Tattoo artist eyes parlour in Warwick

The Warwick man said he was blown away by the growing demand for the art form.

PASSION FOR THE CRAFT: After seven years officially in the industry, Tatt2Tom wants to build a Warwick parlour.

WARWICK residents have been begging for a local tattooist and one man thinks he may soon have the answer.

Thomas Carlin, better known as Tatt2Tom, last week signalled his intention to open a Warwick tattoo parlour within the next 12 months.

The response was astounding.

Working at parlours across Dalby and Toowoomba, the prospective businessman only recently moved to Warwick and has used that time to gauge local interest for the craft.

“I’ve been here about eight months now and tried to get feelers out, but I noticed no one is really around,” he said.

“So I thought I’d chuck myself out there and I haven’t been able to put my phone down since. There’s heaps and heaps of demand.

“I’ve done nothing but talk to people about getting tattoos since.”

The Warwick-based artist has created some incredible works over his career.

It comes as the only CBD tattoo shop Running on Ink closed in June last year.

Now just waiting on licensing approval and networking to get started, Tatt2Tom is confident the local demand is part of a changing perception of tattoos.

“The percentage of people with tattoos over 20 years ago, was ridiculously low at 10 per cent.,” he said.

“Now, 20 per cent of Aussies have been tattooed and it’s growing every day.

“Gen Y and The Noughties are fully exposed and open to the idea and that’s really cool.

“The growth is the industry is exponential.”

The prospective businessman said he wanted to impart his tattoos with meaning.

With more than seven years in the industry, Mr Carlin said his love for the art form began when he was 16 and a passion he took seriously.

“Whenever someone comes to me with an idea, I want to make it worth their time and money and make it meaningful for them,” he said.

“I want someone to go home and in 10 years still look at it and love it.”

Keep updated on the progress by following Tatt2Tom18 on Instagram or tatt2tom1812 on Snapchat.

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