I have drawn all my life. In high school I took several art classes and had a great teacher, Sam Listro, who taught me the basics. Back then I applied and was accepted into an art school, but I never found the ambition to pursue that option. Shortly after graduating high school, I got my first tattoo at Roy Boy's shop in Gary, Indiana by his then wife, Jeanne.
At age 20 I married my husband, Stan, who has always encouraged me to use my artistic talent as much as possible. For about 10 years Stan worked in the headstone business as a stonecutter. During this time I also did a little part-time work doing "etching" designs for his boss, Bob Harris, at Kovenz Memorial Shop in LaPorte, Indiana. This technique is almost exclusively done on black granite and is accomplished by scratching fine white lines in the black polished finish, usually with a diamond tipped engraving pen. The fine scratches are then colored with a special type of paint, usually white, but color work is also possible. Take a look at my Gallery page to see some of the etching work that I've done, along with some of my other art.
I have always had various odd jobs, but in my late 20's I decided that I should go back to school and get a real job. In 1993 I graduated from Radiology School, and my full-time job right now is CT Technologist. CT stands for Computed Tomography but is much more commonly known as "cat scan." Many times over the years I have thought about learning the art of tattooing. I even talked to Jeanne about it back in the early 90's but decided that the stability of the radiology career would suit me better.
Stan and I went to Jeanne's studio to get new tattoos as a memorial for my stepson, Rob, who died in 2004. Getting the tattoo renewed my interest in learning the tattoo art... and I completed an apprenticeship with Jeanne and now work for her at Personal Art, Inc.
The photo above (Credit: Jeanne Fritch) is me tattooing my husband, Stan.
Web design from The Stan-i-tarium __
