Brandon,
I’m writing to let you know about my recent experience at AON and with Dave Tedder in particular.
First some background. I’m not in the tattoo “culture” (whatever the hell that means) I just wanted a tattoo (my first) as a 50th birthday present to myself. While I always wanted a tattoo I just “never got around to it”. Mostly I was never impressed by what I was seeing on other people, never impressed with the flash I was seeing and just never saw anything, tattoo or artist that felt “right”.
I finally decided to put in the research and settled on Dave as the person I felt could best interpret what I wanted. I was looking to have two koi, in a loose Yin/Yang arrangement as well as my kid’s names in Japanese kana. From the first call to AON I knew that I had made the right decision. My first contact was with Di Quartel and she was extremely helpful not just with making the appointment but with an initial discussion about size, placement, etc. as well as reassuring me that I had indeed made a wise choice in Dave. She also took the time to just chat about other stuff and while that may not seem like a big deal, it went a long way toward making me feel welcomed.
My first session with Dave was excellent. He listened, looked over my reference material, and drew out a much better design that I had anticipated. I know that you, like most artists (including Dave), prefer to have total artistic freedom and I get that. If this were not my first tattoo I might have been inclined to go more in that direction. I was never sure how much of my input would become too constricting to Dave’s artistic abilities, but if it was, he never showed it. Over the next several weeks we met twice more and each time I was extremely pleased with how my tattoo progressed. It has been finished for about three weeks now and the colors have mellowed perfectly. Dave is indeed an artist in the truest sense of the word. When I say that this experience has exceeded my expectations you should not take that lightly. I came into this with very high expectations, given the reputation of Dave and AON but exceed them they did. Every time I came into the studio I was impressed with how friendly the staff was. I had an opportunity to talk with several folks there including Di, John, Max and on my last visit, your newest intern. Even online you have an excellent representative in Nicole.
Dave asked that I come back in after a couple more weeks to photograph my tattoo and I will do that. It has been a pleasure doing business with Dave and AON. I know you have heard often about the quality of your staff and studio, but I wanted to say as well that it isn’t very common these days to have the opportunity to be around so many professionals who truly care about their work and their art. I have no idea whether or not I will ever get another tattoo. It’s hard to imagine one that could hold up to what I just got. Just know that if I do AON has a client for life and I’ll do my best to steer others in your direction. Mad props to all.
Please pass on to them my gratitude for a job well done.
Steve Holley