For Jimmy, there was no chance he wasn’t going to be a tattoo artist. Art was encouraged in his house, since he was a toddler. His grandmother did watercolor and oil paintings and his mother did all kinds of art. He was destined to do something with it.
I was into comics. Marvel was huge when I was a kid. I’ve also always been a fan of snakes and reptiles. I drew a lot of those too. Middle school was a huge influence and I learned a lot of basics and fundamentals that I still use today.
And as for tattoo art, it took one visit to a shop and Jimmy knew he was meant for it.
My first time in a tattoo shop was the coolest I’ve ever experienced. Right then I knew I wanted to do this.
The vibe of the shop was cool, I liked the way people interacted with each other and the music. And just the idea that you get to do what you want for a living.
He began an apprenticeship in Daytona Beach. It was also a great experience.
I went in with no expectations, I just wanted to learn everything I could. It was really good. There was a lot of traffic coming in and out. I saw people from all over the place and watched how the artists tattooed them.
When asked to choose one thing he liked most, he couldn’t answer.
I have to pick one thing?
Jimmy really loves the art.
Learning the art was really cool. Learning how to apply tattoos was great. I had a lot of fun learning about the machines and how they worked. And the tools and how to use them. It was all pretty rad.
Jimmy’s style is versatile, although he likes Realistic and Neo Traditional tattoos.
I have a good time doing it all. But Realistic and Neo Traditional tattoos are fun to do and the style is really attractive to me.
Jimmy worked in Daytona for 11 years before moving to Orlando. Hart & Huntington has given him a whole new team of inspiration.
I love getting inspired by new artists. After joining Hart & Huntington, I immediately started learning new things.
Everyone is really cool and super friendly. They all come from different places and bring different things. It’s really interesting hearing their knowledge. I get really excited about it.
And the clientele is another source of inspiration.
I really like the amount of business that comes in here. There’s such a wide variety of tattoos you get to do.
But the real reason behind Jimmy’s relentless pursuit of excellence is his son.
A lot of what I do is more than just becoming a better artist.
The better I am at anything opens up possibilities to progress so I can continue to create something greater for my family. My son is the most important reason I work hard every day. The better I do, the more opportunity I create for him. It wouldn't matter what I did, I’d put in the same hard effort.
His reason for hard work goes deep, but his philosophy is pretty simple.
I don’t see some huge legacy to follow me. I want people to be happy for the tattoo they got from me and to have a good time. Keep it nice and simple, that’s the way I like to do things.
