Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jason Thomas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jason, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
It’s actually kind of funny I’ve been drawing as early as I can remember. But it was around 12 years old that I discovered body art through the wonderfully provocative world of MTV and TRL, way back when they still played music videos/even existed.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As most artists do I had extreme self-doubts about ever even doing tattoos. Just because I drew a lot as a kid doesn’t mean that I was very good lol. So my attention turned to body piercing as a way into the industry because I really loved Piercing and wasn’t good enough as an artist to learn to tattoo or so I thought at the time. And it was pretty much by dumb luck that I was able to get a piercing apprenticeship when I was just 17 years old. Definitely not legal know that I know more but at the time all. I wanted was to be in a tattoo shop. Once in the studio I had a lot of downtime to draw and watch other artists. So my attention turned immediately to honing my skills as a artist by basically going back and unlearning a ton of bad habits. After a few years of doing that I was offered an apprenticeship to tattoo from another artist. This was a dream come true! After completing my apprenticeship in 2009, I balanced being a tattoo artist and piercer for several years and was actually lucky enough to co-own a tattoo studio in north Hollywood at just 26, before moving to South Lake Tahoe 3 years later. During the transition I was teaching my amazing wife how to pierce and tattoo,which was an experience. Once we arrived in Tahoe we immediately started working at Needle Peak Tattoo as rental artist and just 5 short years later, we ending buying the shop from the previous owner. And have been in business together for just over 2 years. Now I specialize in ornamental and geometric tattoos as well as being proficient various other styles including realism, traditional, and color tattoos. Tattooing has taught me so much in life but I would have to say patience and gratitude are the highest on the list. Every day I get to come into a studio and create art for people and make them feel great about themselves in the world that makes them feel the opposite, is a blessing. If I had any advice for someone reading this it would be to follow your dreams no matter what people say, dedication and motivation will get you where you need to be. Just don’t give up and don’t let anyone steal your thunder. And it is 100% okay to try and fail at different things until you find what you like. There is no failure you either win or you learn.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I can’t really talk about myself without mentioning my wife because we are an absolute power couple. Our goal has always been to provide people with the best quality artwork we can in a safe, inclusive and caring environment. And we have absolutely nailed that with Needle Peak Tattoo. For our only goal in the future would be to hopefully expand and be able to spread this type of tattooing and environment so more people can have these experiences.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Just before I started my tattoo apprenticeship I lost my place and while I was still trying to get back on my feet I went to go live with my parents about about 8 hours away in Sacramento CA. While there I I was able to find a job pretty much immediately as a body piercer at a local Studio. Unfortunately this didn’t pay too well since there wasn’t much walk in traffic for body piercings so I ended up not even being able to pay for my transportation to go to the studio ending with me having to quit. Since it was literally the closest studio to me and I couldn’t make it I had to look for work elsewhere because I still had to get back on my feet and ended up taking a job as a telemarketer selling of all things Windows over the phone. Which didn’t last long, I was able to gather enough funds to move back to Los Angeles where I was able to take my tattoo apprenticeship but I was not able to afford housing so I lived at the tattoo studio in the lounge during my entire apprenticeship. It was a rough life and you can definitely say I earned my stripes. But I am super grateful for that couch that I was sleeping on because after all that, I stayed motivated and dedicated to what I knew was my passion and now I have a thriving Studio of my own and an awesome bed to share with my amazing wife.
Contact Info:
- Website: Needlepeaktattoo.com
- Instagram: @jasonwillpokeyou
Image Credits
Jason Thomas