With a background in art and a passion to find a career in a field he loved, Johnny Fletcher has worked as a tattoo artist for four years.
After painting for 16 years and drawing his whole life, finding work that allowed him to be expressive and be artistic was a no-brainer.
He sought out an apprenticeship and then began to work in Flint, going on to eventually work at Splash of Color Tattoo and Piercing Studio in East Lansing.
“I just decided that I was going to pursue a career that I was passionate about,” Fletcher said.
He said he hopes his passion for tattooing will one day allow him to travel the world, allowing him to show his tattoo art wherever he travels.
Covered in tattoos, without hesitation, he called the tattoo of a magnolia flower, dedicated to his daughter, his favorite.
He also had the opportunity to tattoo his younger brother, which he said was one of the most special pieces of art that he’s done.
Fletcher asks his clients about the meaning of their tattoos on occasion, and he said he’s touched the most by those that are memorials to a lost loved one.
“They capture memories,” Fletcher said. “They make memories at a glance of an eye. If you hold someone dear to you and you lose them, you get a tattoo to remember them. Every time you look down you remember them.”
Aside from hearing unique and special stories, Fletcher’s favorite part of his job is meeting people, along with spending time with the people he works with.
“It’s like a family,” Fletcher said about the atmosphere at Splash of Color Tattoo and Piercing Studio. “This is by far the best tattoo shop I’ve worked in. They really have it together here.”
Jon Leathers, another artist at Splash of Color Tattoo and Piercing Studio, said he agrees that the staff is very much like a family.
Leathers, like Fletcher, started tattooing because of his undying passion for art.
“I got into tattooing just because I have a huge love for art, and it’s nice that I can put something permanent on somebody’s body that they love for the rest of their life,” Leathers said.
