Tattoo Artist/Owner:
Location: West Carrollton Studio
Phone: (937) 388-0488
I was born a poor black child, j/k
I was raised on the East Side of Dayton and from as young as I can remember, I have always been into art. My father was an artist so I was exposed to painting and drawing at an early age.
In the beginning my me and my friends were all really into Graffiti Art. Painting the local walls was just something we did for fun and excitement. It was very exciting because we never knew if we were going to get caught or not.
Art in general faded out of our lives because there was no money to be made in it back then, had to find REAL jobs............
1994 I was introduced to the art of tattooing:
While attending an art collage in Chicago (collage of Dupage) I got to see some very interesting tattoos on my piers, did a little research on the subject and decided to finally get my first tattoo.
While getting tattooed all I could think about was giving someone a tattoo myself (I was instantly hooked). I ran out and purchased a few tattoo magazines to see what was really going on in the tattoo world.
Artists like Paul Booth, Guy Achtison and Tony Olivas amazed me! I never thought that their levels of art could ever possible on the human body. They gave me the inspiration I needed to get into this medium. I had to learn everything I could about tattooing, thus my quest had began...........
Down to a local tattoo shop to find out about an apprenticeship:
A then local tattoo shop located in Joilet, Illinois was where my journey as an apprentice would start. I began learning from the bottom up. Learning from some very talented artists like Jess Casson, Wolf, Deno, Jewles was great most of the time but they made me earn it! I was told from the beginning that I would have to earn my way. This meant that I was to be considered the grunt of the shop, for those of you that don't understand what a grunt is (slave boy comes to mind).
I remember cleaning the grout between the floor tiles with a toothbrush on a very busy Saturday with the lobby full of customers (saying to myself the whole time (screw'em). That kinda treatment lasted for awhile.
Over the years, I worked at a few good studios in the chicago land area. Had good times, learned alot :)
I always thought to myself that someday I would return home to Dayton, Ohio and open up a studio of my own, and I did...............
Krazy Katz Tattoos & Body Piercing:
In 2003, with the help of friends and Family, I opened Krazy Katz Tattoos in Kettering. The Name came from a Video Game Room that my friends and I use to visit on a regular basis. That business closed there doors in the late 80's. I researched the name and whalah, it was available. I thought that it would strike up some good conversations and maybe get a few of my old friends in the door at the same time...........
Tattooing for over 18 years now:
As a very versatile artist, I enjoy doing all different types of design work. Everything from New School to Graffiti, Portraits, Tribal Black Work, Asian Theme Pieces, Animals, Flowers, and recently oil painting......
Thank you for reading this fare. Im always interested in a good challenge.
much love,
-Frank
www.facebook.com/Frank Gomez
xartisticx@aol.com