Jay Wheeler got his first tattoo at a local ink spot, Eternal Tattoos. Years later he dropped out of the fine art program at Wayne State University to apprentice under Eternal's owner, Terry "Tramp" Welker and another artist at the shop, Kenny Narducci. After some time on the road (including a stint at Mario Barth's Custom Tattoo Studio in Graz this past summer), he’s now settled into Eternal Tattoos, where his technical ability and creativity have earned him a reputation as one of the area's best.
Jay's reproductions from photos or other artwork are dead-on, but he prefers the challenge of creating work from a client's original ideas. "I like working with the customer to produce a unique rendition of what they describe to me and then put it on skin." Although he personally prefers themes of a gothic nature, Jay's capable of laying ink in any style.
"I've never focused on one specific style or approach, therefore I think a lot of my work looks different from each other," he says. "This is OK by me, I like the variety. I've never intended on limiting myself to one style." Jay likes the challenge that diversity offers him. "Maybe down the road I'll push my attention toward a certain focal point. But not yet."
