Why am I tattooed? Well, I like them. I think they can be beautiful pieces of art. I like the idea of my body being a canvas for artwork. And as I have more and more art added to the canvas, its almost as if Im bringing my being into focus. They dont define me, they make the definition more clear. Some of the art put on my body has been done by less talented artists than I would like at least in retrospect. But Ive now found a truly great artist named Trevor Marshall, and after getting a fine large piece from him of a dragon, covering my back and going over my shoulder and down to my buttcheeks, it seemed obvious to me that there was something missing. So we started another piece a phoenix. When we started, Trevor fretted a bit that since it was going to be fitted in with the dragon, it would by necessity be much more abstract than I might have wanted. Not at all with its sweeping wings, graceful neck and beautiful tail running down the back of my leg, I couldnt have been happier. Even before the color was added it was quite beautiful, and I won first place for Best Overall Tattoo at the Marked For Life Tattoo Convention in Orlando Florida, Jan 1999. When the phoenix was done and all that was left to do with it was a few touch ups, I fell off a horse and cracked a couple of ribs. This made sitting for work on my torso a bit problematic, so we started on a project wed been discussing even as the first outlines of the phoenix were going in: an arm of lilies.

Website: http://www.scamptattoo.com/