In 1995 Guy was first a customer of the studio. He walked into the shop and has not left since! He fell in love with the field. After about 5 tattoos Scooter invited him into the shop to apprentice. He had seen something in Guy that convinced him that he had the “right stuff”. Guy put a few coins down and took Scooter up on the offer. Little did he know what was in store for him! He started out mopping floors, sterilizing equipment, and watched how every different type of tattoo was done. He did Scooter’s color washes and put on more stencils than he ever could image. Most of all he was loyal. He always came to work early and never once left when needed. He also worked full time outside the shop. 

   In between the stencils, color washes, cleaning, he attended tattoo seminars, shows, and grew in knowledge. Being an apprentice is no easy job. Scooter, the owner of the shop then, was old school all the way. This was back in 1995 and to even get through the front door a person had to maneuver themselves around Harleys and big tattooed bikers! Scooters’ life was ink, bikes, and his family. He was patient but when angered a person just needed to clear out. He had his way if doing things and did not stop until they were done.

   The longer Guy was around the more he learned. The more he learned the more Scooter would challenge him to know even more. When he finally was given an opportunity to tattoo, on a living and breathing person, he took to it like a fish does to water! His friends and family donated more and more skin to him. After each tattoo Scooter inspected the work with a magnify glass, literally. After he explained the aftercare to his clients they would go into the office and talk. Often he would feel frustrated and be left wishing he had sharpened a certain line a little different. They talked about the whole tattoo.

    After a year and a half he finally graduated! He burned through his apprenticeship. He took the good, the bad, and shaped his own destiny. He worked hard and after a few years became the studio manager. Scooter continued to challenge him when he was promoted. His responsibilities grew and he then learned a lot of the things that had nothing to do with tattooing. There may be one day he was giving walking papers to a lazy tattooist, or going to a radio station for a show. Each day always had something new to it. He learned that tattooing also taught him a lot about life. It was his life.

    In 2003 he was offered a partnership. Both Scooter and he had a lot of the same visions. Scooter had always discussed different ideas and plans for the business with him. As part owner he learned the inside running of a tattoo studio. The phone calls, bills, and things he never first imagined. Things only a small business owner learns. Scooter always told him that a day would come where he would make Guy an offer on the shop, and putt away on his Harley. He was not sure if Scooter really meant it. Then he would be questioned about being “ready” for that day. In the mean time he just kept inking and the two of them ran the business. He married, became a father, and he dealt with life one day at a time. All a person has is the 24 hours they live each day.

   In 2006 that day did come. The two talked and Scooter made him an offer that was very generous. As he looks back at it now he could see how Scooter had taken years to prepare him for it. He said that he was getting up there in age and still had goals outside of tattooing to pursue. His wife Bobbi and he wanted to open up a small internet company. He was a pretty decent photographer and Bobbi was selling her watercolor paintings quicker than she could paint them. After selling Guy the studio they went on to open “aStouffersArt.com”. He also felt a calling to try and mentor with troubled teens.

   The day he and Becki purchased the studio was a proud moment of his life. He learned that through hard work, loyalty, and perseverance that anything could be accomplished. He did not wait around for life to find him but went out and found it. He did question himself in being able to keep the studio successful. The last thing he wanted was for Bobbi and Scooter to see him fail.

   He did not fail. He again looked at it as a challenge, but more in personal ways. There were many times he questioned why Scooter would have him handle different things. When he took the ruins he knew why. Every thing Scooter put him through was for a reason. It prepared him to not only be a professional tattooist, but one who was considered to be one of the best in Central Wisconsin. His clients sometimes travel many miles. Some of his clients have been tom Poland, Sweden, England, Italy, and Mexico, in addition to many different states of America. Even during this present economic down turn his clients are finding ways to keep him busy. He specializes in custom work or can make a piece of flash look better than the design. Flash designs get a bad rap from some shops. (Flash is a wall design picked for a tattoo) Artists must know ever style of tattooing. Shading, color, tribal, not just be knowledgeable in only a few styles. The art of tattooing and making others wishes come true is his passion. Whether it’s a bannered eagle design picked off the wall, or a custom tribal the client brings in. He and his wife Becki have taken Expressions Ink to a whole new level. His love of going to shows and exhibits’ continues. His work has received both news print and television recognition.

   So if you’re thinking about ink give Guy a call. If it’s your first tattoo you have found the right studio, Expressions Ink is known, throughout the field, as excelling in customer service.  As soon as you meet with him you will know why!  Take a look at his work and you will see why his customers keep coming back!

Click here to see some of his work!