Bio

Santiago “Chago” Garcia

I graduated highschool in 2001 and started a very short job of installing cabinets with a few friends of mine. After a couple of days of that i got a phone call from another friend saying that she had taken a drawing to a local tattoo shop that i had done for her and the owner was very impressed and was looking for an apprentice. Knowing that i wasn’t enjoying this cabinet thing i jumped on the opportunity, i got home that night and put together a bunch of my drawings in a portfolio and went to meet this man who was offering me the opportunity of a life time. His name is Boots and he owns and still runs a shop in Kingwood, TX called Fine Line Tattoos by Boots. He flipped through my portfolio and told me i had the talent he was looking for and asked if i would have the dedication to pursue it, then asked when i would like to start, I replied “yesterday!” The next day i showed up at the shop and introduced myself to the other artist and was quickly shown where to begin cleaning. I cleaned and learned sterilization for the only for the first 3 or 4 months and was finally shown how a tattoo machine works. I immediately started calling friends to see who was brave enough to let me learn on them, most of my brothers friends were more than willing and I thank all of you guys for that. A few more months passed and i show up at the shop and Boots has a smirk on his face, “today you become initiated,” he says to me, “now pick out what you want on your head and prepare to shave it. I picked out some little vinnie mires flash of a set of crossbones with a jester hat hanging off of one of the bones. We shave the back of my head and i get tattooed. Yes it hurt. After this i was let onto the floor doing tattoos for the minimum price and started making money for the first time with tattooing. My first tattoo on a client was a butterfly that was blue and purple on a lady’s hip about the size of my thumbnail. Over the next few months i progress up being allowed to do larger tattoos as i felt comfortable. 1 year into it and I’m finally doing any tattoo i feel confident in and haven’t stopped progressing since. At my 5 year mark i have a short sit-down meeting with Boots and inform him that i am ready to move on and that i had began feeling stale and non progressive for a while and did not want to lose the love for tattooing. He understood, and i thank you too Boots for giving me this amazing opportunity. Now it’s 2006 and I’m in a new studio with a group of amazing artist that i looked up to, SuperChango Studio. Very quickly i progressed with all the inspiration and artistic motivation i received from the other artist. Since i have been with Superchango Studio i have had a client get an article in tattoo magazine and won a few awards. I have no plans of slowing down and hope to soon have an artist article in a magazine and handful of more awards. I have since moved to Colorado in breckenridge and work with an amazing group of artist at Godspeed tattoo.

Chago

2-17-11

September of 2016 I moved to durango and worked at your flesh tattoo. During that year I made the decision to take my tattooing on the road for a while, so keep an eye out for when I may be passing through your area.