In the world of tattooing there are literally no second chances. Las Vegas tattoo
artist and Skin Design Tattoo owner Robert Pho begs to differ, as his artistic and personal life are both testaments to the virtues of starting over. A product of a rough Los Angeles upbringing, it took the utmost of tragedies for this phoenix to resurrect himself Suffice it to say Robert has clearly been through things that have broken most men, and despite his childhood Robert’s strength remains a quiet resolve; you won’t get this guy to wax about the past or glamorize street life. Instead he is moving forward, a far cry from the frustrating times of his adolescence, which led to a few poor decisions that ultimately left him incarcerated for seven years. While other aspiring artists were receiving classroom lessons and taking inspirational trips to the Getty, Robert was behind bars and even worse- between a rock and a hard place.
To survive, Robert began work in a hobby that would ultimately become his life’s calling: tattooing. Self-taught under the harshest of conditions, he began to nurture this skill, although not the way he would have liked. “I really wish I could have done an apprenticeship and not been so self-taught,” he laments. What he lacked in resources and sanitary conditions, he made up for in creativity and respect for the art form. Little did he know that an activity to pass the time on the inside would eventually become his lifeline on the outside. Unbeknownst to him at the time, a conversation with an old friend would guide the newly-freed Robert into his life’s calling. “I had a friend I grew up with that started his own shop in North Carolina. After visiting him for a month, I relocated my family there and lived for six years, studying and working as an artist.” Beyond the escape from the LA. rat race, the shop’s $200-a-month rent was also quite welcoming to the financially struggling Robert. His business acumen bloomed as he learned the ins and outs of what it really takes to maintain clientele and a shop, unfortunately another obstacle would come his way. “My father was killed,” he says in a somber tone that resonates with the las Vegas desert sunset. “1 had a hard time dealing with it, and I decided I needed to be closer to my LA. family. I had my son and daughter to think about too. It was a really stressful time, and the one thing that got me through was my art.” Robert chose to open a shop in Las Vegas, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Robert’s professional life has come full circle and more than flourished in the process. Customers fill his Skin Design Tattoo shop with requests that keep him booked for months in advance, and we mean really booked. “A lot of guys say they are booked up, but they don’t tattoo like I do. Three to six months in advance to me means that I work 6 to 7 days a week, from morning to night,” he says exhaustedly “Most days when I wake up, my hand is pretty sore,” he says with a laugh. “190 through a bit of cramping before I begin each day, but my hands are my livelihood, so I have to take care of them especially because I know each session means so much to my customers.
And it’s not just the customers who are flocking to his shop. As a testament to his work
ethic and his talent, Robert attracts quality artists too. “When I opened the shop, it was intended as a private studio, but I was losing a lot of money to walk ins. I added a couple of booths, and I have apprentices who work under me. I’m on my fourth apprentice, Paco, and I’m really happy with him. I hope to eventually have more artists so that I can take more time to myself, but that’s just a future business move,” he explains. Besides his willingness to learn and share techniques with his peers and up-and-coming artists, Robert’s reverence of the artwork within his profession keeps him extremely focused. He is constantly looking for ways to improve his techniques in order to deliver the highest quality of art possible to his many customers. “I can’t pick a favorite,” he says of his many pieces. “Each one means something different to the customers, so I feel a certain honor and obligation to give them exactly what they want.”
Long removed are Robert’s days of staring at walls and wondering what possibilities lay beyond them. The walls Robert stares at now are the walls of his shop, which hold rows of trophies, plaques. and photos, each one a tribute to his love for his craft, though he doesn’t like to talk about these either. “They weren’t something I set out to win, they’ve just come over the years, and they’re great because they show a certain amount of respect, I suppose; but they don’t define me.” His humility is only equaled by his determination, Robert steadfastly remains a student of the needle. “I just want to grow as an artist,” he says. The concept of growth is definitely one that Robert embodies both professionally and personally. It’s as if his growth as an artist is symbolically painting his growth as a person, too.
The shop itself is also growing, though it was shaky at first. I started the shop in 2005. It took me about four months to get it open because of the zoning laws, and it was tough because I also didn’t know anybody for
the first year. They were coming after my house, my car couldn’t work to pay for anything.” Robert says. “I never had any thoughts of going back to hustles, because family comes first, and I would never make any mistakes to jeopardize my family” Fighting city and county laws is nothing new for
tattoo shop owners, who constantly face tougher sanctions than most other businesses, due to the common misconceptions about the profession and the negative stigma of the clientele that comes along with it.
Despite his initial ordeal, Robert’s grind has obviously paid off, as Skin Design Tattoo has since been covered in the pages of trade magazine and sought after in the convention circles. Robert receives tons of fan mail, many of it from people in the unfortunate circumstances that he had since shed; he cherishes the letters deeply.
“just wish I had enough time to answer each one,” he sighs. “I really wish that the people writing them knew how much the letters meant to me.”
Robert is even set to be a judge for the first time at the TattoolaPalooza convention next year in Miami. His commitment to the art form of the tattoo is only getting stronger with time, and his commitment is unlike anyone else’s we’ve ever seen-heis laser-removing about 60 percent of his body’s previous tattoos “I just know how many great artists there are out there, and I want to have better tattoos on me than the ones I got when I was young,” he says with a smile. We don’t know about you, but while we love a lot of artists, we don’t know if the excruciating pain would be something we could endure for them. For those who don’t know, Robert breaks it down: “I’d say I’ve had about 10 or 12 sessions, and the pain is brutal, it’s really intense. The longest anyone can stand is probably like 15 minutes; it moves really fast. It burns your skin, it pops, you can smell it burning, you just have to hold your breath; it’s really tough” Don’t worry; just like he has all his life, this gifted artist will undoubtedly survive the pain. He will do so in the name of art, and he won’t even be tattooing himself once the process is done. “T have the skill to do it myself, but it would mean more to me to have some of the guys! look up to tattoo me,” he says with pride. Spoken like a true artist.