In the late 90′s, the Bizarro tattoo crew was formed, a weirdo, productive, and true art crew of four. At the time it was formed at Sacred in downtown Oakland there was only four of them, with room for another tattooer. I was tattooing at Industrial Strength in Berkeley at the time. The Bizarro Crew at Sacred was Kicker, Karl, Lil’ D, and Vinse. I looked up to them but was intimidated to walk in there because I felt that I needed to research more about the history of tattooing, design ethic and formula, and machine tuning. I never met anyone there except for Vinse because we went to high school together in Fremont, but I wanted to walk into Sacred and pick their brains. The Bizarro tattoo that I wanted to earn is only done by one of the four Bizarros, the tattoo is on the left palm, is an all-seeing eye and triangle, and has five lines above it, one for each Bizarro, and I wanted to be the fifth. Through my want to be one, I worked to make a better tattoo, learned my tattoo history, and learned more about my machines. After painting and drawing everyday, reading, and fucking with my machines I felt like I was ready to walk into Sacred and try to talk to the rest of the Bizarros, that crew reminded me of the movie Young Guns where they say, “Regulators, mount up, but you cant be any geek off the street, you gotta be handy with the steel to earn your keep!”

Through years of the rest of the Bizarros working at Sacred, and me tattooing at Industrial, they spread out before I was able to walk in there. I watercolored everyday but something just wasn’t right, I knew that I wasn’t doing it properly. after a few years pass Lil’ D starts tattooing up the street from me at Industrial so I take the chance and introduce myself. I walk into the shop and Lil’ D is watercoloring. I watch him paint, and start to pick his brain, he was more than willing to tell me how he watercolors. Usually in this craft the answer is always no to another person that tattoos, unless you know that they are a tattooer and care. What Lil’ D showed me that day is what changed my whole perspective on watercoloring, I felt like he taught me how to do it right, and still do,thank you Lil’ D.

One day, drawing at Industrial, a tall, fully tattooed man walks in to say hello to his buddy Bert. Bert and him have been best friends since their childhood in southern California. Bert says his name and I think, oh fuck that’s Kicker, and run to my tattoo room until he was gone because it was like stage fright to me. After traveling around for a bit, I hear Kicker tell Bert that he is tattooing at Sacred again. He then leaves, then I continue to draw. I finally build up the courage the next time Kicker comes in to talk to him. He then shows me his script, and I show him my lame excuse for mine, and he says stop by Sacred and I will help you with it, I was exited, even though I never did. Kicker then tells me “If you want to cover some shifts down here at Sacred you can.”

“I’m on it,”I said. Tattooing at Industrial gave me the time to learn the right way by order of myself, but working along side of Kicker at Sacred made me have the want even more to be a real tattooer. Kicker and I would always go back and forth with our drawings, and tattooing in general. I felt like I had finally reached that point but Vinse, Karl, and Lil’ D were gone. Then Kicker moves back to southern California, and Matt Howse starts at Sacred. Matt and I fed off of each other with tattooing, he had the want just like I did. Then in early 2005 Matt and I drive down to Southern California to visit Kicker, and get tattooed. The day before we leave back north Kicker says, “Devon, notice how there is five lines above the all-seeing eye on the Bizarro tattoo? There is only four of us, I want you too be the fifth, I just need to ask the others first.” I was so exited, then Kicker calls Vinse before he starts the Bizarro tattoo on my left hand, he gets the okay, then starts. That tattoo only took 5 minutes but if hurt so fuckin’ bad. It is such an honor to be a part of Bizarro, and it’s weird to me that I have this Bizarro tattoo on my left palm. Before I was shot I would tell people that were left handed, had an all-seeing eye in their forehead, then I get shot and am now left handed, with the all-seeing eye Bizarro tattoo that I got in 2005. Hail the triangle, thank you Kicker, Lil’ D’, Karl, and Vinse.