Mario Gregor was 26 when he got his first tattoo in Thailand. Later, when he moved to New Zealand, he wanted to know what it would take to be a tattooist. He went to a tattoo shop to find out and they told him he’d need to be able to provide a portfolio of drawings before they could even talk.

At the time, Mario was an engineer. So, he continued to work while drawing whenever he had free time, “every little break at work I had a pencil in my hand.” He managed to gather the funds to purchase a solid tattoo set up and began tattooing his own leg. As an immigrant, he didn’t have many friends in the country, so he didn’t have canvasses (other than himself) to work on his craft absent of an apprenticeship.

Two years later Mario had tattooed his entire leg from his toes to just above his kneecap. His portfolio of drawings had also grown, not to mention gotten much better. When he learned that a shop was opening up locally, he went in to ask if he could work there. Mario was thrilled when they said yes. He began working as a professional artist in September of 2012, starting with letters, feathers, and other more simple tattoo designs. As soon as he began to publish his own designs, it spiraled into larger tattoos that gave him more artistic freedom. He laughs, “By the way, I am still happy with my work leg.”

Mario and his partner just opened The Gallery Custom Tattoo in July of this year. Half of the studio is a gallery showcasing original artwork from local artists, and the other half is the tattoo studio. Currently, Mario is the only artist. He loves the space and it suits the clientele. It’s clean, spacious, and art focused, “we want to focus on art itself,” Mario says, “treat people with respect and provide them with custom design artwork.”

Mario loves creating realist and abstract tattoos. He enjoys merging the two styles together. A lot of his work is influenced by watercolor painting and that’s what he is most known for. “I love the sharp difference between these two styles. I love recreating realistic images on skin, following the stencil and shapes. On the other hand, I love to go completely out there with freehand tattooing, wherever the needle takes me.”

He’s inspired by artists like Ivana Belakova, Pepa Heller, and Ondrash. He admires many other artists as well but told us he couldn’t even begin to list them all.

When he’s not tattooing, Mario loves to ride motorbikes (R1200GS at the moment). He also enjoys trail running, eating healthy foods, and spending time outdoors with his partner, Ceara.

Mario’s advice for people planning their first tattoo:

“Be patient and choose the right artist for the right job. Size the tattoo well to suit your body and do not request to copy other people’s tattoos.”

Mario’s advise for aspiring artists:

“Perseverance, patience, and hard work will get you places. Mix in a little bit of talent and more hard work. And learn, learn, and learn something new every day!”