• My first tattoo was a stick-on tattoo that my brother brought me from a KISS concert in the 1970s.
• Once my stick-on tattoo faded, I did my first touch up with my father’s India Inks and a Q tip. That gave me the “bug” to get tattoos.
• In 1985, I met my best friend Patrick’s future wife, Juli Moon, and she gave me the opportunity to learn tattooing from her. She’s one of the best tattoo artists in the country.
• In September, 1993, my senior year of college, I started tattooing. I ended up leaving college and moving to New Hampshire, near Patrick and Juli, to pursue a career in tattooing.
• I did my first bit tattoo on Elayne “Angel” Binnie. It was a full body mermaid tattoo, and I did some of the scales of the mermaid. Working with Juli as my tattoo mentor gave me the confidence I needed to study my craft and become the tattoo artist I am today.
• I moved from New Hampshire to Boston in 2000, and then to South Florida, where I have my own tattoo business now in Fort Lauderdale.

Elayne ‘Angel’ Binnie, first person I ever tattooed. Helped Juli with some of the scales. Mermaid by my teacher Juli Moon, wings on back Bob Roberts, arms Alex Binnie

The medium of skin, my canvases move! They stretch, twist, turn, dance. It really is like being a fashion designer, my fabric is the psyche of the person I am tattooing, and their skin is the canvas. I am so incredibly honored to be trusted with indelible ink in the dermis.

Over 30 years of tattooing and I feel like I am starting to really get this art form. I think I need another 20 years to give me a better peek into figuring it out as well! I never want to lose my ability to really grow and learn. I figure once I THINK I know how to tattoo, maybe it is time to find another form of expression. Because if I KNOW how to tattoo, doesn’t that mean I have nothing left to learn? I hope I never get to this point. I love this form of art too much.

In closing, I am obsessed with this art. Every client has an idea, sometimes an exact vision of what they want. My job? Find the tattoo that already exists on this canvas. Find the essence of the work, not just the color, line, motion of the tattoo. That is critical, but I started learning how to say something with the art. What the wearer wanted to see. What the world wanted to see by the one wearing the art. What did they want to convey?

Stevie’s Political Activism:

• MIn 1993, Juli Moon and I were invited to be on the board of the New Hampshire Health Department to write a bill regulating tattooing in the state. We helped prepare the bill that is now a law in New Hampshire.
• I moved from New Hampshire to Boston in 2000, and then to South Florida, where I have my own tattoo business now.
• I have worked with Florida Senator Eleanor Sobel to draft a bill for tattooing in the state of Florida. The bill has since passed and I am happy to have been able to a representative for tattooists in the state of Florida.

If you wish to dive deeper into the details of Florida’s Tattoo Law you can google ‘Stevie Moon Senator Sobel Tattoo’ and find many fun details. What an engaging battle this was! In the end all were happy and I made some new friends in politics.