Dëus

Hell, where should I begin?

I guess the beginning is as good a place as any.

Over two decades ago, I started piercing myself because I could not find a piercer that I trusted or one who could answer my technical questions about the various procedures I wanted. Since knowledge is a key fundamental of this practice, there was the only course of action open to me….some called it the path to self-mutilation but others called it knowledgeable enlightened self-adornment.

After a ton of research and more than a bit of trial and error, I was working on myself, and eventually on my friends. And before I knew it, I was working on their friends also. Then complete strangers, and so things started to gain momentum. By 1990, the underground piercing scene had begun to take off and I set up a small in-home studio to work in.

Around 1993, body piercing started to climb out of the gutter and into tattoo shops around the world. I chose to follow and become a “professional piercer”, so I got in on a shop gig, and I have never looked back. Well, now 27-plus years later, I am still here doing my life’s calling. Having been fortunate enough to have met, picked the brains of, and become a colleague and/or friend of some of the pioneers (You all know who you are…and THANKS, I owe it all to you folks!!) of body piercing, jewelry design and metallurgy.

If there is one thing I have learned in this career, you never, ever stop learning. Each client can present their own unique issues, challenges and chances to learn, and they should be approached with that in mind.

Regardless of how long I have been piercing, I have found there is always some innovation in procedure, jewelry design, or material being used just around the corner, waiting to be discovered.