JAMES

I was born in 1975, in Hódmezovásárhely, Hungary. I grew up and finished the primary schools there. I inherited some talent from my father, who drew tons in his youth and was good with his hands.

As a kid, I spent a lot of time in my grandparents’ workshop where we built and did many projects, small boats and kites, etc. By then, I was already very interested in drawing, and my parents supported me in it. In the summers, I would go to Mártély Free School of Fine Arts and learn graphic art and painting.

In secondary school, I learned metalworking to satisfy my dad’s desires. It was then that I was sure I wanted to pursue some sort of creative career. I applied to the University of Szeged, to the Faculty of Education, and finished the graphic arts course.

In the meantime, I went to various summer art schools and dabbled in different branches of art like ceramics, sculpting, enamelling, watercolour and oil painting, etc. Out of all of those activities, I enjoyed painting the most, which I am studying to this day. I got my first tattoo magazine in secondary school.

I think it was an American magazine, and I instantly began copying out the tattoos in it because until then I hadn’t ever seen such art styles; I was hooked from the first minute. I made many drawings based off the pictures in the magazine, and then a good friend said he wanted to get a tattoo of one of my drawings. He asked, could I do it for him?

I said I hadn’t seen how tattooing works, and I didn’t have any equipment, but we could figure it out. A few days later he returned with a friend of ours, who also wanted to get a tattoo, and whose mother owned a beauty salon with complete tattooing equipment. They organised for me to do my first tattoo there.

Since I started tattooing when I was really young, just 17 and still in school, it was only a hobby for me in the beginning. I didn’t learn tattooing from anyone then; I only got information from the rarely-acquired magazines. When I finished the graphics course, I went to Budapest for the preparation program of the University of Fine Arts, and searched for a job on the side.

That’s when I heard of a studio that didn’t drive away aspiring beginning tattooists, and I was urged to try my hand there. This is how I met Zsolt Sárközi, who helped me get a summer job at Lake Balaton. I spent one or two years learning the routine, and upon returning to Budapest I first worked at Renaissance Art Tattoo, learning from Adrienn Kiss, and then at Ronin Tattoo where my colleague was Karcsi Farkas.

Finally, from there I got to my current workplace: Celtic Moon Tattoo. If I had to start all over, I would most likely pick the same path despite the fact my first years in Budapest were extremely rough. t have money for food, but I didn’t care because I believed that if I was determined, my hard work would pay off.

For a while now, I’ve been travelling intensively to other countries, for conventions and also to do guest spots. This means a lot to me because that’s where I can learn the most and make acquaintances and friendships that can bolster my career. I try to accept the invitations, and that’s why I have been visiting more conventions and been here in Hungary less.

But I will definitely not neglect my client base at home. If you decide that you’d like to get tattooed by me, look for me in our shop or at a convention.