We were lucky to catch up with Troy Timpel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Troy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

Philadelphia Eddie. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him

Troy, 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 started tattooing in 1992. This year celebrates 30 years in the tattoo industry. Tattooing isn’t a job its a lifestyle. I was lucky enough to get hired by “Philadelphia Eddie” in 1994. Eddie is a legend in the tattoo industry and created/upgraded alot the equipment used in tattooing. In 1998 he started the “Philadelphia tattoo convention”. In 2003 he retired and gave me the event to run. I turned the event which was a 70 artist event in a rundown airport hotel into the world’s largest tattoo event. Last year we hosted 1600 tattoo artists and drew 32000 people for our festival. This year marks 25 years for the event. We have had so many of the world’s best artists at our event over the years. This year we hope will be the biggest and best event we host.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Part of being an artist is to constantly evolve your craft. In tattooing the equipment used has improved alot over 30 years. I wish I had the needles/ink and machines we have today back then. The process and safety has also improved dramatically over the years. A true artist interacts with his materials. Tattooing starts and works each area now and as a result the client is more comfortable and the tattoos hurt much less than in the past. Thinner taper needles and machines that apply more consistently create less trauma to the skin.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I met Alex Grey a few years ago. I showed him a floor Mural I had just completed. The floor was 30ft x 40ft. He ended up spending almost 15 minutes holding up the line of people to meet him asking questions about my approach medium and techniques. I started painting large signs on plywood for my shows. Then started to looks for different mediums to apply ink to the raw wood to cover areas faster with more control. I then started to use laser cut stencils to separate texture areas in the paintings to decorate the wood faster and more decorative. I ended up buying a laser cutter and my wife designed hundreds of laser cut stencils to use in our paintings. I typically try to paint live at our tattoo festivals. My average painting size is 8ft x 8ft and I typically paint them in 4 hours of painting time.

Contact Info:

• Website: Villainarts.com
• Instagram: #troyTimpel
• Facebook: @TROYTimpel
• Youtube: #villainarts

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