We recently connected with Ian White and have shared our conversation below.

Ian , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I wanted to be a tattoo artist since i was probably 5 years old. That said, i started my apprenticeship at 25, which would be considered a touch late to some. After sidestepping my fears of rejection, i got my foot in the door at a great shop that i had been getting tattooed at. First steps of most apprenticeships is to learn how to clean the shop. Then i moved on to learning to make tattoo needles by soldering them, tuning tattoo machines, and setting up stations. Tracing old flash designs, making my own, and a lot of observing was spread throughout it all. About 6 months in i was able to bring in my first person to do a real tattoo on. I was fortunate to have a nighttime bar tending job, so when i would tell folks there that i was doing free practice tattoos, they didn’t seem to care that i really didn’t know what i was doing yet. Around a year in, i was released to be a profession tattooer. That was May 2003. My first pay tattoo was a tribal armband, and i could probably still draw it for you today from memory.

The biggest obstacles I would say that i had in getting better faster was not knowing what i didn’t know, and arrogance. I thought that since i was already pretty heavily tattooed when i started, and could draw, that i had it figured out. I would say it wasn’t until i hit my 10 year mark that I felt like i even started understanding what i don’t know and would like to. I am still learning and growing 22 years in.

Ian , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Art was there my whole life. Tattooing was my outlet of it. Tattooing since 2003, I started in Ohio, and moved to Nashville in 2009. I opened what is now Safe House Tattoo studio in 2012 with my wife. Life has had its way of imposing necessary discipline for me at certain times. I got into 12 step recovery in 2013, and committed all my extra energy to that. As time went, that became like breathing. Then i could keep those disciplines learned and apply them elsewhere. In 2013 a traffic accident left me with a broken wrist, so I couldn’t tattoo for a time. I dove into oil painting head on. I didn’t want to lose time spent with my wife, so I would wake up early to start watching instructional video and practice. I’ve been an early riser ever since.

As time has gone on, and Safe House Tattoo has grown, I have realized that these small changes are what have brought me to any abilities i have today. I stay ahead on client drawings. I do my best to keep up with my staff and their needs. I try to be a good husband and father. I am proud of all of these attributes. While i can’t claim to do them perfectly by any means, i do them. The studio that my wife and I started 13 years ago still stands for what its namesake is. While the name “Safe House” outwardly is like the dictionary definition as a “hideout” of sorts. A unique place for people to come. Inwardly to me, my family, and my staff, we strive for it to be a safe place to have freedom, be encouraged, and supported.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There is a book called “Essentialism” that talks about a like with “less, but better”. That book has changed so much for me. I still struggle with taking on too much, or striving for more than is necessary. That said, this book helps me come back and put things in prospective of what is next, what is more, and the difference between the two. It’s the only book I’ve read multiple times.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As i get on into my elder tattooer years, i have had to unlearn a lot of the old tattoo artist mind sets. The internet is full of older (and some younger) tattooers complaining about a saturated industry. Too many young people getting into tattooing, and not enough clients to go around. My older self will find myself agreeing. When i take a moment and think for myself though, newer talent that is accelerating at a pace that would have made our heads spin 20 years ago. Those people are the future of this industry. We all must evolve together. We cannot expect the gears of this industry to slow just to hold on to folks who might not have it in them to keep growing in their later years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Safehousetattoo.com
• Instagram: @artbyianwhite, @safehousetattoo, @middletntattooexpo

Image Credits

Ian White