The story behind Kirk Dewaele’s tattoo

Photo of tattoo

When did you get it?

I got it done on Friday June 26th, 2015.

Where did you get it done, artist’s name, costs?

I got it done at Blood, Sweat and Tears Tattoo Shop by Jeremy “Sloo” Hamilton. It cost me just under $400. Jeremy’s rate is $120/Hour and worth every penny. He is a very skilled and talented artist.

How’d it go down?

I had been looking to get this tattoo done for a while and after reading your post a few months back on the Axios Charlotte about who I should be following/creeping on Instagram, Jeremy’s page jumped out at me because of his impressive portfolio of work he had previously done. I immediately shot him an email and set up a consulting appointment at the beginning of June to discuss exactly what I was looking for and placement of where I wanted it. I was lucky enough to get an appointment a few weeks later because of a cancellation that day. About a week before my appointment, I sent him a few images of the buildings I was looking for from both Charlotte and Calgary and he drew it up. On the 26th I showed up at 4:00pm, Jeremy showed me what he had come up with, I was blown away and the rest, as they say, is history.

What other design did you consider (what was your 2nd choice)?

I didn’t have a second choice. I knew what I had wanted for awhile and Jeremy was able to make it happen.

What’s the story behind it?

The image was inspired by a mural in our gym at MADabolic Inc. that one of our former trainers and local artist Matt Hooker (@hookermedia) did for us. I wanted to incorporate the logo of our gym (which I already had tattooed on my arm) with the skyline of both Charlotte and my hometown of Calgary AB Canada. Charlotte was/is our first location (we have 8 now) and the birthplace of “The MADness” and Calgary was obviously the birthplace of myself… You see what I did there 😉 After seeing Matt’s mural for the first time I always thought it would look badass by combining the 2 cities and getting it permanently placed on my body.

What’s next?

I’m not sure. This was my fourth tattoo so I am sure I will come up with something. The idea of getting a full sleeve intrigues me. I’ve always been a big fan of portraits as tattoos as well and I have toyed with the idea of getting both of my kids faces tattooed on me from when they were both 2 or 3 years old. As of right now this idea is what I am leaning towards most for my next addition.