I have been tattooing since 2007 for Mothers Tattoo in Covington Kentucky.
If you are interested in booking with me please see the information section about booking which is listed in the menu of this website.
I post my newest tattoos on Instagram @nomadicaltattoo and Facebook www.facebook.com/nomadicalart
Ghost Story
I often receive questions about my involvement with Ghost, so I thought I’d share my experience here to avoid repeating myself in messages. I do not communicate with the mastermind behind Ghost, Tobias Forge, and I have never met him, even at a meet and greet. I’m a fan, just like you.
I have been a professional tattoo artist for 18 years, and my side hustle involves creating art and illustrations. While I hold a BFA in printmaking and illustration, I am not a graphic designer. I was never contacted by Ghost or their marketing team to create designs for the band. The first design I made, titled Mondo Mucha, was created for fun, with the intention of making prints to sell to fans. However, I wanted to get permission from the band to do this.
Someone who runs a Ghost fan page kindly guided me on who to contact for permission. I reached out via email but didn’t hear back for about two months. I assumed my email had gone unnoticed, so I began reproducing the artwork, as I saw a lot of fan art for sale on sites like Etsy and worried that if I didn’t act, someone else might. Out of respect, I sent one more email, and a week later, I received a response. To my surprise, the person said, “Hey, sorry for the delay in responding; I’ve just been very busy.” They informed me that while they couldn’t grant permission to sell the art on my own, they found my design compelling and suggested I make some small changes. They believed the band might be interested in purchasing it for their apparel. That’s how it all began!
The process required a lot of patience, as I made adjustments to the design with minimal communication. I inquired whether Tobias personally reviews and approves all the artwork, and I was told yes; however, I still do not receive feedback or comments from him. Typically, I just get a message saying, “Congratulations, your design has been approved!”
I have had four of my designs used by the band so far. I genuinely enjoy drawing for Ghost because their theme is playful, and with their tongue-in-cheek humor, it’s easy to approach the designs from a spooky or humorous angle. I am incredibly grateful to have had multiple successful designs published, but even if I had only one, I would still be just as happy.
Much gratitude to Global Merchandising Services, the Ghost fandom, and of course, Ghost.
Ghost merchandise is available here, The Band Ghost
As a teenager, when I wasn't learning every bass part of a Metallica song, I was busy drawing album covers for imaginary bands I created in my mind. I crafted heavy metal and punk rock album covers, dreaming of one day having a career as an artist like Pushead or Derek Riggs. Now, 34 years later, with a career in tattooing, I had almost forgotten that adolescent dream until I discovered the Swedish rock band Ghost.
What began as a fun project inspired by my favorite Mucha piece and a band I adore has evolved into something grand, far beyond my expectations. I am humbled and honored to be one of the artists who has created official artwork for Ghost. In a world where most doors remain closed unless you have insider connections, it’s refreshing to be recognized for my craft. Thank you to everyone who loved and shared the original artwork, as well as those who guided and supported me along the way. Thank you, Ghost, for awakening that 13-year-old kid I used to be. Din musik har gett liv åt min kreativitet.
My inspiration for this piece comes from Jimi Hendrix’s album *Axis: Bold As Love*, where I envisioned a many-armed Papa Emeritus IV bringing ritual items to his disciples. In each of his eight hands, he holds the following: a snake, a Druid sickle, a ceremonial incense burner, black candles, an unholy communion wafer, the "As Above, So Below" hand sign, the devil horns hand sign, an unholy rosary, a pentagram, a square hammer, an unholy chalice, Papa Emeritus II's unholy staff, a skull, and a rat. The fragrance of Sunrise incense fills the air, calming and bringing peace, while the flames beckon the unholy to sell their souls. Behind Papa Emeritus IV, eight ghouls and ghoulettes stand ready to usher in the music of the ritual. Completed on August 10, 2022.
Official apparel design for the Swedish band Ghost. My inspiration comes from Sandro Botticelli’s painting *The Birth of Venus*. Venus, often referred to as the Morningstar, symbolically shares the same title as Lucifer, also known as Satan. It felt perfectly fitting for Papa Emeritus IV to emerge from the fiery sea on a leviathan, accompanied by his ghouls. Completed on March 20, 2023, and published in September 2023.
