Shane Munce

I started tattooing in 1998. I graduated in 1997 from the University of Delaware, with a bachelor’s degree in fine art.

While in college I went asking around for three years for apprenticeships in tattooing. I had been piercing at the time for four years thinking that would be what got my foot in the door. Unlike today there weren’t four tattoo shops per city block and a majority of the tattoo shops that DID exist were usually biker oriented still and “didn’t want no damn piercing in this shop.” They were too “busy” doing tribal tattoos to take on some little skater kid and teach him the ropes.

My first experience was landing a job in a crappy shop in Southwest Philly as a piercer. The owner had some kind of God complex and would always say I had no chance as a tattoo artist. Through all the crap I was dealt, I stuck in there hoping that I would finally get a chance. A few months later I got canned for subtly telling the apprentice he had misspelled a name before tattooing it. BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME. I then continued my search for an apprenticeship for three long months. I was almost to the point that I was going to take my dad up on an offer to get me into drafting with a job offer from Boeing. I then met Brian Ulrich at Living Arts Tattoo in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and for not knowing me....he sure changed my life by giving me a means to start my career.