WILD AND FREE AT NEPHEWS SKATE IN PORT MONMOUTH FEATURES NEPTUNE TATTOOERS

By Jason Thomson

Nephews Skate Shop is fighting the good fight up in Port Monmouth. The retail shop and gallery, which opened about a year and half ago by brothers Brian and Shawn Woodward, has been dealing with hard post-Sandy economic conditions as well as a stingy town government which has locked up the public skate park and refuses to return calls or answer questions as to why it remains closed. To keep things on the right track Nephews is hosting its latest exhibit featuring some local talent from Neptune Tattooville.

Wild and Free!!! opens Saturday, January 25th from 6 to 10pm and features work by tattooers Erik Schmidt, Lil Chris Smith, Pete Pedersen, Chuck Ordino and Brian Keinlen.

Erik Schmidt

“Erik has been tattooing in Neptune for several years after ‘doing time’ in Asbury Tattoo. He learned to tattoo under the guidance of Patrick Dean and Dave Shoemaker, following proudly in the tradition of those before him. His focus is clean, solid methodical tattooing, just like his mentors.”

Little Chris Smith

“Little Christopher Smith hails from Sandy Hook, New Jersey.  He enjoys a radical lunch, surfing hella waves, skateboarding with buds, and entertaining hot chicks.  You will usually find his best girl, Leche (his baby dog), at his side when he is not tattooing at Neptune Tattooville, where he works for the most gnarly awesome bosses Patrick Dean and Dave Shoemaker.  Little Chris, or LC as his friends call him, prides himself on his ability to get wild and loves his mother like all radical dudes do.”

Pete Pedersen

“Pete has taken the long road at achieving his tattoo skills. His background in art of all mediums has proven to be vital in his development as a tattooer and as an artist. Working at print shops, screen printing factories, and in the fields of photography and graphic design all eventually lead to his discovery and love for tattooing. After spending much of the late 1990s loitering around Jersey Shore tattoo shops, Pete finally landed a job at a local shop as a body piercer. During his time working as a piercer, he started to acquire much tattoo knowledge under the guidance of Jim Weiss (now at Black Panther Tattoo). An opportunity to fulfill another dream of playing music fell in Pete’s lap right around the same time and he took a brief break from the tattoo world to peruse his passion in music, all the while still working as an artist. After a few years on the road, Pete decided he needed to get back to his original passion of becoming a tattooer. His chance came in the way of a job working as the shop manager of Neptune Tattooville complete with an apprenticeship. There he learned to tattoo under the guidance of Patrick Dean and Dave Shoemaker, following proudly in the tradition of all those before him.

Chuck Ordino

“Chuck got his start in this shady business by apprenticing with Vinny Kapelewski, a Neptune native like himself, at Sinister Ink (now known as Revolver Tattoo) in New Brunswick.  Upon completing his apprenticeship, he went on to work with Vinny and Joshua Disotell at Broken Heart Tattoo in Keyport for 5 good years before settling in at Neptune Tattoo in April of 2010. When he’s not watching the Cooking Channel, listening to sludgy doom metal or teaching his son Lucas how to “color inside the lines”, he is constantly woodshedding; trying to simplify and refine his work, and strives to apply a clean, solid tattoo.”

Bryan Keinlen

“Back in high school some friends and I started a punk band. Being the artist I naturally took on the task of inventing what would be our logo, and then went on to design all of our record covers, T-shirts and whatever other merchandise I could think up. More than 20 years of the Bouncing Souls has gone by like a million lifetimes and yet seemingly in the blink of an eye. Creating music and art has remained my means of expression all throughout. When not busy with the band, I tattoo at Neptune Tattooville in Neptune NJ.”

Nephews is located at 183 Main Street in Port Monmouth.  

This entry was posted on Friday, January 24th, 2014 at 12:59 pm. It is filed under ART. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.