About the Project

About the Tattoo Art Project

It is a bit tricky to explain where the idea for this project originally came from. Perhaps it was simply many “small streams” that in the end merged into a large river. Most people that I’ve triedn to explain this project to, think that I suffered from some kind of disillusioned hubris. Perhaps to some extent that is true . Be that as it may, I have decided to make this project a dream come true, no matter if people think I’m crazy or not.

Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s I worked as a CG artist. As long as I can remeber I have always liked to express myself in an aesthetic way, and the computer was just another way for me to express myself. I’ve always been interested in just about anything design related. Graphic design, photography, carpentry, carving, drawing, music and of course, you guessed it…tattoos!

During certain periods of my life when I have not found the time and space or inclination to create. This lack of necessary outlet for creativity outlet, more or less has emotionally choked me as a result. Lately I’ve realized that aesthetic expression is very vital for my well beeing.

I worked a while back as a social worker in a treatment center for people with substance abuse. Logically this should have no relevant connection to this project. But it was actually there I realized that I must have and give in to the extremely important inherent need to create.

Every morning at that treatment center, staff and clients gathered after breakfast to share a moment and to reflect and share thoughts and feelings. We also read a short philosophical “thought-provoking” text from a book.

It was on one of these mornings, reading one of these philosophic texts…it hit me like a bolt of lightning!

The text was something like this:

Once upon a time many years ago a young woman named Dorothy. She was very skilled in painting porcelain. She painted little designs on china plates, so as to paint on wood or on Easter eggs nowadays.
When Dorothy fell in love and got married she did not think she had time to paint anymore. But when the kids got a little bigger, they were happy at the display cabinet and admired all the little paintings that seemed to imagine a world of its own.
The years passed and Dorothy’s grandson also liked to stand and watch her porcelain paintings. All admired them. They asked if she could start painting china again, but she did not answer. The desire to paint was locked up in her.
When you stop doing something that you have talent, because you do not have the time, they read the part of himself. It limits their opportunities. But if we manage to express our creativity in our everyday lives, then others rejoice at the result. One can always find room for his talent, because it creates its own world. Do I lock something in, just because I do not have time for it?

It was right then and there I realized that I simply have to give myself the time and opportunity to develop and find a a new outlet for my creativity.

How Tattoo Art Project started

The inspiration for this website was formed when I 2009 met a very talented female tattoo artist named Sanna and working on Left Hand Tattoo, Piteå, Sweden. I booked her to make a tattoo and she began then what I would call a “family-fantasy-sleeve” on the left arm. The first motif with the hand and the elephants in a chrystal ball was dedicated to my first born daughter Savannah.

But it was after I visited Copenhagen Ink Festival 2011 and got an realistic owl tattooed on my arm by Boris from Hungary, that I really got addicted to the art form. When I got back home from Denmark to Sweden I

was super inspiered to start up something innovative and creative from this new found love of mine. After a long walk in the woods listening to some good music…I got the idea for TAP! And in one evening I had constructed and launchedn the official Tattoo Art Project web site, and opened the Facebook page and the Twitter account. The project was born!

The main purpose of the website – tattoo artists

The main purpose of the Tattoo Art Project website is to create a network of International tattoo artists that are among the absolute best in the genre of “realistic”. New tattoo artists will be added continually, and sorted by country and name. I believe that tattoos is true art that is far to often misunderstood by a bad reputation based on poor knowledge and a narrow minded view on the industry and art form itself. Tattoo Art Project is aiming to help change that fact!

Tattoo artists will be added continually, and sorted by country and name. It will not always be overly much information about each tattoo artist, but the things that will be available are: Biography (if it is possible to find). Links to the tattoo’s own websites and a selected reference to these pages for the respectful view that this site is reputable. And of course a great image gallery from the tattoo artist.

The future vision of “TAP”

The concept of the Tattoo Art Project (TAP) is still growing, and will develop constantly. The future vision is to expand it to other tattoo art related goals. Interviews, conventions, customer service, guides, articles, Social media networking, and much more.

The project will be processed and developed into “phases”. and it will require a lot of logistics and careful progress to make it keep the focus of the purpose and maintain a very high quality. Every part is necessary for this to keep an professional level of management. By dividing the project into phases, it is also easier to get acurrent overview of where it is heading and what growing needs of tattoo artists andvisitors who must be handled and be involved.

Thats it folks!

Hope you will find the project interesting.

/Johan Larsson
Founder of Tattoo Art Project