My fourth design for Ghost debuted on September 13, 2024, perfectly timed for Friday the 13th. I originally titled it 'The Recluse,' inspired by the elusive brown recluse spiders that weave their way around Papa IV. However, it has since earned a new name in the Ghost universe: 'The Weaver,' and I couldn't be more thrilled by this transformation.
My Journey into Printmaking
In 2024 and 2025, I delved deeper into the world of printmaking, reigniting a passion that began 26 years ago during my time at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). Back then, my focus was on relief printmaking, where I created large-scale prints using tempered masonite. With access to the university's press, I could easily work on a grand scale. However, after graduation, the absence of a studio and, more importantly, a press made it challenging to continue my artistic practice.
It wasn't until 2023 that I found myself in a position to revisit printmaking. I embraced linoprinting and woodcut relief printing, purchasing a small etching press and transforming a guest bedroom into a dedicated workspace. This new setup allowed me to experiment not only with relief techniques but also with etching—a medium I had only briefly explored in college. Looking back, I wish I had devoted more time to etching, as I believe it aligns beautifully with my drawing style.
Reintroducing myself to relief printing and self-teaching etching proved to be a challenging journey. I encountered difficulties with the tools, ink, and achieving the right pressure on my press. My expectations were perhaps too high, leading to moments of disappointment as I found that my creations often fell short of my vision. Sometimes there is true beauty in unexpected outcomes but, I struggled to reconcile my aspirations with the outcomes I was producing. Ultimately, I realized that the process itself carries its own value, even if the results don’t always match my expectations.
Currently, I’ve decided to take a break from printmaking. I envision returning to it in the future, but for now, the visuals swirling in my mind are urging me to explore different mediums. They seem to demand a canvas that better aligns with their essence.
The following are mostly all the prints I made, both relief printing, mono printing and etching.
Pictured are a few relief prints that were made on linoleum, Masonite or wood.
The three prints pictured are different techniques but proved to be the most difficult to execute. The two prints featuring a starry sky are reduction linoprints that have about 5 layers each. The difficulty with these was primarily over or under inking the linoblock.
The framed print is a monotype print that I made using a woodcut and a gelli plate. My biggest struggle was getting a successful transfer of the image from the gel plate. I probably threw away 15 prints before I had any success. I did paint into all of the prints pictured to enhance and make them more interesting.
Etching was hard for me. I only made one etching in college and it was just an introductory piece just to say I tried it. I had to learn on my own and rely on books and YouTube to try and accomplish anything.
If you are not familiar with the process you scratch your design into a copper or zinc plate and then use an acid bath to bite the image deeper into the plate so that it holds the ink when you print. Unlike relief printing when you ink your plate you wipe away the ink on the surface and the remaining ink is pushed into the lines you etched. There are so many moving parts to getting a good print and I still haven’t truly achieved it. The press has to be positioned in such a way, the paper has to be damp and the etch in the plate has to be made in a way that it shows up when you print. I had problems with everything.
What you see in this photo are good moments for me but I did have to doctor all of them by painting or drawing into them. In the future the goal would be to only have to do minor retouching or no touch up at all.
Drawing in Pen and Ink
This gallery is devoted to the time when I stopped painting and began drawing on bristol paper. Tattooing was starting to shift to black and grey styles that focused more on stipple style shading and I was clearly inspired by this by the look of these drawings.
My body of work is not entirely pictured here because many have sold and found homes long ago. My most famous drawing from this time which is pictured in the collage at the bottom of this gallery was called, Love You Rabbit Hash. It featured a drawing of the famous landmark in Rabbit Hash Ky of a general store. I made it right after the store had tragically burned down and had silkscreen prints made to help raise money for its restoration. The original drawing was purchased and now lives in Colorado somewhere. Rabbit Hash General Store was rebuilt and restored to its original structure and continues to thrive to this day.
This collection features a selection of my pen and ink drawings created between 2011 and 2020. While I sold many of these pieces, I’m sharing the ones that remain in my possession. Some hold sentimental value, such as the drawing of my daughter in the center, the two cats in the upper left, and the deer adorned with a heart to the right.
You'll notice varying styles that reflect my evolving interests during this period. As a tattoo artist, I was initially inspired by geometric tribal designs, which influenced some of my earlier work. Over time, I transitioned to a more natural and organic approach, embracing stipple and dot work while moving away from the angular, tribal aesthetic.
These drawings are softer and less angular in style in comparison to the other picture.
An early style with a lot of influence from tattooing and Native American art.
