Originally from New York City, Mike earned his BFA from Purchase College and an MA in Education from The City College of New York.
Prior to arriving in Hawaii, he was employed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and as an Art Teacher for the New York City Department of Eduction. In 2003 he and his wife Laura decided to relocate and settle on Oahu. Mike took a position with the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts where he was employed for the next ten years. The decade he spent with the HSFCA Mike had the opportunity to work closely with many of Hawaii’s local artists and various cultural organizations.
Working at the Foundation is where he was familiarized with the nuanced complex social landscape of Hawaii. It is also there that his love for Polynesian culture, art and design took root.
Laura and Mike founded Monarch Tattoo Studio in 2012 and he has been tattooing professionally here since the shop opened. Mike is well versed in many tattoo styles and open to working with your vision and ideas. At this stage of his tattoo career he’s comfortable working on small tattoos but is most interested in collaborating on large multi-session projects. Mike’s ambition is always to improve upon and refine his work. To complete a massive shark on someone’s back, stretching from the shoulder down to his or her hip; would be a major highlight of Mike’s tattoo journey. At this point all things are possible
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