Know Our Team of Artists

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Hi! I’m the owner of Body Branding Tattoo Emporium in Naples, Florida. Established in 1994, I have been affiliated with the National Tattoo Association since 1997 and am also a member of the Association of Professional Piercers since 1999.

I would say my interest in tattoos all began in 1976. It was in Stamford, CT. where I was friends with Tony Esposito, who was just getting started with tattooing. I decided to volunteer my arm and so wound up with my first tattoo. I watched him tattoo lots of people, well into the 80's, paying close attention the whole time. In 1977 I also wandered into Big Joe’s Tattoo Parlor in Mount Vernon, NY. Although I had no real thoughts of being a tattoo artist then, “The Experience” I had there had always made me say to myself, “I’d like to have a place like this someday. Chicks, Tats, bikes, and everything I liked, what can I say?

In the late 70's to the early 80's, I was collecting tats and paying attention to the artist. In those years, I studied several people's tattoo. “Shorty” from Port Chester, NY., a woman known as Lee Kutamsh in Bedford, NY., and of course, my friend Tony Esposito in Stamford, CT.

As the years went on, I had gotten lost in life. I had been riding with a club back then. I got married in the mid-80's and had two kids. At that point,I realized my kids would be in school soon, and the schools were not very good in that area. I was also working for the city of Stamford as an Incinerator Operator breathing in dust every day. I wanted something different as far as a job. So, in 87, we loaded up and moved to Naples, FL., sunshine, and palm trees.

Soon after arriving here, I started a bike shop called “Jimbos Hog Parts.”Little did I know the divorce was right around the corner, which had forced me to close my bike shop. However, sometimes a bad thing is really a good thing in disguise. I had to move out of the beautiful house I just had bought a year and a half earlier. The ex got it. Meanwhile,I met a girl who I became good friends with, Suzy, who was a person you could just talk to. Well,one day Suzy said, “Jimbo, you’ve talked about the experience you had with tattooing in the past, do you think you could teach me what you know about it if I buy the proper equipment?” So naturally,I said sure. She went out and bought the Spaulding & Rogers deluxe set-up with tattooing A-Z, Sterilizer, and all, we even got the Revolution Machine. Thank God we had an orange tree in the backyard. We tattooed 500 times more oranges than we actually ate off the tree.

As time went on, friends that seen the oranges all over the house started asking for us to ink them up. We followed Hucks Spaulding’s Book (Tattooing A-Z) like it was a bible. Local artists we studied like A.J. Johnson, now the owner of Looking Glass Tattoo in Bonita Springs, FL. And Ed “Cash” Coventry would come to Naples and do tats at Mickey’s Place. It was always a treat to watch him tat. He was definitely one of my inspirations, to aspire, to truly commit myself to this trade. Along the way, I also met Deano. At this point, Suzy wasn’t keeping up or being serious about tattooing, so I palled around with Deano for a while. I had set up a studio in my house and got a few machines from Big Joe. While Deano did the party scene, I didn’t like to move around as my set up was all in my house studio and sterilization in one of my biggest concerns.

During the day, I had a pressure cleaning business, andnights were spent in the studio tattooing. We were doing lots of work, but one night, out at the bar Deano said to me, “I bet you a dollar you couldn’t open up a legitimate tattoo parlor in Naples.” It was widely believed tattooing was illegal in Naples, butI took the bet. It took me almost two years of researching State tattoo laws as well as a localordinance on tattoos and fighting the county commission, but eventually, I got the call saying my license had been issued and I could open the first Tattoo parlor in Naples. That was in 1994.

Then the ball really got rolling, and I was open for business legally and still operating the pressure cleaning business. After four months, I realized I couldn’t be out all morning doing the cleaning thing and then coming to the parlor. I sold the cleaning business in 95 and strictly did tattoos from then on. A year or two later, I met Todd Vargas. He needed to work a little while he was visiting a relative in Naples. So I gave him a chair to work in. We got talking about National ne day. I wanted to become a member, so he put the call in for me while he was here. One of the other challenges I was up against was the growing demand for body piercing. So as fate would have it, Nemesis, a piercing shop owner from Seattle, WA. wandered into my shop and wanted a place to start out. So we made a deal. I would learn piercing from him while he got established in the area. After a year or so,I felt comfortable with the body piercing, and a shop came open in Ft. Myers Beach, so Nemises moved on.

