Fatherhood could mean a lot of things to different people across the globe. It can be a grandfather taking their grandson to the park. An uncle helping their niece pull-out their first loose tooth. Or simply a father, who shows nothing but love and support for their child, and will do anything to make them feel safe and happy. Whoever your father figure may be in your life, today’s the day to celebrate them.
Happy Father’s Day to all you Tattoo Daddies!
This Father’s Day we asked a few of FK Irons’ ProTeam dads on what it’s like to be a Tattoo Daddy, and raising their kids around the industry. The responses were not only sweet, but pretty darn cute too.
Our first proud Tattoo Daddy is Jess Cavazos. Besides focusing his time on tattooing incredible realism pieces, he also spends his time with his 3-year-old son.
“Raising a child in the tattoo industry, in my opinion, is a unique and awesome opportunity to show your kids that you can do what you love and never feel like you’re working,” said Cavazos. “I actually took him to his first expo when he was just 9 months old, he was a hit with everyone that walked by.”
Introducing his son to the world of ink is just the tip of the iceberg as to how Cavazos shares his artistic side. Currently their favorite way to stay creative is designing pieces on his iPad, and coloring his favorite cartoon characters in his coloring book.
“I'd be lying if I said I didn’t want him to follow in my footsteps of being a tattooer,” said Cavazos, “tattooing could provide him the opportunity to make his art and still maintain financial stability, but honestly I support anything he wants to do.”
Another proud Tattoo Daddy is Javier Antunez, who’s raising two daughters in the industry, and according to him, it's been nothing but an amazing experience.
“Things that normally kids would freak out about is so normal for them,” he said. “I love it when they watch me tattoo and ask a bunch of questions about the process, and nothing is better than when my daughters correct my clients, ‘of course it hurts, daddy is tattooing you.'"
"This has to be my favorite," said Antunez, "how at home my girls feel when they are at the shop with us. It's amazing to see them grow!"
Antunez hopes his daughters will follow his footsteps and become tattooers, but only if it comes naturally to them.
In fact, if there’s one thing he hopes his daughters will learn from him is this piece of wisdom:
“To choose happiness over wealth,” he said, “wealth comes when you chase happiness, but happiness does not follow when you chase wealth.”
Although most of our Tattoo Daddies have some adorably young children, each has mentioned that they would be honored to tattoo their child in the future - once they’re of legal age of course.
But for our third Tattoo Daddy, Joey Hamilton, he might get tattooed by his 3-year-old son later in the future. He loves to design and color tattoos on him, but this is just one of the ways Hamilton spends time with his son.
“Every night when I get home I try to take a walk with my son,” he said. “Just so I can have some good time to connect with him and reflect on the day.”
Joey Hamilton and his 3-year-old son enjoying their walk together.
