Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Savage.
Hi Chris, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve been tattooing for over 20 years. I broke into tattooing after being awarded an insurance settlement from being struck by a car. Back then a tattoo apprenticeship actually cost money (I paid $5000) and I was never going to be able to save that kind of money living hand to mouth working at a gas station so once I received the funds, I approached Dana Brunson at Designs by Dana’s in Northside. I worked there for 8 years, did some traveling, and returned to Northside to start a family and opened a private studio that I worked out of for over 10 years. After the pandemic, my good friend and world-renowned tattooed Kore Flatmoe and his wife Brenda opened Blue Rock Tattoo in Northside and invited me to join them and their team of incredible artists. After a decade of working alone, it was great to get back into a shop environment and work alongside some amazing talent in the most professional atmosphere, I’ve ever worked in. And after all of these years, I’m back in the neighborhood that started it all.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Tattooing is never a smooth road especially when you do it long enough to see it go through so many changes, plus the people you meet along the way and the lives that they lead. A lot happens to people in 20 years and tattooing (At least at one point) isn’t always the healthiest lifestyle. Babies are born, people die before they should, you make friends, make enemies, and sometimes the enemies become friends again, plus tattooing in the Midwest in the 90s was very lower/working class. Plumbers, bikers, gangsters, and military personnel all walk in without appointments and choose designs off of the wall. No appointments back then and rarely any custom designs. Now I’m appointment only and it’s all custom designs. There are pros and cons to both. When I started tattooing was a 9-5 now, I schedule and work when I want.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I tattoo with an approach that is very traditional. Solid lines bold colors. That doesn’t mean the subject matter has to be old-fashioned, but the application itself is rooted in tradition.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Shoot, it’s 2022, can anyone predict the future?! Tattooing has wound up in a place most people couldn’t or wouldn’t have predicted. I’m sure that it will continue to evolve and change. I’m at a place right now that I’m absolutely happy with and working with a team of solid individuals so I can say that at least my future within tattooing looks good to me.
Pricing:
- $200/hour
Contact Info:
- Website: Bluerocktattoo.com
- Instagram: chrissavage74 As well as Chrissavagedesign