Shortly thereafter, I heard about the Association of Professional Piercers and the strict criteria they have. I always like to be atthe forefront of the field, especiallywhen it has to do with sanitary issues of this trade. I forgot to mention we got the name for the shop because I was doing a little research on Branding. It wasn’t really popular in the early 90’s so I thought what a great name of the shop as I suspected the trendiness might catch on the East Coast. I have done quite a bit of it, but to this day, it is not a mainstay of our operation. And by the way, Deano finally ended up back in Florida and paid me the dollar bet made in 1992 in 2015 and now has a chair in the shop that came about all on a dollar bet. 

Hi, my name is Blake.

I started working in shops at 16 years old back in 2007. I had always had an interest in art growing up, as did most of my family. I was lucky enough to have an uncle who tattooed and pierced growing up in Wisconsin and he taught me a lot about piercing and cover up tattoos, as well as portrait tattoos, and those are the main areas I have followed suit in, although I enjoy working with all styles. I have worked in Wisconsin, Colorado, and Florida. I was running a shop up on Fort Myers Beach until Hurricane Ian came thru. But luckily Jimbo was kind enough to take me in here at Body Branding, and everything worked out for the best and has been great ever since. I’ve been piercing professionally for about 13 years, and tattooing professionally for about 11 years now. Lately, I have been focusing more on realism and portraits with my tattooing. 

Hi my name is Eric Von Dar, I grew up in Allentown Pennsylvania and started  my apprenticeship for Tattooing in 1980 with a well-known tattoo artist peter eagle.  I had a full extensive apprenticeship for two years, from 1982 to 1984 I worked with Peter eagle in Allentown Pennsylvania.in  September 1984 I moved to Chambersburg Pennsylvania where I opened up my own tattoo studio  Elite Tattoo LLC  I owned and operated that establishment until 2017  My experience starting my apprenticeship WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT FROM OTHER TATTOO ARTISTS, over 40 years of experience. when I first started my apprenticeship in 1981 learning or getting into tattooing was a secret society. Getting a tattoo by a good artist was a shot in the dark in that time. I just happen to go to the right place at the right time in Allentown PA,the artist name was Peter Eagle (God rest his soul) After receiving a couple tattoos from him he saw some talent in me. And asked if I could help out on the weekends in the shop. He then proceeded to tell me if I wanted to learn this trade I would have to devote all my time and be in the studio all the hours he is open. So we came to an agreement I would work in the studio 12 to 6 monday through Saturday and work at night bartending 630 till 3 AM . Monday through Saturday. Apprenticeships back in that time you did not get paid while you were in the process of learning. You paid him to learn. The first year your duties were signing people up cleaning the studio making errands talking to customers.  Six months into this process you would start to learn how to check needles with an eye loop we used number 12 sewing needles (later on we found and used stainless steel bug pins) and we had to make sure there were no burs or hooks on them, before we would solder them in groups of ones,threes, fives, and six flat for shading . That was the art and skill of making and soldering needle groups ,and soldering them on needle bars. Then you would clean them packed them and then autoclave them (sterilize)  After about nine months you would learn how to cut stencils with a pin vice scribe onto acetate (plastic) there was no paper stencils back in that time, we would rub graphite on the grooves on the stencil to apply to the skin. (Cutting stencils was I high skill job) you would also learn how to color flash and shade on flash like you would on skin (flash back then had no color ) Next I would learn how to mix color tattoo dye it was all in powder form except black. Back then you mixed it with Listerine and a little bit of glycerin.(except violet you used rubbing alcohol ) At about the year point you would learn how to take apart tattoo machines ( they are not called tattoo guns ) put them back together wrap coils, cut front and back springs, solder on capacitors, and then finally fine tune your machine. It would be over a year before you would pick up the machine and actually start tattooing and the first person that you Tattoo is yourself. My total apprenticeship was 2 years and the total price that I paid to learn how to tattoo was four times more than what an apprenticeship goes for today. But today it's saturated with all types of people tattooing ,some good and a lot bad. Remember today anybody can buy a tattoo kit everything is all pre made but most don't put the time in or the skill of learning how to really make a good tattoo . if you are price shopping you are going to get the value of your price  For your tattoo ,And you have to wear that forever.  Eric Von Dar,