YouTube docuseries profiling several Tampa Bay area tattoo artists
Tampa Bay tattoo artists featured in new docuseries
Some Tampa Bay tattoo artists are in the spotlight. They are sharing their stories in a new docuseries. FOX 13's Kylie Jones gives us a peak into the series and the story of one featured artist in Tampa.
TAMPA, Fla. - A docuseries on YouTube is featuring the stories of several tattoo artists in the Tampa Bay area. The 10-episode series, "Skin Deep", profiles tattoo artists around the country.
The backstory:
Josh Adams is a filmmaker by trade, but he has a passion for art, specifically, the tattoo industry.
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"Once I started seeing like what tattoo artists were actually doing, and people that are not only pushing like, the boundaries of the art form now, but also you look back at like, the history of the art form is just fascinating," Adams said.
Adams wanted to combine his two passions into a docuseries, sharing the backgrounds and stories of artists around the country.
"Somebody that's choosing such like, an alternative kind of career path, you know, you've inherently gone through so many experiences that most other people haven't," he said.
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Adams traveled to Las Vegas, Columbus, Ohio, Atlanta and the Tampa Bay area to feature artists and their shops, and show how they're helping shape art scenes around the country.
"Telling their stories and kind of sharing a little bit about why they do what they do," he said. "And, I just I hadn't really seen it in the way that I wanted to see it."
Adams wants his docuseries to go beneath surface level and show how the tattoo industry brings people and communities together.
"It was really important to me that every episode has, like, a little piece of something that's deeper in there," he said.
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Local perspective:
Adams, who used to live in St. Pete, said the Tampa Bay area has a rich and creative art culture. He visited the shops of Amanda Hargett at Momentum Tattoo, John Kural at DC Society Inc., which is co-owned by Dave Bautista and Suzi Rue at Plantas Y Tinta.
"Her perspective as a creative in general and as an artist was so eye-opening," Adams said.
Rue originally moved to the U.S. from Cuba as a baby. She's been in Tampa for 21 years.
"My parents always told me to not get a tattoo, so like, of course, it like built a natural, you know, interest, because they were so against it," Rue said. "So I was like, 'Well, if it's so bad, it must be awesome.'"
She always felt a draw to create and channel her artistic spirit.
"I've been painting and drawing since I was 11, 12 years old," Rue said. "I started when I was in middle school. I got really into it. I had a great art teacher and I just never looked back."
Rue now brings her visions to life through the tattoo gun at her shop, Planta Y Tinta in Tampa.
"Getting tattooed is kind of scrapbooking your life," she said. "You're always going to remember the time and place and how you felt when you got it."
Rue serves as more than an artist, becoming a trusted confidant for her clients.
"I feel like I carry the stories of my clients," she said. "I like to say I work intimately with the public. I get to know people very quickly and very deeply, and I get to understand them in a way maybe even some of their friends don't."
What they're saying:
Rue said her job goes beyond the glitz and glamour of a finished product you see on someone's skin.
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"It's a lot of messiness," she said. "It's a lot of imperfection."
Rue said each tattoo has a story behind it, and they represent influential moments in her life. Her story began when she first came to the U.S. and fell in love with art.
"I think it was a story of perseverance and going for what you want because I probably wouldn't have had that opportunity before had we, you know, not been able to come over here," she said.
What's next:
Rue is featured in the second episode of Skin Deep, which is streaming on YouTube now.
Adams says a new episode will be released every Tuesday through December 16. He hopes to feature different artists around the country in a second season.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered through interviews with the docuseries' filmmaker and a Tampa tattoo artist.