Bio

Name: Jason Sweet
Born: February 25, 1968

I began making art at the age of 3.  My earliest memory of painting was making copies of the little
mouse in the “If you can draw this, you can be an artist”, ads in the comic books.   From those
drawings I moved on to copying rock and roll album covers from bands like the Rolling Stones and
the Mothers of Invention.   I was surrounded with art as my Mother and Grandmother were artists
too.  In my early teens, I rejected my hippy parents for the Punk Rock scene of the early 80’s.  
Along with that came the rejection of any art as hippy crap.  

At age 16, I walked into the Chicago Tattoo Company and received my first tattoo, a Hot Stuff Devil
on my left deltoid.  I new the minute I walked into that shop, I was home.  The smell of the soap in
the air and the mystery surrounding tattoos were so exciting.  I never made the connection
between tattooing and art.

At 26, after working for Bill Graham Presents for 8 years, I decided to go back to school.  I had
started painting again and decided to attend California College of Arts and Crafts and received a
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing.  Upon leaving school I played the role of the
starving artist and amateur bicycle racer.  I would ride my bike 80-100 miles a day in training, go to
a part time job and paint in the evenings.  I had showings for my paintings in galleries and most
notably, Western Exposure in San Francisco where I was chosen to be 1 of 20 painters to be
shown out of 2000 entrants.  I also was chosen to be in a show at the Palm Spring Museum of Art.  
At the Palm Springs Museum I was also reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.        I was however,
unfulfilled.

During these years of my life, I continued to get tattooed and that initial interest in tattoos
persisted.  Eventually, I was tired of bicycle racing and disgusted with the art world and decided to
become a tattoo artist and meld my world of art and tattooing.  I never thought of tattoos as art,
and then I saw works from artists like Marcus Pacheco and Don Ed Hardy.  I realized that art and
tattooing were one.  Tattooing was a fine art inscribed upon the body and in essence, became
much more valuable than any painting, because it was a permanent mark on the person’s body
and transcended from a work of art into a living being.  I searched for someone to let me in the
door and I was lucky enough to meet a man named C.W. Eldridge of the Tattoo Archive.  C.W. was
unwilling to take on a formal apprentice, “I have done it once, and I am not going through that
again.”, said C.W.  Despite his unwillingness to take a another formal apprentice on, he was willing
to show me how a tattoo looked.  He believed in the traditional manner of tattoo execution of bold
lines and heavy black shading.  We drew flash together for almost a year.  He would give me
homework assignments and I would complete them with voracity, sometimes working 12 hours a
day.  He had me paint eagles, cartoon characters and old designs from the 40s.  I had become an
accomplished portrait artist in art school, but could not draw an eagle or flames to save my life.  C.
W changed all that.  C.W. also insisted I go to tattoo conventions and watch the artists work, “Just
soak it all in”, C.W. would say.  I was lucky enough to meet Henry Goldfield and Dave Bobrick at a
tattoo convention.  I asked for a job, Dave told me to come by the shop and visit and we would
talk.  Upon visiting Goldfield’s Tattoo, I was told no job was available, but to stick around and
maybe something would open up.  I ended up haning around a lot after that  initial meeting.  Going
to Goldfield’s to hang around and watch was like going to church.  Goldfield’s is a tattoo shop and
an art studio, where the practice of tattoo art is executed.  Only hand painted flash was on the
walls from the artists that worked there and artists gone by.  I learned, when a customer wants
something, if it is not on the wall, you draw it.  You give them what they want.  Henry eventually
would see me at the shop and offer me much worldly advice on Art, Tattooing and Life in general.  
While I never was employed there, I was made to feel like family.

I began tattooing in early 2002 under the direction of C.W. Eldridge.  I eventually left for Los
Angeles where I have worked for Tennessee Dave James of West Coast Tattoo and Andy Neville’s
Tattoo Asylum.  At each shop I learned new lessons and tricks and
decided to open Mid City Tattoo in the summer of 2004.

 In 2006, I moved to Syracuse, NY, and opened, Freaks and Geeks Tattoo Art Studio.

In 2008, I moved to Corvallis, OR., and as of 2010, I moved to Portland, OR. I currently
work at Jackalope Tattoo. Please refer to my contact page for more information.

In addition to the above mentioned people, I would like to send out a special thanks to, Greg Rojas
and the rest of the crew at One Shot Tattoo, Swag of Tattoo Lounge, Bill and Junii Salmon of
Diamond Club Tattoo, Andy Neville and all the people who told me "NO" over the years.