by Chuck B Photos courtesy of Jeremy Harburn
From the June 2003 issue of Prick Magazine.
Illustrations by Jeremy Harburn.
Hidden deep in the Eastern North Carolina mountains
on the Cherokee Indian reservation is a tattooer and
artist that is making his name known throughout the
tattoo industry. His name is Jeremy Harburn and he works out of
Indian Ink in Cherokee, NC. and sells amazing flash through tattoojohnny.
com.
Jeremy received formal art training and earned a
degree in Commercial Art
and Graphic Design, but he
quickly became disillusioned
once he graduated with the
lack of actual drawing and
illustration that takes place
in the graphic design world.
Jeremy pulled away from it
and went back to working at
the local pizza shack in his
hometown of Waynesville,
NC. He did illustrations
inspired by many hours of
Saturday morning cartoons
in his spare time, trying to
sell them when he could.
One day he decided to go
into the local tattoo shop in
Waynesville, Forbidden
Color, and try to pedal
some of his art. Impressed
by what he saw, shop owner
Johnny Lance bought all the art
Jeremy had with him . Johnny
was so taken by Jeremy’s illustration
skills, he offered him
a free apprenticeship to
learn tattooing!
After two
years of training and tattooing
out of Forbidden Color,
Jeremy set out to see a bit more
of what the industry had to offer outside
of Waynesville. He relocated to Asheville and worked for Jay
Chastain and Mike Cole at Dare Devil Tattoo for about a year. (Dare
Devil is now called Empire Tattoo and is solely owned by Jay Chastain.)
After parting ways with Dare Devil, Jeremy ended up finding a home
at Indian Ink, in Cherokee NC. He has been there now for three
years, and has been tattooing for six years in total. His tattoo skills
are getting better and better, and he is able to pull off tattoos that
look just like the illustrations he does on paper. He has become as
good of a tattooer as he is an illustrator.
Illustration is still a huge part of Jeremy’s artistic drive and he is always drawing. Early
on in his career, Jeremy made friends with the already well-known artist/tattooer David
Bollt. David took Jeremy under his wing and has helped him sell flash on a national level
through tattoojohnny.
com.
"David has really helped me out and deserves a huge shout
out," says Jeremy. He would also like to thank Johnny Lance for initially introducing him
to the tattoo industry and everyone else who has helped him along the way.
Check out Jeremy Harburn in person at Indian Ink Tattoo in Cherokee, NC
or call him at 828.497.2640.
Check out tattoojohnny.
com to see more of his
flash and keep an eye out for him on the tattoo convention circuit.
