We were lucky to catch up with Shaun Skerchock recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shaun, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I knew I should pursue my love of art when I was three years into nursing school and not succeeding. Art was always a passion for me as I’ve been drawing since a childhood. I took the more traditional path of finding a “secure” career however, that wasn’t for me. This is when I decided to lean into art as my profession. No matter what!
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 Shaun Skerchock. Im a tattoo artist and health coach located in Columbus, OH. I’ve been tattooing for 18 years. It’s a passion of mine that started after dropping out of nursing school. Art was always my passion. I soon realized that I wouldn’t have a happy life working in a hospital setting. My soul didn’t fit there. I had been getting tattoos at the time and was enthralled by the profession. This is when I took the leap. I began searching for a tattoo shop/artist to apprentice me. As this is how you enter the craft. It was a hard road at first, but with persistence and determination I got in. This went on for over 15 years. Tattooing has let me see many places and people and I’m forever grateful for that. Also proved to myself and family that one could make a living on art. Met my girlfriend Kat who learned to tattoo shortly after we got together. We were now a power duo. We broke away from working at other people’s shops and we created our own. We now own our own private studio, and love the freedom of that.
Tattooing provides people with many things. Some get a tattoo as a memorial piece. So there you are really helping them through a moment. Or helping them capture that moment permanently on skin. Others come to us for therapy in a way. People often get tattoos when they are going through tough times. Others just like the satisfaction of decorating their temple haha. It’s rewarding for me because people leave happy and they have a piece of my art on them that they can enjoy and share with others.
The new journey we’re embarking on is the health coaching. Tattooing gives us a window into the world. We see people from all walks of life. So we see people getting sicker as well. We want to promote the longevity of the tattoo. As well as the tattoo artist. We changed the trajectory of our life in a huge way by switching to a raw vegan diet. So much that in less than a year we were coaching on this topic ourselves! We see how this can change the world, so now we devote half our work lives to helping people reverse and heal diseases with the raw food that earth produces.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The first big pivot of life was getting out of high school and having no idea what to do. I know this is common. My parents being more old fashioned told me to get a degree in the medical field. This way I’ll be secure with a “normal” job. Tried nursing for 3 years. I was about to pass just had my finals to take. My teacher at the time called me aside and seriously asked if this is what I wanted to do. I’m sure she saw my heart wasn’t in it. I was always doodling at work. I made the decision to not take my finals and pursue a career in art. No matter what.
I eventually got into a tattoo shop where I apprenticed. Did the dirty work for no pay. Just watched and learned for a good 6 months until I could actually tattoo on someone myself. I even practiced on myself. There have been many pivots during my 18 years of tattooing. Between different states and shops, and people. The biggest change was when I met my girlfriend. Kat learned to tattoo beside me, and one year later we decided to open our own shop. This set us free! No more abiding by another shop owners rules/ideas. We were our own bosses and this is how we believe it should be in this industry. Especially for introverts like us haha.
Probably the biggest pivot happened last year. We changed our diet to a raw plant based one and began healing everything! The life of a tattoo artist can be rough. Depending on who and what you’re around. But we wanted to take a stand and really begin to enlighten creatives on diet and how important it is. A lot of tattoo artist “live fast” and this destroys the body. We as artist almost accept the rough around the edges look, But we believe every artist will shine brighter if they are healthy. So now we coach on the subject, and this has been the greatest pivot thus far. Learning to work with sick people, rather than just ones wanting art from you.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
About 2 years into my tattoo career I met Patrick. He was a traveling tattoo artist who had come from New York and was tattooing at the shop I worked in at the time. We became friends, and shortly after decided to head to Texas where he knew people and wanted to start a shop. Left in the middle of a summer night, everything we owned packed and ready for Texas. Patrick had more tattoos than anyone I had ever seen in person. His whole face was covered except his nose. I was always supposed to tattoo that, but never got around to it. We arrived in Texas and I realized the people he knew maybe weren’t the best. There was definitely a presence of trouble. Texas was a blur it was full of deception, homelessness, drugs, gangs, and frankly a side of society I never wished to see. I got my face tattooed there, as it locked me into the tattoo career. Patrick would say, “now you CANT get a job anywhere else” I basically burnt all bridges when going to Texas, got a big face tattoo, then split ways with Patrick. I was lucky to find people to take me in. Get clean. I then moved back to OH after a year or so. I continued to tattoo there until now. Cleaned up everything including my diet and now wish to share this with others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amentitattoo.com/
- Instagram: @shauntattoos
- Facebook: Shaun Skerchock
Image Credits
Kat Roe