We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Greg Dyer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Greg thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Thats a loaded question I suppose. Am I happy as a creative? Yes and no really. When I am able to create for me, outside of the constraints of social media and the pressure it places on creative people to feel like they are always being productive, yes I am happy. When I allow an algorithm to shame me into only viewing my value as a creative through the lens of productivity, no I am not happy. I often think about what it means to be an artist or a creative and how that definition has evolved with the proliferation of social media. If you’re not constantly producing content of some sort to feed the machine you lose your audience and visibility. But we are all human and not meant to produce art like machines to satiate the masses. The things I have made that I value the most are the things I felt moved to create. Sometimes that’s because of a song, or an emotion, or something I was experiencing and trying to express through my painting. The things I value and enjoy least that I have made are the things I felt like I had to make because I needed to remain relevant or follow a fad. I don’t know maybe I am a dinosaur…. Maybe I am just rambling… Hell, Im feeding the machine by doing this interview. Long story short, many things in my life make me happy. Sometimes but not always does that include my creativity.

Greg , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a tattooer and painter who likes to create art that focuses on abstract and surreal subject matter.

I am sure someone will call me an asshole for this but I honestly don’t know how long I have been tattooing. I think 13 years at least but the beginning of my career was a dark time. I got fired from an apprenticeship at Seventh Son Tattoo in San Francisco that most people would have sawed their left arm off for a chance at after about a year and some change into it. I’m a stubborn person by nature and I think the sheer fact I was told I would never make it as a tattooer at the time was just enough ammunition to keep me going even though the first 3-4 years of my career I was admittedly awful. Before anyone starts feeling bad for me, I deserved to get fired. I got lazy and complacent and was more worried about partying than trying to grow as a tattooer. Eventually I was able to get back in good graces with my mentor George Campise and he allowed me to come work with him some years later which is where I still work today at War Horse Tattoo.

What sets me apart from others? Gosh who knows anymore. There are loads of people who are just so incredibly talented and do amazing tattoos. If anything I would hope that people say that my work doesn’t look like anyone else’s. Even if you don’t like what I do, my goal is to make something that isn’t what the guy down the road makes or something that looks like any number of people could have made it.

I am most proud of my family honestly. I tell people all the time that my kids are the coolest thing I’ve ever made. Well, helped make at least.

Potential clients should probably know that I work best with less constraints. When someone shows me some stuff I have done that they like and says they want a thing in a similar style I feel free to make whatever comes out. If I have a very tight set of requests and specifics ill probably just stress out and make something that I will second guess and not feel like I hit the mark. Also I really love being able to take a story or poem or song and translate that into an image.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Buy art. Buy it from your friends and acquaintances. Pay your creative friends for the things that they do. Be their biggest cheerleader. Don’t try to devalue what a person creates based on the time it took them to make it. Social media followers are not a currency. Buy things that you like from good people and don’t let followers dictate what you view as good or bad art.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was fired from one of the best tattoo shops in San Francisco as an apprentice. I could have packed it up and had a sob story about how life wasn’t fair and never continued on. I chose to continue my journey and tried to remain true to myself and my values. My real vision of myself and my “style” didn’t come until many years later but I believe that my determination to remain on the path despite my failures and setbacks helped me arrive at that point.

Contact Info:

• Website: Warhorsetattoo.com
• Instagram: @Tacomonster
• Other: Tacomonster.bigcartel.com