Tattoo artist and one of the stars of TLC's "Miami Ink," Chris Garver is recognized for his skill and talent. He has tattooed celebrities and civilians alike, with a waiting list months long. The Pittsburgh native who grew up in the city's East End studied in Japan and is considered an expert on that style of tattooing. He now lives in Florida where he continues to perfect his art while appearing on the reality series. Mr. Garver will be in Pittsburgh next Monday at the Hard Rock Cafe for a Friends of CAPA benefit. He graduated from the school in 1988. For tickets, call the Hard Rock at 412-721-4320.

Q: If you had to remove one of your tattoos, which would it be?

A: Um, let me see. [laughing] I don't know. I guess it would be, maybe not. I don't know? I guess it would be the one on my head.

Q: How many do you have, Chris?

A: I don't know. I haven't counted them recently. I got my first tattoo when I was in high school. I was about 16 or 17.

Q: Are you still happy with that one?

A: Yeah, I mean the colors aren't bright, but it's still a pretty cool image. It's a dragon, so that's pretty timeless.

Q: What is the average age of the people you tattoo?

A: Actually, nowadays I would say the average age is 30 to 35. I don't tattoo anybody who is under the influence. Most people who get tattooed by me have to wait at least three to six months. So they pretty much have time to figure out what they want to get, and they are pretty serious about getting tattooed by me.

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PG audio

Hear this interview with Chris Garver in podcast form.

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Q: Who or what turned tattoos so mainstream?

A: I think it was a lot of factors that came together all at the same time. The quality of the art starting to get a lot higher in the 1990s. Then a lot of people in pop culture started getting tattoos, so that made it [more acceptable]. You know, once a celebrity gets tattooed that sort of opens the floodgates. The TV shows definitely made it more popular. I got into tattoos because a lot of my favorite bands had tattoos.

Q: I'm thinking of the famous Angelina Jolie tattoo of her ex, Billy Bob Thornton, that she had removed.

A: Actually, a guy that I worked for did that tattoo. [laughing] I think the safest bet when getting a name [tattooed on you] is to get your children's names or your parents or grandparents because you are always going to love them, and that's not going to change. For somebody to get their boyfriend's name or girlfriend's name, that's probably not the greatest idea. Actually a lot of people think that's kind of a curse.

Q: Are there any parts of the body you refuse to tattoo?

A: I wouldn't really recommend getting tattooed on your hand, neck or face or anything like that. I wouldn't want to tattoo somebody and have it affect their life in a negative way. I think if you have a tattoo on your face it's going to be really hard to get a bank loan or rent an apartment. [laughing]

Q: Does anybody get the anchor tattoo anymore or the heart with mom?

A: Actually, the traditional tattoo designs are really popular again. When I started tattooing, everybody wanted a tattoo that didn't look like a tattoo. But everything comes back around, and the classic tattoo is still very popular.

Q: What about the Asian and ancient Oriental symbols and letters that were so popular?

A: One thing that's very interesting, I tattooed in Japan for about six months and nobody had Japanese writing on them. They all had English writing on them, and a lot of times it was written wrong. I think that happens here, too.

Q: Do you get a lot of calls for people wanting to do memorials on their bodies for loved ones who have died?

A: Actually, I don't do that very often. I did it a lot on the show "Miami Ink," but in real life, it's not a thing that I do. They tried to cast people that had more of a tragic story because it was good for ratings. I tattoo people who like the beauty of tattoos.

Q: Have you ever seen one of your tattoos deformed by weight gain or a rash or just old age?

A: If somebody gains weight and then they lose a lot, part of the tattoo could fall into a belly roll or something like that. So you know it's a good incentive to stay in shape.

Q: What about old age and when the skin loses its elasticity?

A: It will affect the tattoo. I have done new tattoos on older people, and they have really great skin because the colors are really bright because their skin is very thin.

Q: Have you tattooed yourself?

A: I did my first tattoo on myself just so I could show people my work. I did that one on my ankle.

Q: Do you have a favorite on your body?

A: One of my favorites, I got a koi fish in Japan by like one of the greatest tattoo artists, Horiyoshi. He is about 60 years old and has done about 100 people's entire bodies. It's on my leg because my arms are pretty much full, unfortunately.

Q: The body tattoo -- do you have to have one pattern in mind or can you do it piecemeal?

A: In Japan normally what they do is the whole back first or at least outline it. It is supposed to be one artist does the entire body so the whole body will have the same style to it. A lot of people want to get tattooed by a different person [for every tattoo]. Sometimes that can flow together nicely if the artists know how to combine other people's work into theirs. But a lot of people will just get such random stuff, and a whole body full of it just looks patchy.

Q: Do tattoo artists sign their work?

A: I prefer not to do it because I think my art is already my signature. If they want to prove that I did it, then they can maybe take a picture of me tattooing them. [laughing] But I think it's weird to write my name on other people.

Q: OK, so how painful is it?

A: Everybody has a different threshold of pain, and every tattoo artist is different in the way that they tattoo. I think it's a pretty bearable pain. Once you get over two or three hours it starts to get pretty sore. I think anything up to an hour, as long as it's not on a really painful area like the ribs, it's usually bearable.