Help with tattoo "artist" in St George Utah

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KingJames
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:44 am

Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:15 am

John, thank you for your post, and no you are not the one (at leat by name I can't see your face in any of your photos ), that was the drunk one. His first name was Br-----.

I'm sorry you have to work with him. I have a couple of tats that I got in New York and Buenos Aries and i know that being drunk while tattooing is not normal. I was just trying to figure out what to do. Like some of the others here have said the owner may not care (I don't know). I don't want to spit in the wind, so to say. On a side note about the place where you work and porn. The paper said the owner claimed she didn't know it was illegal and kept it in the backroom to protect children because it's also a piercing studio (minors can come in). She pleaded to a misdomenor and got to keep her liscences (all believable). I have no problem with that. She actually sounds semi responsible.

I will send you a private IM so we can arrange for me to talk to her.

As for the drinking and loosing your liscence I also looked into it and it is illegal in Utah but you have to catch the person doing it. My reporting it to the board of health will only mean they will open a file, do an inspection,a nd nothing will probably get done. Also honest artists, like yourself, will get caught up in it. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do. If I do decide to report it I'll give you the heads up.

A question. If you know he drinks than why is he still there? Why not do a background check on him. People are creatures of habit and if he is doing it there, he probably has been caught doing it elsewhere. I'm sure your boss doesn't want a bad seed there. but I understand you don't want to rat anyone out.

Despite how much it sucks, you are guilty by association. Everyone in the shop is.

Good luck
John Brandes
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2007 2:35 pm

Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:54 pm

I can understand your situation. You do what you think is right. I will be fine.
Last edited by John Brandes on Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
LBT
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:51 pm

Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:11 am

KingJames wrote:I guess i just assumed the laws were the same or similar as they are in New york. They have a tattoo department i the city health department and tattooing under the influence is grounds for revokation of the liscence (They have stickers posted in shop of who to call)

I think I'll call the owner but I'm starting to think that nothing will come of it. My brother told me that the place and owner were arrested last year because they were running a porn shop in their back room without a liscence. He didn't know this at the time we went. You have to remember, this is Utah, a big deal.

I guess I'll have to tell the owner. It is the only responsible thing to do.

We are in Utah so believe me I know how it goes around these parts! I regret to say that most of the time contacting the health department is a waste of time as they dont know what they are even doing. We have a shop really close to us that brings in atleast one person per week in desperate need to have there 2 week old tattoo fixed. We just did a cover up on one girl who received a bad infection from the shop and ended up in the emergency room. She went back to the same shop after the doctor visit to show him...the artist then proceeded to inspect and touch the open wound area without gloves or even washing his hands for that matter. She went back to the hospital and had all the ususal blood work done after he had his dirty little grubs all over the flesh wound. I think I want to move!!! The health department was called by her and they didnt do much but schedule a routine inspection....wtf? thats it????? I used to tattoo at a very well known shop here in Utah where the head artist was drunk everyday by 4:00 p.m. I quit after about two weeks of that bullshit but then i didnt know what was going on for about a week and a half as he was drinking the mixed drink out of a regular big gulp type soda cup and I was just constantly working and minding my own business.
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EvilJay
Hardcore
Posts: 8810
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:45 pm

Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:55 am

To the OP, I understand the approach or angle John is taking on this. I too would suggest that you "Do what you must". If it were me, I would find out who the owner is(shouldnt be toooo hard) and contact them and explain what happened at the shop. I would leave out hear-say that you heard on some message board and just stick to reporting your first hand experiance at the shop and include only the names of those you dealt with first hand at the shop. Frankly, I dont even know that you need to give your name if you are not comfortable with it. If this is an ongoing issue, the owner will have no reason to doubt you, and will probably appreciate the call..
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KingJames
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:44 am

Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:59 am

That's discouraging.

The story you tell of the girl going to the hospital is what worries me. I have an eight year old daughter and I would beyond pissed if some druken tattoo artist sent her to the hospital, gave her hep or even gave a shitty tattoo.

Obviously he's not going to work on me, my brother, or daughter.... but what about the next guys daughter?

Anyone who would drink then tattoo would probably not think twice about tattooing a minor, a drunk person, or doing half ass work.

I asked a guy who has lots of tats who comes into my shop what he thought and he told me to fuck him. He had no sympathy. It's bad tattoo artists who bring down all the good one.

He also said that merely telling the owner doesn't really solve anything. The owner might fire him.. but so what? He'll just move somewhere else and open up shop in some new town. All you've done is shifted the problem. I don't live in Utah and my brother goes to college there so I'm not protecting my own neighbors. At least if he gets canned it'll be a little harder to get a new job

Anyone have any thoughts?
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EvilJay
Hardcore
Posts: 8810
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:45 pm

Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:14 am

Well, on one hand, you're right, getting him fired doesnt stop him from tattooing, but in a word of mouth industry, it doesnt help him getting into another legit shop. Atleast if he has to move into a trailer in another town, he's only tattooing people that are willing to go get tattooed in a trailer anyway, instead of working in a shop.. Not much better, but better..
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KingJames
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:44 am

Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:22 am

Evil Jay,

That pretty much what I was thinking of doing.

I would never mention anything said on a message board. It's not really a reliable source. And I wouldn't want to potentally get John in trouble. I'm sure the owner would rather keep all problem's in house. I'm just trying to get some input on what to do. I actually found this site because I was searching for an email address or phone number of the shop. It never occured to me that someone from the shop would actually see it.

I understand his point of view. He has a delicate balance. He obviously doesn't like the guy and won't be too upset to see him go. but that's totally different from outing a guy. I don't know what the dynamics in the shop are.

Did you notice John said "his or her stations." Obviously, there is an unknown female third party. Or he's a tranny.

Either way I'm close to making a descision.
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