We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caleb Gesicki. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caleb below.

Caleb , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to do something involving art. My grandfather being an artist and main inspiration for me, taught me at a young age that I can always pursue my skills through art above all. I never really knew what that might be or look like for my future until I reached high school. To say I struggled in school, is an understatement. So my saving grace was all the art classes I was able to take.

In my academic classes I was made to feel like I would not have a successful life ahead of me. While in my art classes, my teachers made me feel like I could pursue whatever I had in my mind. In my mind at the time, was “tattoos”, it’s all I could think about, my latest fixation. I wanted to get them, I wanted to know exactly how they are done, and to be a part of its culture. When being pressured to look at colleges and feeling overwhelmed with the thought of more schooling, really brought me down. That’s when my art teach at the time told me “You don’t need to go to college if you don’t want to, that’s not what will make you an artist, you already are one. We all follow different paths and that’s ok”. A true moment of clarity

It was like a switch had flipped in my brain “I’m going to become a tattoo artist” and nothing else mattered. I was going to get tattooed and figure out how to get into this industry, no matter how long it may take.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Caleb Gesicki, some might know me as my online handle “Fragile Dagger”. There also might be a few people still out there that recognize from the local music scene.

I am a tattoo artist at Hellertown Tattoo Company, and have been tattooing in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania for over 10 years. I got into this industry through a traditional apprenticeship. Gaining that apprenticeship was very difficult at the time, as the industry was growing larger and larger at a fast rate, which by the time you’re reading this it has grown even more exponentially. A lot of tattoos were not interested in teaching more artists out of fear of over saturating the industry . I was very determined and was willing to do whatever it took to land one, and fortunately after getting tattooed at the local reputable shop , I was able to keep my foot in the door. I did this by showing up and asking if they needed help with anything and in return was able to ask more and more questions of what to do to gain access to an apprenticeship. When the timing was right and after a rigorous 30 day drawing challenge, I was able to land myself the apprenticeship

My apprenticeship consistent of learning everything from the ground up, the history, artistry, safety procedures, client/artist relationships, tattoo process, and everything in between. I had to be at that tattoo shop every single day from open to close and whenever needed, to learn all of this. Apprenticeship’s are unpaid so I was also working full time at an art supply store in the mornings. So for a full year, I would open the art store at 7:30am until 3:30pm, I would leave straight from there to the tattoo shop which opened at 4pm and closed at 9pm (most of the time later than that). An absolutely difficult time, where there was no work/life balance. My life had become all consumed by tattooing. I often look back and can’t imagine how I was able to get anything else done outside of my apprenticeship.

At that time I was also in a band and was heavily involved with the local music scene. Music and tattooing go hand in hand, with most musicians having tattoos (and them not having a lot of money for said tattoos). This led to an ample amount of friends that were willing to let me practice my tattoo skills and really get a foothold into the craft. I truly believe I would not have been able to get through my apprenticeship so efficiently if it were not for being in the music scene as well. There is so much importance to make these connections across different scenes and industries for the longevity of your career and I can talk about that a little more later on

After one full year of tattooing family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, anyone I could get my hands on. I was deemed worthy of “tattoo artist” and was employed right there at the shop I learned from. This was never a guarantee, and I have seen how rough it can be for how some of my peers had started out after learning.

I then tattooed for 8 years at that very shop. Building a strong network of clientele while doing everything in my power to continue bettering my craft. Things at that first shop took a direction I was never expecting and resulted in me looking for somewhere that I could continue to spread my wings and really take off

That brings us to current day, where I have been tattooing at Hellertown Tattoo Company for 2 years now. A place were I truly have been able to offer nothing but the best for my clients!

A lot of incredibly hard work and learning experiences have lead me to where I am today and still continue to do so.
I am always striving to better my craft, improve my artistic skill within tattooing. I will never claim to be perfect or “the best” because I believe doing so, is like putting one foot into your grave.

I approach each and every tattoo like it could be my last, striving to do better than I was the day before.

I have become very well rounded in most styles of tattooing, but many of my clients come to me for my tried and true style of
“Illustrative” black and grey.

