About
Hello. I am BJ “SOBA” Johnson and Im a tattoo machine maker, painter and metalsmith living in Grand Rapids Michigan. I began tattooing in 1997 and finished my first tattoo machine in December of 1999. Im addicted to making things. I have a passion for learning and experimenting with any medium I can get my hands on. Due to my artistic attention deficit personality, it’s hard to stick with just one medium. It is also difficult to actually finish pieces, but I do my best.
The SOBAONE thing…. I feel I need to clarify- In the eighties, I was completely taken with skateboarding and graffiti. I had a few different tags over the years, but the one I used when I began to move away from being active in graffiti culture was SOBAONE. Graffiti is what lead me into tattooing. As a young tattooer and naive machine builder, I felt I needed to brand myself. I felt I should set myself apart from the pack to get an edge on success. What I learned gradually is that HARD WORK and STUDYING is what I should have strove for to set me apart. I was all about the packaging and the product came second. Big mistake. Never the less, the name stuck and that is what I use to market my wares. It is what it is. Today I am very much less interested in marketing my work, and very much more interested in perfecting it. Perhaps that comes with age- I don’t know…. But either way- Im not posing as a graffiti writer. Im not posing as anything. I love art, I love making things. I am the product of my life journey; and if a funny name helps you remember my work- well then, there ya go.
