Hello my name is Dom, I also go by “Mob” as well. I’m going to keep this pretty simple and sweet and get to all the good stuff….. let’s be real, knowing me it’ll probably come out longer because I am just all too chatty. 

  When I was young from the time I could remember, I always took a liking to anime. Which inspired me to draw, because I was always convinced that I would be an animator, or a manga artist. As we grow older, we understand that sometimes the dreams we pick aren’t always as achievable as we thought.

  The one thing I did know for sure is that I always wanted to make a dream and living out of my art. From around 2013 to about 2017 I took a big liking to the Music Festival and arts scene. My first festival was Rootwire 2013, they had an art gallery and an array of artists who created paintings and other mediums live in front of the stage and crowd. I was just so enchanted and inspired by this concept I had never seen before. I knew then and there what I wanted to do and how I was going to network to get in that position.

  Around 2013 We had a production company called essential productions (EP for short) that threw many shows and festivals around the Cincinnati and Covington tristate area. The music would the range from jam band, electronic, to funk and Bluegrass. From there, I started to make connections and meet people that would soon become a part of my life forever. I reached out to EP eagerly to try and get a position as a live painter for the shows and festivals to come. From about 2014 to 2017 I had painted and showcased my art to about 40 festivals and 100s of local and out of town shows. My main style was anime with a psychedelic twist. I eventually decided to take a permanent break to pursue other things in my life that would financially stabilize me.

  To be very honest, I didn’t get my first professional tattoo until 2019. I absolutely fell in love with it as most people do. I started collecting art from many different tattoo artists, including one artist, Vince Dibiaso, who was there by my side throughout my whole live painting experience. I told myself for so long that I could never understand how you could take a request from somebody and bring it to fruition and put it on their skin. But it didn’t stop me from drawing and asking questions to artists on how to get understanding about it. In 2020 that’s when I made the decision to knuckle down and try to pursue an apprenticeship.

  In 2020 that’s when I met Noct Miller. I was raising money online for the BLM movement and she noticed me and thought that was very sincere, so she wanted to try to give back the best way she could think! She saw my very poorly done tattoo on my thigh and and offered me a free cover up. I couldn’t believe that an artist so talented wanted to be kind and offer her time and resources to turn a mistake into gold. When I met up with her at the appointment, I started to discuss how I was wanting to pursue an apprenticeship and showed her some of my art. She went out of her way to give me really good advice, and even kind of hinted that she was going to be ready to take on an apprentice in about a year or so.

  Come 2021 I couldn’t believe it, but she hit me up and offered to come do a trial run to accept me as her apprentice at Haven tattoo gallery. A few months later, she made the permanent decision to take me on!! So many people down the line had asked her prior, and she chose me. And I tell you what, I felt like I got the golden ticket. I’ve never met someone so kind, intelligent, patient and thorough. Her fire only adds to my fire, she has been such a positive influence in so many ways in my life. I don’t think I could’ve gotten luckier with an amazing friend, mentor, and sister.

  So that’s how I ended up as a tattoo artist. She gave me my official certificate of passing my apprenticeship in May. We’ve been operating out of our private booth, Nocturnal Tattoos, since August 2022. And together we will grow and continue on the path of achieving even bigger dreams and goals! If you made it this far thank you for reading.