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Kore Flatmo is the guy you've never heard of, but everyone else is talking about. The guy whose work you can't recall having ever seen before, then, once you do, almost wish you hadn't 'cause it's so unbelievably immaculate. You think I'm kidding don't you, or maybe just exaggerating a little bit, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought too when a handful of well respected artists were saying those same things to me about this guy's work; then I went to his website and I began to understand.
After several emails and many excellent phone conversations, I realized even more: Kore is that guy in the tattoo business that you WANT to know; the guy that inspires you to excel in every area of your life: artistically, technically, ethically. I found him to be a very intelligent, well spoken, thoughtful, humble guy and his character shines through every word.
I am privileged to be presenting Kore Flatmo's first tattoo interview. This "Silky Fly Catcher" is on the rise and I predict that you'll be hearing a lot more about Kore and his work over the next few years. Kick back, relax, and prepare yourself for a real artistic treat.
Let's start with the all the basic shit. How long have you been tattooing?
Eleven years.
Wow, I'm not surprised because I see the quality in the work, but I am surprised that people are just now hearing about you.
Yeah, well, the years go by and you just kind of get into a niche and stay there.
How did you start to break out of that niche then, how did you get the word out about your art?
I've always had very good friends in tattooing who were a whole lot better than me and they encouraged that early on. But little by little, I would get good work in shops, and the base just grows. It really changed about six months ago when I put the stuff on the website, that's how it all started. And I just have to do it now, I have no choice...I mean, I'd rather just focus on the doing the work, but you don't get the customers without the exposure. The whole point of it - with the website and flash and with the interview even - is to get more work. I'm really grateful for it all and the goal is to find more clients who like the stuff.
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How did you break into tattooing?
I have to say that I kind of backed into it. I started working on Hollywood Boulevard selling T-shirts in the tourist shop and they did tattooing in the back. One of the tattooists was looking for an apprentice. I really had absolutely no intention ... I really had no interest in it until I got involved and even then, I was pretty unsure how I felt about it for about five years. I think that's what stalled my progress. Then I realized that I got lucky (laughter). When I started seeing it as how lucky I'd gotten, I saw how hard people were trying to get into it, but couldn't. Rick Cosmo, who had worked at Sunset Tattoo, invited me in to tattoo and I am forever grateful. It was the Sunset ideas of machines, application ... just everything, that I learned and that proved so useful. I was very fortunate to be exposed to that early on and for being connected to it now through many other artists.
Where was it at that you learned all that?
Purple Panther Tattoo ... M. Alder, do you know her?
No, but I have been to the shop, back in '93.
Yeah, they've been there for around 11 years. I started the apprenticeship right when they opened the shop. In fact, the first three months of the apprenticeship was actually redoing the inside of the shop. And they were kind enough to keep me alive ... I didn't actually pay for the apprenticeship; they let me work it off. They were very generous. And getting involved with M. Alder, she'd always been as fair and generous as anyone I've met in tattooing. I got really lucky in that sense. That painting, "Ten Years," was a commissioned painting for their anniversary that I was flattered to be asked to do. I feel kinda tied to Purple Panther, even now.
How long were you in Hollywood?
A little over three years. Then I came out here (Cincinnati, OH) and met Dana Brunson and his family (Designs By Dana). He had, at that time, like 23 years of experience, and he is just very sincere about tattooing. They know so much and helped me so much and treated me very well. Thee interesting thing about all this is that they are really close friends with the guys at Sunset Tattoo. We're lucky because Greg James and Robert Benadetti (both from Sunset) will come out and we get to watch them work and they talk about tattooing - we're just lucky to be around people like that. My girlfriend tattoos and works for Dana. I also met Mike Dorsey (of Permanent Productions) and worked with Mike for about three or four years, and then I split and opened a private studio. So, we have a really good core group of tattooers in this area, but we're also swamped with those who are not, and that's unfortunate for everyone.
 Tattoo by Kore Flatmo.
Where is your shop at and what's it called?
I'm still in Cincinnati; PLURABELLA is the shop name. I'm really happy here. The set-up is wonderful. I have like two walls of windows. It's great. The rents higher than it should be, but it's so nice I can't move ... and the Silky Fly Catcher name is for the website and paintings.