I have a long history of doing pen and ink illustrations before my career and its has gradually made its way into the for tattoos for my clients. Clean line work and attention to detail is something I really pride myself in and I know it’s something that I show throughout the tattoos that I do

It’s a really awesome feeling to have clients wanting tattoos that are in my specific style and trust me to bring their ideas to life. I never take it for granted. The trust that is built between my clients and I, is incredible. I’m doing something so personal and so permanent on them. They leave with a piece of me in each tattoo, they leave with years of hard work and passion.

I’m most proud of being able to offer my most genuine self to my clients. I feel like I really relate to a lot of my clientele beyond the tattoos that I create for them. I Like to think that I create a comfortable experience and give each client a reason to stay connected over the years. When you come to get a tattoo from me, you are warmly welcomed and treated as if how I would like to be treated. I am not above anyone, I am not “cooler” than anyone, just because I do tattoos. I am very open and honest with what I am capable of tattooing. I welcome and encourage questions and offer any information I can because I know that getting tattooed can be “intimidating”. It’s funny when people expect me to be some hulking scary “tatt guy” and that’s not me at all!

I think that’s what sets me apart from some other tattooers out there. Having the separation of ego from the craft of tattooing. There’s plenty of artists out there with the “rockstar” mentality. That can be great and all, but I find that it really starts to lose you connection to what matters most THE CLIENT

Im just honored to have so many lovely clients coming from all over, just to get a little piece of Caleb in every tattoo

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The connections and impact I able to create

I’m not talking about earth shattering impact, but the impact that starts small and ripples outward.

The smallest of tattoos can sometime be the most important to the one receiving it. Wether it is something to remind themselves of a loved one, cover scars from the past, or to make them feel more comfortable in their own skin. A moment they can carry with them forever

I don’t take it for granted in the slightest bit

The largest of tattoos can sometimes have no meaning and purely for style and aesthetics, but the time spent creating the tattoo and forming a connection with the client is what becomes the best part!

I’ve have made so many friends through this industry, that has lead me to traveling the world, getting involved with my community, and gaining more love for the craft I do daily. Purely through connections made

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

This is where I’m going to jump back to me being involved in my local music scene along with entering the tattoo industry.
I was able to build clientele early on from having a strong “crossover” network. This being that there are a lot that overlaps with the music and tattoo industry especially on a local level. I also can’t stress enough the importance of “local level”. This was something I built up without the aid of social media.

I didn’t join social media until 2011 via Facebook and then 2012 via Instagram. I didn’t start posting tattoo related stuff on my Instagram until I was nearing the end of my apprenticeship. So I had been tattooing for almost a full year without having it related to my social medias.

Once I did start to create my social media space to be centered on my tattooing. It was just a very natural progression of the clientele I already had established and word of mouth. I posted with “quality” in mind, not quantity and just consistently would post my most recent tattoos, artworks, ventures. The number of followers grew over the years and got to a point where I felt like I had a good outreach to the people I currently tattoo and to those that potentially could get tattooed by me.

Because the importance of gaining local following in an industry like this, far exceeds the need for “global” followers on social media

If you have 20k followers on Instagram and out of those, only about 200 hundred live within driving distance of you. There’s no point to that. Now if you have 5k followers and say 2 thousand are drivable distance to get tattooed but you. That’s what I’m talking about

I like knowing that if all social media were to shutdown tomorrow, I would still have the same amount of clientele and maintain the same amount of business. Relying too much on social media to gain business, can be dangerous. It can be a very useful tool to have, it it should not be your only one. Having local outreach is so important to an industry like this

If you’re just starting out, just be genuine. Do not get so worked up over algorithms and what’s trending. There are plenty of people copying and emulating each other over and over to the point where it’s just an empty echo chamber. Post what you want, when you want, as long as you’re being yourself. Your true clientele is going to make their way to you regardless of that follower count.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://FragileDagger.com
• Instagram: Fragiledagger
• Facebook: Caleb Gesicki

Image Credits

Caleb Gesicki