A brief history of the life and times of Johny D. Matthews Sitting still in a classroom wasn’t something that came naturally to me, and so I found myself leaving school having learnt a few hard knocks, which unfortunately they don’t give credit for, and the amazing record of zero GCSEs – at least none that I can remember! However, I wanted to make something of myself, and was willing to work hard, so at the tender age of 16 I managed to talk my way into tech college and on to an Architect’s course, which I completed 5 years later. This time round I passed all my exams, but found it hard to get any job within the tech industry. I love to draw and creating, so even if I didn’t have a job, I was still making drawings, being creative, expressing myself in that way. Some of the drawings I did were spotted by a talented tattooist in Sheffield called Sosk. I am not sure I realized at the time how hard tattooing apprenticeships are hard to come by; it is a real privilege when someone wants to help you out and teach you their art. So when Sosk asked if I wanted to learn from him it was a amazing opportunity, and something that obviously had a huge impact on my life. I owe a real debt to Sosk for showing me how the industry works, and for the next eighteen months teaching me how to tattoo, how to turn that creativity inside me into permanent artwork: I fell in love with that process, and knew that this was something I wanted to do. For the past three years I have been tattooing at Conisbrough Tattoo Studio where I work along side Phil Harper who owns the joint. He is an amazing tattoo artist and a great guy to work with, even though he’s so laid back that he’s horizontal! Make sure that you take the time to check out Phil’s great work. Recently I have also been offered an exclusive opertunity to tattoo along side one the best Tattoo Artists i personally know, Kelvin Slack. Since that point ive been lucky enough to win two awards at Milton keynes including Best of Show and also i managed to win best large black and grey at Ink For Heroes in York. Then i got the prestigious nomination of best new comer to tattoo industry. "so yeah well chuffed! That is the short version of how I fell in love with tattooing and the story of the rest of my life began... I love the opportunities that tattooing has given me like travelling the world, and meeting new artists and people from different cultures but who share the same interests as me. My world travels are fairly notorious, and infamously spontaneous. On more than one occasion I have gone on a trip to some European city in order to make my Facebook profile pic seem a little more interesting! Next up is a random road and plane trip to Canada; so keep tuned for me going missing!
THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT. PEACE OUT. |
