Forney Texas Tattoo Artist Jerimiah Odom

Jerimiah Odom is currently working at Switchblade Tattoo in Forney, Texas off of Hwy. 20 and Helms Trail. He has been tattooing at Switchblade Tattoo for a few months now, along side the owner of the shop, Crystal Scott. Jerimiah Odom is a rocking tattoo artist and was gracious enough to take a break and let me ask him a few questions about how he got started in tattooing and how he ended up in Forney.

Odom is 38 years old and has been tattooing professionally for 2 years now. He was an apprentice tattoo artist at the Red Hot Shop in Arlington, Texas and worked for a while at a shop in Ft. Worth, Texas. Jerimiah said that he has been a collector of tattoos for 20 years and has always been around tattoo shops and tattoo artists. When you look at his picture that accompanies this article, you can see he has a lot of art on his body. He was a bar manager for 15 years and is also the lead singer in 2 local bands, Mitra and Secret Devil Sign. Mitra is heavy metal music times 100, where as SDS is metal music, not quite so hard. Jerimiah said, "I love music as much as tattoos, they are equally important to me."

He has always loved art and drawing pictures, even attending an art magnet school and the Art Institute. He specializes in "traditional stuff" and prefers to do custom tattoos rather than flash. He does color and black and gray, any size you want. He is also very good at doing cover-ups, so if you have a tattoo you regret, Jerimiah may be able to fix that for you. I asked him what is his favorite tattoo he has done for someone and he showed me a picture of a pair of blue overalls with initials on them. The tattoo wasn't hard to do but it is his favorite because the woman wanted it as a memorial to her dad who always wore overalls. He said, "I get excited when people are excited about their tattoo." I've seen some of the traditional tattoos he has done, and I plan on adding an original Jerimiah Odom tattoo later this year.

Jerimiah said he likes working at Switchblade Tattoo because, "It's a good little shop and there really isn't any competition out here." His fellow tattooist, Crystal Scott said this about Jerimiah, "He will have a conversation with the person he is tattooing. He makes you feel at home and he really wants you to like your tat and him so that you'll want to come back for more." I asked Jerimiah what he hates and what he loves about tattooing. He said, "I hate drunken people looking to get tattooed and I love the artistic freedom I have." He told me the 3 tattoos he is sick of doing and would love not to do again are Fairies, Yosemite Sam and the Rebel Flag. I jokingly reminded him that he is in Texas and has not likely seen his last rebel flag.

Jerimiah's advice to anyone looking to get a tattoo is to do your research, and look at the tattoo artist portfolio. He reminds you that you get what you pay for, "A cheap tattoo will look like a cheap tattoo." If you would like to read more about Switchblade Tattoo, check out my article at www.associatedcontent.com/article/1661667/switchblade_tattoo.html .

You can make an appointment with Jerimiah Odom or Crystal Scott by calling Switchblade Tattoo's phone at (469) 728-7244. The shop is located in Forney, Texas (30 minutes East of Dallas) at 9688 Helms Trail. The summer hours are Sunday 1pm-7pm, Monday-Thursday 1pm-10pm, Friday and Saurday, 1pm-Midnight. Give them a call for your next tattoo and let them know you read about them here!

Source: Writers personal Interview with Jerimiah Odom and Crystal Scott