Conversations with ghost ham

Today we’d like to introduce you to ghost ham

Hi ghost , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m originally from Albany NY. I got my first tattoo at 19. And while it was happening I was blown away and I wanted nothing more then to be a tattoos artist. I loved drawing when was growing up so it just made sense to me. I was in collage at the time and so I followed through with that getting a BA in psychology. Then worked a serious of random jobs usually more than a couple at a time. Sometimes up to 4 jobs at once. Working 90 hours a week. But then at age 29 I was able to position myself to be able to start an apprenticeship with the artist who gave me my first tattoo. I worked at that shop for a few years then headed to another shop in town for a little while longer before ultimately moving out to Denver in 2017. I’ve been in the city since working on building a clientele while evolving my style of art. The last few years I’ve grown into a style of art that I’m just having the most fun making. And I have found so many amazing people who love my work and who have collected it on their bodies. It’s very humbling and I’m always so thankful for tattooing.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Never a smooth road. It’s always a struggle in some sense. Every tattoo present it’s own struggle. The area I started tattooing didn’t have a lot of people getting tattooed. But I made each chance count. Then of course working 4 years in Albany I did have some clientele. And then rather abruptly moved to Denver with a past partner. I all of a sudden had to drop all my clients and start over. I didn’t know a single person in the entire city. I had never been to Denver before. So that was a huge struggle to start over. But looking back that was 7 years ago and I really overcame a lot. I moved shops a few times as well. Alway positive transitions for me and always a way to grow.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I just randomly fell into the style of work I’m doing now. It came out of being unsure how to approach a few designs and I gave up “trying” and just drew what I wanted. And it turned out to be this sorta weird trippy type style. I try to make the work look like it’s glowing. My best guess would be psychedelic neon traditional. I call my work Neon Trad. But I love using a lot of black and then contrasted with bold “neon” colors like yellow, a bold pink, an electric green, blue and some orange and tangerine with a few other select colors. I’m always hear from clients and other artists as well how unique they feel the work is and how much they love the colors.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
For those just starting out. Understand it will always be hard. It’s always a challenge but that’s part of the fun. I always say tattooing is equal parts fun and stress all rolled into one. And it’s always that way. Draw more. Practice. And learn as you grow and use those skills and techniques to find your voice as an artist. But the biggest thing is to have fun. Always have fun.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/ghost_ham/