and bleeds, executing a piece of art on this kind of canvas is extremely hard, people move and jump and twitch and bleed, they are all obstacles you have to work through and overcome to successfully execute you piece of art professionally unlike canvas or paper which doesn’t jump, twitch, move or complain lol.

What, do you think is the primary reason for the Tattoo art? Why do you think the attraction is still as strong as ever?

Its always been strong, its been around for thousands of years, it dates back to the Egyptians, Mayans, Aztecs, Maori, Aborigines, Bornean and Japanese I believe it’s very primal, Pigmy’s, Tribes and cavemen have been marking themselves for thousands of years , it’s a mark that claims us our unique identity. Everyone loves art in one form or another, the eye is attracted to attractive interesting things, art is interesting as it can tell a story, capture ones curiosity, further enhance the imagination we all have, as well as accent the human body as a magnificent piece of art in itself. In today’s world it can be a way of praising your idol or the things that motivate you or inspire you or even help give you strength and self belief and confidence in yourself, it takes many forms, all good in my eyes. It’s been around for centuries and will be around for centuries more.

What is the best aspect of the art?

The end product and watching the customers face when they see their old skin transformed into a new piece of art which will be on them to the grave and beyond, seeing their faces light up in delight sometimes tears of happiness if it’s a lost loved one or a heart felt memory or maybe I’ve covered an old tattoo over which maybe they previously hated so much they hadn’t shown that part of their body to the public for years or even decades and suddenly the can again, it changes peoples lives permanently, that makes me very happy indeed that my gift can help others.

And the worst?

Disrespectful customers who think I owe it to them to ink them and they can dictate the price to me then proceed to compare me to other bargain basement scratcher palaces quoting tattoos for a fiver. I am not at car boot sale, I’m not willing to haggle, this is my price, ask me to be cheaper and your just insulting me, not the right footing for someone who’s about to bang needles in ya lol. Tip: never piss your tattooist off just before hes about to tattoo you haha.

I have a talent I am willing to share to those who appreciate it, for those that don’t then they don’t need my help, there are plenty of other studios that are purely cash orientated. A well know phrase is, “good tattoo aint cheap, and a cheap tattoo aint good!!” But make your choice and make it wisely as it will be there a long time to remind you how money orientated your were when you made you choice!

It’s not a T’shirt that can be thrown away its your skin, you only get one lot of it. It amazes me that people will think nothing of spending £100 on beer or a night out but when it’s ink going on their body forever it’s like ‘’how cheap can you do it’’ ….eh?? is that how much you value your body, so your that cheap eh! The beer’s worth more?? Hmmm it always amazes me every time.

With the recent explosion of interest in the world of Tattooing, with programmes like 'Miami Ink' etc, how do you think the perception of the art has changed?

Its changed in lots of ways due to TV. Tv has brought it the masses, into living rooms which is good for trade but bad for the industry. I will try and explain the reason why I believe it’s bad. Now that everyone has seen TV tattoo programmes many people who ‘think’ they can draw suddenly decide they will buy a cheap kit from Ebay or somewhere and start sticking tattoo needles into anyone who’s willing, this is dangerous and can be deadly without proper knowledge on health and hygiene and blood borne pathogens (ie: HIV, Hep B/C and many others) passed on by blood contact and poor anti cross contamination procedures. This lack of knowledge causes death to other innocent people who are also unaware of the correct procedures that have to be in place, they are no wiser than the guy who is operating the tattoo machine, its very dangerous. Add to this that their lack of knowledge of this spreads the diseases we are all trying to stop and undoes all the good press and proper care that the pros give the industry, they bring it to its knees again, it’s a constant war now between the pros and the scratcher’s (scratcher is a term known in the industry for one who does not deposit ink correctly in their tattoos that comes out weeks later after the client has paid).

Add further to this the scars and poor tattoos they put out and damage to peoples bodies which are normally appalling in quality they do nothing but destroy the industry, the art form and what its stands for.

On the plus side the scratchers give us lots of cover up work to do lol, such as Footballers like Beckham etc have raised the profile too, many people idolise TV stars and like to mimic their idols which all brings us work.

Are you tattooed yourself?

Yeah, naturally, it would be a poor do if I wasn’t lol, Both arms are sleeved up, inner calves, collar bones and a big angel on my shoulder blade who has the face of my wife. I’m really classed as extremely un-inked for a tattoo artist, probably cos I spend all my time inking you buggers! Lol. My clients I’m sure would expect me to have them or they would be a bit nervous lol. Most of my work is done by other artists as is the case with all artists. Never judge an artist by what he wears as the work is not usually theirs it’s someone elses work, always check the portfolio of the artist who will eventually ink you and make sure he still works there and has not been replaced by someone else as businesses get sold on to others who take over or by artists that may have retired.

If so, do you self Tattoo?

Yes, I did my inner calves, I’m on with a cover up right now on my left forearm and inner forearm, I even had a bash with my left hand once which was funny cos I’m actually right handed, it was proper weird, it didn’t help that I also did it backwards in a mirror, I will try anything once lol. Well almost anything!

Who are your inspirational people that drive your creativity?

