Tim Lehi's large-scale tattoos and body suit designs borrow from traditional Asian imagery and metal madness , but are flavored with his own brand of classic Americana. Beginning with bones and band logos in his garage more than a decade ago, he has seen significant changes in today's tattoo culture.

A 1990's Midwest mainstream music music mix with a heavy influence on 80's metal, gore and death images prevalent in album art and band member's tattoos laid the groundwork for Tim Lehi's artistic inspiration. By the time Tim was 16, his nonstop doodles and detailed renderings had him cranking out flyers for local shows with plenty of skulls and zombie horror influences. It was then that his art became a permanent mark.

Armed with a homemade tattoo rig, Tim's first self-inked tattoo was (of course) a skull. Once he got going, there was no shortage of human canvas for him to adorn as news of a high-school classmate slinging ink traveled at light speed.

At home, Tim's dad was an artist and a professor in Winfield, Kansas. Living just a stone's throw from Wichita, Tim visited shops to get tattooed and hung around to soak it all in.

Tim was well on his way tattooing in a home studio with all the bells and whistles of a street shop. The good fortune of being on the Oklahoma border, where it was illigal to get tattooed, brought in some colorful characters. One such gentleman was about 80 years old, and as they chatted and tattooed he told stories of his musical past. He was still playing in the famous country swing band of Bob Wills in Tulsa. Done with his tattoo, the old man picked up his guitar and put on a show for an audience of one.

After graduation, Tim hit the road and really honed his skills working in shops in Amarillo, Texas, Arizona, and eventually ended up at Tim's current home base in San Francisco's BLACKHEART TATTOO. Tim can also be found tattooing at conventions around the country, and occasionally in Europe.

Tim's response to the total tattoo experience is expressed with his understated exhuberance, "Today TATTOOING is part of EVERYTHING from reality TV to clothing." Speaking simply from his heart, he says, "I like it a lot."