Meet Sam Parker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Parker.

Sam, before we jump into specific questions about your art, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My primary means of making a living for the past twenty-five years has been as a professional tattooist. Though I’ve created personal art and commissioned artworks for just as many years, tattooing has been at the center of my creative practice throughout. I fell into tattooing in 1993, purchasing a start-up kit from the back of Skin Art magazine and worked out of my bedroom with very little guidance. It was not the best way to begin a career in tattoo but I was my way in. In 1995 I was hired at a walk-in shop in Atlanta, Georgia. I tattooed in Atlanta for 20 years before moving to Colorado in 2015.

I went back to school in the late 90s and completed my BFA in drawing and painting from Kennesaw State University in 2004 and then went on to complete my MFA in the Same Discipline from Georgia State University in 2010. While I was in school, I began exhibiting my work locally than nationally and internationally. I loved it, exhibiting my work gave each project a focused trajectory and platform to explore ideas. However, my passion to show art was almost always a labor of love. Rarely did I do more than break even for the cost of materials and framing. By 2013 I felt burned out and in need of a change. I moved to Colorado and moved away from exhibiting as a central goal of my life. I continue to exhibit and sell my work through my website and social media but focus more on my studio practice as opposed to galleries and museums.

Now I tattoo four days a week at Til Death Tattoo located on Larimer Street in the Denver’s RiNo district and work on projects in my home studio the rest of the time. Life is good.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being a professional artist is often uncertain. My main struggles have been internal. Struggling with my self-worth, Vacillating between feelings of elation and certainty about my work being important and culturally relevant, contrasted with feeling like a phony who has duped myself and the world into believing my work has worth or is even skillful. But all in all, I wouldn’t trade the creative life for any other.

We’d love to hear more about your art.
As a tattooist, I mostly do large scale black-work pieces in an illustrative decorative style. I am versatile and have a facility in a myriad of styles. I adapt to new trends and subject matter with ease. I think my most unique practice as a tattooist is my flow of consciousness tattoos which takes a great deal of trust from my client. In a FOC tattoo, there is no drawing, no stencil or even preconception of the design. I just begin and whatever comes out is what it is.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
First and foremost, am I following what makes me blissful. I have plenty of concerns about making money and being respected within the communities of people that I engage, but if I get too far away from what makes me blissful I do not feel successful.

Pricing:

• Tattooing $200 an hour with a two hour minimum.
• Limited edition screen prints are $30 each
• Drawings range from $100- $1600 depending on their size
• Murals are $15/square foot with a minimum of $1000

Contact Info:

• Website: www.samparkerartist.com
• Email: ceroakb@gmail.com
• Instagram: @samparkerartist

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