Dadahell
I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil.
Then in 1993 I fell into an apprenticeship at a local shop ran by Dee W. Bryant – a little miracle on a busy strip mall plaza, with a McDonalds nearby that I could use to wash and brush my teeth each morning. I appreciated the opportunity to learn the business of tattoos and how to apply my art onto skin. It was during this formative period of my early development that Dee unfortunately passed – I didn’t get the opportunity to finish my apprenticeship, or to thank him for giving me a chance.
At this junction I decided to hit the road to learn what I could, meeting lots of amazing tattoo artists and asking lots of good questions.
I traveled Canada and Europe, looking for ways to develop my skills. As I was perpetually broke during these years, I made my way around by selling drawings on napkins, coasters, or whatever my patrons had on hand. My drawings eventually brought me to France, and to the door of Francois Tatouages. After several hard years in the wilderness, Francois’ shop was a sanctuary – as my adopted mentor, Francois provided me the tools and environment for refining my craft.
I have since made my home in Montreal. Here is where I met and worked with tattoo artist Dave Knight, who inspired and helped me transition into modern illustrative large scale work. I am thankful to Dee, Francois, and Dave (and scores of others) for supporting my development and pouring fuel onto my fire.
I appreciate your interest in my work. Designing and tattooing takes time and effort, so I limit the amount of projects I take on in order to provide each client with my full attention. I do not use a waiting list, and do my best to engage with new clients in a timely way. As I am the only person operating this shop, I appreciate your patience with my response as I try to respond to each request.
Please follow me on Instagram to see new work. @dadahell
Interviews
A first in Canadian tattoo history. A story that relates the lineage of custom tattooing in Canada. 7 years in the making, 9 episodes, 30+ years of history and 1 great story.
How do you tell a story like the evolution of tattooing in canada? It’s a multi layered, overlapping timeline of pioneering efforts by outsider artists at a time when society deemed the craft repulsive, criminal, deviant. It’s an elaborate black hole of first hand stories and tall tales embellished by time and crusty raconteurs.
And as surely as they were pioneers they were birthed into a dark craft practiced by their mentors and hero’s, men with mysterious and wild life stories mostly lost to time. Like pirates, their legacy is fabled. Who were these titans on the vanguard, pushing a sailors folk art to become a custom craft that we take for granted today? Long before the instafamous tattoo influencer, decades before the explosion of tattoo tv and globally recognized tattoo artists there were a few dedicated practitioners living on the fringe, bringing their creativity to an ancient medium, and exploring its possibilities.