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Atlanta, Georgia

Tony Olivas—Sacred Heart Tattoo

By Bob Baxter with photographs by Bernard Clark

Tony Olivas is one of tattooing's most-revered black-and-gray artists. Gaining a foundation from single-needle pioneers Jack Rudy, Brian Everett and Freddy Negrete, Olivas's main shop, Sacred Heart, in the Little Five Points area of Atlanta, reminded us of a ski lodge with its high-peaked ceilings and smokin' barbeque grill on the porch overlooking the tree-lined street below. It was quite a gathering, with chicken and ribs on the grill, lots of friends and family and customers coming through the door with fabulous tattoo art to photograph.

Many of Tony's artists have been with him for the better part of a decade. Tony himself has been tattooing for thirty years, and just two years ago formed a partnership with his shop mates, making it a true family affair. Tony began tattooing, poking by hand, when he was fifteen in Arizona. His older brother, Henry, ultimately presented him with a homemade machine, which Tony used for about ten years. And then Tony relocated to Dixieland Tattoo, working with the late Adam West in Panama City Beach, Florida. Tony then went to work at Ancient Art with Jerry Reiger and J.D. Crowe in Virginia for a couple years and then opened his own shop, Ancient Art (Crowe let Tony use the name), located in Stone Mountain, Virginia. Then, almost two years to the date, Olivas came up with Sacred Heart, which he has operated in Atlanta for fourteen years. Tony now owns five shops in Georgia, one at Little 5 Points (the flagship Location), Norcross, Centerville, Warner Robins and Austell.

"My older brother got me into tattooing," Olivas told me. "His godfather, Fernando, Uncle Theo I called him, was in the Navy and heavily tattooed. He was on the cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis that was hit by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine and went down midway between Guam and Leyte Gulf during World War II. He was one of the survivors, with the sharks and all that. So when I was young, I heard his stories saw his tattoos. That's how I really got turned onto it. My brother, Henry, said, "You can always draw," so I started tattooing on my buddies by hand.

"I come from a typical Mexican, Catholic family and they were against tattooing, actually, so the first fifteen years were pretty rough. Then, when I worked with Jerry in Virginia, I flew my mom and dad out and my dad was like, "Well, this is a job," and they started to accept it. I won awards and they began to realize that I wasn't wasting my time. Remember that tattoo exhibit in the Museum of Natural History in New York City? Well, I had a photo of my ex-girlfriend, Je T'aime, as part of the exhibit for about eight months or however long the exhibit was, and I called my grandmother and told her, "I have my art in a museum," and she wished I were doing something different, but she accepted it.

"The hardest part of tattooing, to me, is finding good employees. Loyalty. Knock on wood, I have a really good crew. It took a lot of years to get them, so it's not just about me, it's about them, too. It works because I treat everyone like family. That's why we have our logo, Viva La Famiglia. I really live by it. Sure, we fight and argue, just like family, but it works. We have a good crew. And all my partners have been with me for over six years. Some as long at thirteen years.

"Although I've laid the foundation and have been around awhile, there's a lot of new, young artists that really push us. They've been doing incredible stuff. Like, they've only been tattooing five years? I don't know if it has anything to do with equipment, even though it is better nowadays, more colors, things like that. It's mostly the talent of the individual. I just think these kids are amazing artists by birth. There are some that need to learn a little respect for their elders, however—I don't mean me personally—just people in general. They need to learn that, if you work for someone, respect the store. If you are an owner you can understand why we are so hard, why we are the way we are. It's because we have to pay all the bills.

"People like Jose Lopez are just taking this industry by storm. Take Deano Cook here in Atlanta, for example. His work is just phenomenal. It's funny, because I did his first tattoo. His work is just breathtaking, and he's a great person besides. And the same goes for Cap Szumski. Cap and I go back tons of years. Back then, there wasn't really anyone to keep me on my toes. But when Cap came out here, oh my God, he's a black-and-gray artist and he really kept me on my toes. Same with Deano and the guys from 13 Roses, they're all here in Atlanta and they're phenomenal. They don't let you get old.

"Not because I'm a black-and-gray artist, but I personally think that black-and-gray is harder to do than color, because with color you can compensate with a lighter color to make your shade. But with black-and-gray, you have to be on it. If not, you're not going to get it right. It's easier for me because I've been doing it all my life. I didn't know any better, back in the day. I'm not a color artist. I tried, but it's not for me. Deano does it and somebody else does it, but that's for them.

"Me, I was inspired by Jack Rudy, Brian Everett, Creeper, Freddy Negrete. I learned style from them. I got to know Jack and Brian, and hang around them more than the other guys. They showed me their little techniques, which stopped me from overworking the tattoo. I was fortunate to be in a position where they helped me with that. A lot of kids didn't have that opportunity, and I thank Jack and the rest of them every day of my life. Tom Renshaw, Bob Tyrrell, Robert Hernandez, those guys are amazing. And black doesn't drop out. I've seen tattoos that were done by Brian Everett twenty years ago that are still solid. That's why I like it so much. It has staying power."

And just like the artist himself, Tony's artwork, his reputation and his contribution to the industry, they all have incredible staying power.

Sacred Heart Tattoo
Little 5 Points
483 Moreland Avenue NE #5.
Atlanta, Georgia 30307
Phone: (404) 222-8385