Pogue Mahone Tattoo Company

Jay Wymbs has an art appreciation that’s probably not rivaled by many. With an affinity to fine detail, all tattoos at his Red Bank, NJ shop are custom drawn. You won’t find Flash anywhere on the premises of Pogue Mahone Tattoo Company. With a background in cartooning and comic illustration, it comes as no shock that the man takes the practice of drawing quite serious. With being raised in the golden era of punk rock and metal, along with spending a substantial portion of his childhood in the midst of tattooed-adorned bikers and musicians, saying that ‘Jersey’ Jay Wymbs has ink running in his veins would be an understatement.

Chris Jirau: What's the coolest thing about being a tattoo artist and the most difficult?
Jay Wymbs: The coolest things have to be the people and places I get to meet and see. I’ve been very fortunate to travel to places I thought I would never see. The most difficult thing has to be being a family man. Sometimes the late hours and traveling make being a father and husband quite strenuous. We all manage to adapt to the crazy lifestyle being a tattoo artist entails. My wife and kids love what I do and I’m thankful to have them in my corner.

CJ: Explain how tattooing allows you to express your artistic ability.
JW: When I was younger, I drew a lot of macabre imagery. Most folks didn’t understand why I would want to draw such disgusting themes. I on the other hand really enjoyed horror movies and monsters. One of my drawing teachers hated my work and would criticize me daily. He would say things like, “You’ll never make a living drawing that crap.” Little did he know that there is a huge market of horror fans and many of those people want to emblaze these images on their skin. To me, that shows an amazing dedication to the art forms both film and tattoo. Now as an older and a little bit more matured artist, I like to be able to allow my creativity to flow from within. I no longer sway to one style. I enjoy being able to produce whatever the minds eye sees and creates.

CJ: What's your tattooing specialty? (Black & white, portraits, etc...?)
JW: Pleasing the client. I try to remain versatile with all of my designs, whether it’s Japanese or Americana traditional, all the way up to color portrait work and everything in between. I’d like to say I specialize in cover-ups. I have won multiple awards in that area of tattooing as well as many awards for portrait, realism, best color, horror themed designs, oriental design and Celtic design. My main philosophy in tattooing is to make clients happy in their own skin. My studio is 100% custom design and 100% disposable materials. We draw everything we tattoo. We carry no flash to pick from. At Pogue Mahone Tattoo Company we focus on the quality of our art and more importantly, customer service. Everyone here believes the best way to make your client happy is to treat them with respect and to be treated like a person, not a walking canvass. Each client’s needs and desires are special and important to them. We do not judge a person based on how they want to adorn their bodies, whether it’s a small generic tattoo or a custom full body suit. Each person is an individual and should be treated with the utmost respect.

CJ: How did you get into tattooing? How long? What's your artistic background?
JW: My mom was friends with musicians and bikers and my granddad was a Navy man. Tattoos were commonplace in my household. I was into punk rock and metal so tattoos seemed very normal to me. I’ve been an artist as long as I can remember and tattooing seemed to be the right place for me to express myself artistically and personally. I’ve been tattooing since 1991. My background in art was mainly cartooning and comic illustration. A lot of the formulas in those two areas of art carried through into tattooing so it was a transition that I felt comfortable with right away.

CJ: What are the advantages or disadvantages of tattooing in New Jersey?
JW: That would depend on how you run your business. We are not a street shop. I have worked in street shops for most of my career until opening Pogue Mahone Tattoo Company. I find that the street shop mentality leaves the artists waiting for customers to come in. Here in my studio, we do take walk-ins but mainly work by appointment. This allows us as artists the proper amount of time to create the design and fine tune it over and over until we and the client are happy with the final result. I think most clients nowadays don’t want to wear something for life that only took 15 minutes to draw. Tattoos are for life so the artist should take his time and create the most exceptional piece of art that their talent allows.

CJ: Are you treated like a legitimate businessman or is there still a tattoo bias?
JW: The only way to answer that is to say yes to both. Lots of people still want to stare and point but once they get to talk to me, I make them realize that we are not criminals or drug addicts. I speak to them very properly and quite knowledgeable in the field. I do my best to keep it professional and hold my opinions to myself. Most people are intrigued and happy to know that we are adorning fine art to the masses and not just shotty unclean work that we hear horror stories about.

CJ: Any artistic projects outside of tattooing? (Painting, graffiti, etc...?)
JW: I paint with oil, pastel, charcoal and graphite. I also have a degree in graphic design so I’m comfortable with digital design as well. A few years back I had the awesome privilege to work along side Freddy Clouston, who worked the floor for Tom Devita. Freddy pulled me out of my ‘non-creative, you’re just a tattooer’ funk and reminded me that art flows from within. The only limitations are the ones set forth by myself. Since then, I try to find new avenues to express my desire to create. R.I.P. Freddy, your message will always keep me inspired.

CJ: How old were you when you got your first tattoo? How did people/family/friends react then? How do they feel now?
JW: Some of my first tattoos were hand poked kid stuff. My friends and I would steal a bottle of India ink from art class and do hand pokes under the bleachers during gym class. Kind of a teenage rite of passage type thing. I got my first professional tattoo on my 18th birthday at Gene’s Body Art World in Asbury Park, NJ from an artist that went by the moniker ‘Rebel’. I had to call my grandmother to come pick me up when it was done and boy was she pissed! For the years to come, with every new tattoo, she would ask to see it, tell me I’m a jerk and that I belong in the circus. Now that I make a solid living doing what I love, my family is fully on board. Most of them now want free tattoos.