Artist Statement:

Being from a military family, I grew up a wharf rat moving from state to state every couple of years and have been all over the country. I’ve always loved The Arts in all Its forms learning to draw as well as play the guitar from a young age. Fancying myself a pantologist I am a voracious reader, love tobacco and caffeine as well as my animals. Having graduated from the School of Hard Knocks Summa Cum Laude, I then attended the University of South Alabama to study Anthropology. Deciding to take some time off to “find myself” I withdrew, moved back to Lafayette Louisiana and went to work on dive boats in the Gulf of Mexico. Always intending to go back to college, instead it was my great fortune to land an apprenticeship at a tattoo parlor in 2003. I’ve been tattooing ever since.

In my humble opinion tattooing is the perfect blend of art and craft. I prefer to work in the traditional style of bold lines, heavy black shading and bright, solid colors. My only ambition is to be respected by my peers and plan to tattoo until the wheels come off. As a custom tattoo artist, I work in many mediums including digital, cyanotype and acrylics but mainly watercolor. Painting tattoo flash is unique in the fact you paint it for one reason; to sell the design as a tattoo as many times as possible.You can always try and sell the original painting or make quality prints but a tattooers bread and butter, obviously, is making tattoos. Generally, my subject matter pertains specifically to classic time tested tattoo designs but on occasion I do paint larger pieces that may or may not have some social or esoteric commentary. Mostly, I just plain paint for the fun of it.

Chad A. Norris is a tattooer and entrepreneur based in Lafayette, Louisiana at AAA Tattoo and Piercing. Find him on Instagram @norristattoo.