Conversations with Seth Clark

Today we’d like to introduce you to Seth Clark.

Hi Seth, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always enjoyed art as a kid and growing up tattoos were very prevalent in my life between family members and friends. I wanted a tattoo way before I was old enough. I gave myself my first tattoos at 14 years old with a sewing needle and started getting real tattoos at 16. Art was always a huge part of my life growing up. My nana and I would do art or any and every craft you can think of together. I built things like vending machines out of cardboard, duct tape wallets, flowers, bags, jewelry made from beads, origami, we did it all. My grandfather also is an artist and I’ve admired this eagle he drew since I was a kid and always wanted to be able to draw something as cool as that.

I knew I didn’t want to have a regular job early on but didn’t know exactly what I’d end up doing. I went through other ways of making money reselling shoes, clothes, and I worked as a pizza guy for a while too. I started getting tattooed at Nobility Tattoo and got really into it, developed a real connection with the owner, and later on ended up starting my tattooing career there.

Looking back, tattooing feels less like something I decided to do and more like where everything I was already interested in eventually led me. I was always creating, always into tattoos, and always trying to find my own way of doing things. Tattooing just ended up being the place where all of that came together.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road was not always smooth, I had to pave it. I struggled with many things, imposter syndrome, mental health issues, self doubt and fear, along with life problems like everyone else. I even quit tattooing for around a year because it all just got to be too much, or at least that’s just how I took it. I put all this extra pressure on myself while also telling myself I couldn’t succeed. Eventually I realized I was creating a lot of my own obstacles. I had to learn how to get out of my own way, trust myself and keep going even when I didn’t feel confident about where it was all going. I still deal with those things from time to time, but I’ve gotten a lot better at not letting them stop me.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a tattoo artist at Nobility Tattoo in Austintown, Ohio. My work has evolved a lot over the years and right now I’ve really been enjoying black and grey realism and color neotraditional. I think what sets me apart is that I care just as much about the experience as I do the finished tattoo. I want people to leave with a piece they’re proud to wear, but also feeling like they had a good experience getting it. I’m most proud that I’ve been able to build a career around creating art, meeting people and constantly pushing myself. I’m extremely thankful for all of my clients who trust me with their ideas and continue to support me because none of this would be possible without them.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up I was always curious and liked figuring out how things worked. I was really into science, inventing things and creating something out of nothing. My family actually thought I was going to grow up to be some kind of scientist. I also skateboarded pretty much my whole life and loved being outside and moving. I think I’ve always just liked experimenting, creating things and doing stuff my own way, which looking back makes a lot of sense with what I ended up doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nobilitytattoo.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sethclarktattoo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EJiyPYUQR/