Toronto is one of those cities, a thriving port city on the banks of one of the Great Lakes. It has a reputation, it’s earned. It’s big, bad, and indifferent to what you think of it. It stands to reason it would have it’s own flashpoint in custom tattooing, but it wasn’t just popping off in Toronto. And even here that western influence could be felt.
The rough, old school shops had the clientele to match but things were changing.
Eventually Toronto was having its own tattoo explosion. New School artists that had worked so hard under their mentors were now making a go of it on their own. This big dynamic city was hungry for this wave of custom artists.
Contrary to popular opinion, Toronto isn’t the centre of the universe and this is equally true when it comes to tattooing. It’s often easier to develop one’s craft on the fringes of any movement, But because you exist on the fringe doesn’t mean your work won’t get noticed. Some people just transcend all the stereotypes and become their own unique inspiration point.
