You have probably seen Antone Pham's artwork in your travels around town. His pieces have a very distinctive "classic meets modern" feel, wildly colorful, yet invoke a feeling of "way back when." The places that you may have seen Pham's work were most likely on someone's arm or leg, perhaps the lower back of that girl standing in front of you on line. Antone Pham is one of Houston's leading tattoo artists.
What He Does: Pham has been permanently marking human bodies at the Texas Tattoo Emporium for the last ten years. While Pham is considered by most a tattoo artist or tattoist, he considers himself just an artist overall. Tattoos as just "body art" have changed in our recent culture with the introduction of mainstream attention from reality programs such as Miami Ink and L.A. Ink, among other "ink"-named programs. Houston has many noted tattoo studios and Texas Tattoo Emporium is one of the more popular locations, dating back to 1997.
What Inspires Him: Pham is inspired by the world. He finds inspiration in the everyday moments in life. "Images, music, real life and very much others" are what arouses his passions. "I try very hard to get inspired." says Pham. "Drawing is a habit and if I do not do something about it, it will tear me to pieces."
If Not This, Then What: If Pham weren't in the profession that he so loves, he might try his hand at a "normal job," but would still feel compelled to have art as a part of his life, working as a "poor painter or illustrator." Pham could also picture himself as an engineer. Either way, if he weren't tattooing he would probably be working in a career that his "parents had actually wanted him to do!"
If Not Here, Then Where: If Pham weren't in Texas, he could see himself as a "weird, hippy traveler, going to see the world or doing some sort of artistic missionary." His motto on life is that the more people live and ingest the art that that the world presents to them, be it visual or writing, they will become that much stronger as people.
What's Next: "I'm not sure," Pham honestly acknowledges. "I want to do more personal work this year or something charitable for my community (Montrose), but who knows? Only time will tell."
More Creatives for 2012 (In order of most recently published; click here for the full page). Susie Silbert, crafts Lauralee Capelo, hair designer Marisol Monasterio, flamenco dancer Carmina Bell, promoter and DJ ReShonda Tate Billingsley, writer Kiki Lucas, choreographer and director J.J. Johnston, theater director Mary Margaret Hansen, artist Richard Tallent, photographer Viswa Subbaraman, opera director Emily Sloan, sculptor and performance artist Sonja Roesch, gallery owner Enrique Carreón-Robledo, conductor Sandy Ewen, musician Camella Clements, puppeteer Wade Wilson, gallery owner Magid Salmi, photographer Carl Williams, playwright