Today we’d like to introduce you to Hunter Hinrichs
Hi Hunter, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started doing Art at a very young age,aslong as I can remember really and when I met my god father who had the first tattoo I ever saw,some military tattoos sun burned and faded after years of scuba diving,that’s when little me realized you could draw on people forever as a career and that’s exactly what my dream became. Now my family didn’t quite understand,your little girl goes from talking about animals and marine biology to suddenly wanting to tattoo when noone in my family has any at all or any interest before,but my Mother was supportive in all my wild ideas and helped me chase this dream of mine. Now you can’t really be tattooing at six years old so I just kept drawing,painting,sculpting really anything i could get my hands on and learn if it had to do with Art I’ve probably tried it atleast once. When I was Thirteen I wanted to try my luck at woodworking but widdling was too slow for me so I picked up a Old Chainsaw my Father let me use that was a fire hazard in itself with its sputtering engine and taught myself how to use it,that’s where my Art Career really began publicly was with Chainsaw Carving in Vista. Throughout High-school I was doing Live Carving Shows at a handful of Events,Art Festivals,you name its and Especially with the help and cheering on of Tania Jaeger @twistedheartpuppetworks among many others in the Vista Art Community that will always be close to my heart with how they encouraged me to chase my dream step by step. My next venture was into Special Effects! I’ve always had a love for creatures and monsters in films like Guillermo Del Toros Works (Hellboy,Pacific Rim,Crimson Peak,etc.) And ofcourse Jurrasic Park,Jaws,etc. the ways you could make these creatures come to life in a physical way was so fascinating to me. I ended up being a Body Special Effects Artist making life size human props look real with different painting methods that I feel ended up coming in Handy with my Tattoo Career. I learned so many fun things and met some incredible Artists there but it wasn’t my true passion,Tattooing,and when I got the Opportunity for my Apprenticeship into that I didn’t hesitate to jump straight into it. Tattooing is one of those “old school” professions where you get mentored in by someone who’s been in the field for a long time,I was lucky to have a mentor who’d been in the industry with over thirty years experience. I certainly got a traditional Apprenticeship of cleaning the shop down to the tiniest spec of dust,running errands like my life depended on a coffee and washing my mentors car,etc. It was a fun,wild and grueling time but every bit of it was worth it and held it’s purpose,as Tattooing is alot more than just the Art of it. Eventually that paid off to getting to do my First Tattoo! On my lovely Guinea Pig Husband’s ankle no less! The pressure of a lifetime was on me that day but I knew it was the first step into the dream I’d been chasing for so long. After the first Tattoo came the second,and the fifth,till I lost count after a hundred tattoos and had been starting to build up my name and Clientele to being a full Tattoo Artist. Now things came to spreading my wings from my home shop to somewhere new and that new horizon was Dermalgrafix Tattoo! I fell in love with it the second I stepped into it,with its gothic cave decor,the plants in every corner,the skull fountain! I never felt so at home! Even my Clients and Artists I knew were saying “it’s like you as a Tattoo Shop!” How true that would end up being later. I truly grew over those next couple years of Tattooing doing bigger and bigger pieces and developing my style more than ever into the NeoTraditional,Nature and Decay thing that it is today. Now comes the opportunity I never saw coming as the Owner of Dermalgrafix,Elvis asked me if I’d like to take the reigns of owning Dermalgrafix Tattoo. It was always part of my dream to Eventually own a Tattoo Shop myself,but for most this chance isn’t until you’ve been Tattooing atleast a decade or so. I’ve been Tattooing Four years. Almost five years earlier than I ever expected ontop of being only twenty six and a Woman Artist. I’m truly honored that Elvis trusts in me to carry the torch of Dermalgrafix Tattoo and the future I’m so excited it will have with me. We’re now the only Woman Owned shop in all of North County San Diego! It has been a dream upon a dream to run a shop like Dermalgrafix Tattoo,It truly is a welcoming and calm place for everyone to feel comfortable while we make some beautiful Art together.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every Career has its Challenges,and Tattooing is certainly one of them. Its very hard to get into the Tattoo Industry,I’d go as far as even harder to as a Woman aswell. Finding a Apprenticeship that’s not secretly predatory is,unfortunately,nearly impossible. I had a few “opportunities” before my actual Apprenticeship that were exactly like this. Lots of “come over to my place on the weekends and I’ll teach you how to tattoo” if you catch my drift. Wanting to get into something professionally and being treated as a object is a extremely frustrating experience and something I hope to help deter in the industry for people moving forward. Being a Woman Owner of a Tattoo Shop has been interesting aswell,Tattooing is still a male dominated field as a whole,slowly changing to be more even as Artists,but especially Shop Owners tend to be men. So being a younger woman Shop Owner is out of the norm,doesn’t scare me though if anything I enjoy the challenge of doing something alittle different.
We’ve been impressed with Dermalgrafix Tattoo , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Dermalgrafix Tattoo is a Tattoo Shop based in Escondido,CA.
We focus on a calm,comfortable and fun Tattoo experience for people of all walks of life. We specialize in bigger pieces of varying styles from our Artists but still take walk ins as well if you’re feeling spontaneous. What sets us apart is our atmosphere,walking into Dermalgrafix isn’t like your typical Tattoo Shop. It feels like you truly opened the door into a fantasy world of cave walls,overgrown nature and gothic decor. Enjoy all the Artwork while sipping on some coffee or tea from our tea bar before getting the Tattoo you’ve always wanted with Artists that really hear and bring your vision to life.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
First Lesson:Find Something you truly love the Process of and you can do that for the rest of your Life. Not the subject your painting,drawing,Tattooing etc. Do you love the process? If you can enjoy all the little steps of that thing,you can truly love what you do without it feeling like a job.
The second lesson that I hold just as dearly is that everyone should feel safe and comfortable in Tattooing. There is no reason that a Client or Artists should ever feel unsafe or creeped out in something that should be a respected process for all.
Third Lesson,is honoring the history of Tattooing while also looking to the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dermalgrafix.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonhuntertattoo / https://www.instagram.com/dermalgrafixtattoo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BTsWnKKBX/
Image Credits
Photography by Jackie Bainto https://www.instagram.com/j.bainto?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