Hmm that’s a good one, I’m more influenced by events and experiences in life rather than actual people, places and cities I’ve visited and observed other forms of art like sculptures and architecture and visual experiences, im often influenced by my surroundings and things happen at that very moment in time, I like to capture the feeling I get at the time in the form of art or a sketch.

Do you have 'hero's' of the Tattoo art, or at least artists you admire?

If I were to name other artists there are many from Dali, Bob Tyrell, Paul Booth, Mike Devries, Leonardo De Vinci, Picasso, Canaletto, Im fascinated by religious works of art and fresco’s in churches, Aaron Cain, Guy Aitchison, Woody, there are so many, too many to list really. People I admire or view as hero’s are people with different kinds of gifts such as musicians, vocalists, guitarists, drummers, as I am also musical myself and respect the craft, I love live music and have various bands I look up to and admire the skills of. I travel the world following bands I admire or idolise, it’s how I like to spend my free time and my money, living life to the full.

What is your personal approach? Is it for the 'Art' or the commerce? Is there a fine line?

To be honest its both but they are a kind of marriage made in heaven, I love my Art but in order to fund my love of Art I have to earn money, so I tattoo people and I get my art fix that I regularly need its like a drug lol and at the same time I get paid for doing my which I love anyway, win win!! Its not a job never, or a chore its other people paying for my ‘love drug’ they get something they love and I get something I love, everybody is happy. If it’s a job then it’s the best one in the world, I feel so lucky to have my skill it’s like it is what I was put here for by the big man upstairs! Its like he said ‘ere lad have fun with this little gift I’m giving you (yes God IS from Yorkshire Toby haha)

What is your favourite request for design/style?

Custom freestyle always! I get the chance to leave a piece of the real me from this crazy head of mine. It’s not just a design it’s a fragment of my imagination that’s been given to someone as a gift. I feel like I’m truly sharing my mind and my vision/interpretation of events with someone, I literally feel the connection with the customer and that allows me to create exactly what they want, it sounds real weird but it true that’s actually how it feels to me, as they explain their ideas to me I literally draw it in my head like a projected image or a photo slide on the spot and sometimes whiz a quick sketch out and say ‘like this’ and they always says yes wow exactly like that and look at me in amazement like there is a kind of crazy telepathy going on or something, its very bizarre I must sound crazzzyyy!!! But it’s true.

Where and what won't you do/Tattoo? Do you feel a sense of responsibility to advise people?

I’m quite reserved for a tattooist, I won’t do hands unless you are covered already and an obvious tattoo enthusiast or collector, I wont do head as it makes me cringe, though I will tattoo behind the ears and neck. I don’t do male genitals, I know that sounds sexist and homophobic but there’s no way anyone is ever going to get a photo of me with another mans cock in my hand hahaha, so that’s a no go I just don’t go there or assholes either while we are on it!! Woman on the other hand are the opposite sex there for I don’t feel embarrassed or shy with women, I’m a Yorkshire lad and proud to be straight!! Lol . I have tattooed many gay males and females, that doesn’t bother me at all, I just don’t like physical contact in the genital area on my own sex its not my thing lol. Finally I wont tattoo areas that I know wont receive the ink well, it’s pointless, it’s gonna give you a bad reputation and come back to haunt you, it’s best being honest with people, if it disappoints them then that’s not my problem, I’m here to be honest and give professional advice they can take it or leave it that’s how I roll.

Do you have a preference for colour work or Black and shading?

Not really, colour is time consuming and challenging and looks amazing when completed and always impresses people on first sight but Black and Grey shade work has its own beauty, to me it’s like a sketch, something I would do whilst I’m just chilling and kind of reminds me of that while I do it, I really chill out when I do Black and Grey work it feels easy and needs no thought for me, its fun, but colour is hard graft. They both have there own reasons to be enjoyed. Black and Grey looks more ‘Arty’ when finished as they tend to look like artists sketches, I think that’s cool.

Do you have one great story that sums up your approach OR typifies the reasons why you love your work?

Haha, yeah, there are loads of great stories. Lots of funny ones, some awkward ones some scary ones and some downright bizarre ones its hard to pick one that would cover all the different emotions, experiences we have encountered in the world of tattooing. One funny one was a guy who passed out on me in my studio in Cyprus asked his wife to ‘lend him the flannel’ , puzzled by what he meant I asked ‘‘flannel?’’ whats that for, he said ‘’to put on my head’’ I asked ‘’why’’ he said ‘’it helps take my mind off the pain’’ ??? so he put it on his head like some old dude at the beach and sat the whole way through the tattoo with a flannel on his head, I just couldn’t help but burst into fits of laughing every minute or so all the way through the tattoo cos it looked so mad haha, weird thing is it worked, he sat still and never fainted again so fair play, good for him! His wife sat watching shaking her head haha, I still put his picture on facebook though lol. It still tickles me when I see it.

Many thanks for your time and good luck with everything in the future, as a final thought, do you have any words of wisdom for someone who maybe thinking about getting a tattoo but isnt certain?

Yeah, come to me at www.kooltattoo.co.uk for safe pro tattoos. A tattoo is for life so think carefully about it!

 

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