Do you do just custom work now or what?
Yeah, it's just a private studio. I do like one tattoo a day, so I have time for other stuff. Like a year ago, I didn't tattoo for a month - I was just painting ... and some of that was due to a lack of business, but I had time to paint. Lately I've been pretty busy.
Who else had an influence on you in tattooing?
Mark Mahoney (Shamrock Social Club) ... just his attitude ... and the best stories I've ever heard in a tattoo shop! Clay Decker (True Tattoo) was very supportive and pointed out that it's just very important to always get better. Then you'll get recognition from the better artists, and that's the only kind of recognition that's important y'know? Everyone's famous to his or her own customers (laughter). When you get the recognition from the people you respect, that's important. He was always a big influence on me ... and he kind of brought me and Mike (Dorsey) to our senses. His approach and his attitude ... like I said, I've really been lucky. I used to work with Bob Vessels (now at Funny Farm Tattoo) at Purple Panther and that guy, watching him work ... I've seen what people can do when they're really talented and sincere. He never took pictures, and everything was so together. Everyone else kind of acted like tattooing was easy, but put out only average work. Bob came in day in and day out and did beautiful work and left and went about his business. That showed me that if you didn't focus so much on your portfolio or flapping your gums you could build something solid. That's why I stopped taking pictures. All that energy being spent on what other people think about your work rather than on the work itself. And I believe that if you are sincere and do good work you will get more work. I saw how these guys could handle themselves and stay professional.
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 Paintings by Kore Flatmo. |
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(L-R) Collection of Jason Schroder, Collection of Crash, Collection of M Alder, Collection of Joe Capobianco. |
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What's your focus now? I know you do those incredible paintings.
Right now, I'm really fortunate. I'm doing bigger pieces - sleeves, backs, legs, torsos - so, it's drawing and composition that are the focus. Whenever I do larger stuff, I do the concept drawings really small, like the body layouts are 10 inches high, and that forces me to keep it simple. That's what I'm most interested in.
How much time do you spend doing other types of artwork?
Uhhh ... all my time (laughter). I draw constantly ... well, I have a lazy streak a mile wide, so let's just say I draw a lot; 'constantly' would be a fib. And I have a very small reference library. I just never collected the books. Everywhere I worked, they had great book collections. I think everyone knows now that the books are what really forms the basis for the images that you're going to be doing, and then you personalize them from there.
What other kinds of art do you do?
I do a lot of pen and ink, graphite on mat board, the watercolor stuff - which I haven't done in about six months - I just kind of hit the mat on that and needed a break. Before that, everything was charcoal. The flash has gone over really well ...on buytattooflash.com.
That place has a ton of excellent flash, lots of artists. I haven't looked at your flash yet. I'll have to check it out.
Well, that's what started it all. Last September, the guy - Mike Gilpin, who does the buytattooflash.com - asked if I'd be interested in putting my stuff up there and it just went really well. I'm actually working on something new now ... just like this series of these poster sized flash sheets each focusing on one type of imagery. The first poster is just skulls from all different angles. And it's more for the artists to hang near their stations and use it as reference when they need to draw stuff. The second one will be all roses.
And hopefully they will be good learning tools.
Yeah, hopefully. I think that the reality is that even the ass end of tattooers need to learn more and put out better quality stuff. My own standards were incredibly low until I saw Bob Vessels, until I saw Greg James - the craftsmanship of these guys, the ability, and the effort - I don't know how you could not try at that point. It seems that the standards have just risen so much in the last few years, and it's great; you just can't slack off anymore if you want to be successful. Don't get me wrong, I got into tattooing for probably all the wrong reasons and I am incredibly grateful now. I had a great streak of good luck that's lasted 11 years now and only seems to get better. So I feel that everyone has the right to learn how to tattoo, but once you start, you have a duty to do it the best you can and learn about it; be sincere about tattooing and not just trying to cash in on it.
Whatever you do, be sure to visit Kore's site to check out more of his work. The tattoos are really breathtaking and he's got tons of paintings and drawings for sale there. He even does commissioned watercolor work when time allows. Home based in Cincinnati, OH, he works in LA quite a bit and is planning an Atlanta trip soon, perhaps around convention time.
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