Altered State Tattoo officially opened in Lake Worth, FL. in 1996. and is owned and operated by Michael “Pooch” Pucciarelli. Pooch, who had always been interested and involved in art from a very young age, it wasn’t until much later and he began his band Raped Ape, that he was influenced to begin drawing art for tattoos and eventually to begin an apprenticeship under Big Jeff in 1989. Raped Ape was a priority for Pooch at the time and they had began taking off in a big way in the late 80s-early 90s metal scene that was booming in South Florida. Big Jeff wanted him to spend more time tattooing but Pooch choose the band over the art. In 1995, Pooch once again began tattooing, this time for Skully at Treasure Coast Tattoos until 1996 when Pooch decided to go out on his own and open Altered State Tattoo in Lake Worth, FL. When deciding to name his new business, Pooch was influenced by the name Paul Booth choose for his shop Last Rites. He knew he wanted to pick something that had two names in the title, so he settled on Altered State after being influenced by a song called Altered State by the Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura and a movie that came out during the 80s called Altered States about a respected scientist who decided to combine his experiments in sensory deprivation tanks with powerful hallucinogens and eventually loses his grip on reality. Right around the same time Pooch was about to open his shop, his band got signed to a record deal and was expected to tour, but this time Pooch choose his art over the band and decided to quit and follow his original plan and open Altered State. Pooch was born in West Palm Beach, FL. and has lived here his entire life. His favorite things to tattoo are traditional Japanese art, skulls, Bio-Mechanical, tikis, and big and bold Asian Hanya masks. He has become well known in the tattoo industry for his large scale and bold roller coaster themed tattoos. Being raised only a few hours south of Disney World, inspired his love of this style and he has definitely made it one of his trademarks. His favorite thing about tattooing is being able to make a living doing art every day and studying the art and culture of tattooing and while keeping true to old styles, putting his own spin on it. His least favorite thing is when he picks the mind of his clients extensively during a consultation to get the idea exactly right and translatable, and then having the customer want to change it or include something that was never even mentioned. Some of the tattoo artists that have influenced him the most over the years are Filip Leu, Guy Aitchison, Paul Booth and Ed Hardy. Some other artists that have greatly influenced his style are Frank Frazetta, H.R. Giger, Todd Schorr, and Hieronymus Bosch. When not tattooing, Pooch can usually be found making tiki drinks at home with his wife of 10 years Stacey and his two pups Max and Brutus, painting, building dioramas, and playing his guitar. If you want to make an appointment with Pooch, call the shop at (561) 806-5853 and plan on coming in for a consultation. You can see his latest art on the @alteredstatetattoo Instagram page, or @pooch_art. To see his incredible paintings and to purchase prints, visit www.poochisland.com.
Scott White has been with Pooch at Altered State from almost the very beginning. He apprenticed under Pooch and began at the shop in 1997. Scott was born in Hayward, Wisconsin and moved to South Florida when he was 5 and has been here ever since. Bio-Mechanical tattoos are Scott’s favorite thing to tattoo. He prefers to do black and grey bio-mech but also enjoys doing it in color. He also loves doing anything geometric, mandalas, dot work, patterns, sacred geometry and black work. He also enjoys doing underwater tattoos. The thing that he loves the most about tattooing is to get to be creative and make artwork that will last a person’s lifetime as well as meet the people and learn their stories and why the tattoo is important them. What he dislikes is when people don’t put a lot thought into their tattoos and find them on Pinterest and tend to not have a lot of meaning. His biggest tattoo influences are Aaron Cain, Guy Aitchison, Ron Earhart, Mr. Dist, and Jon Clue. His biggest art influences are Dan Seagrave, H.R. Giger, graffiti artists, hot rod art, digital art, and concept art. When he is not tattooing Scott can usually be found doing photography or fabricating his wasteland vehicle and making things in his workshop Triphammer Studios. You can see his work on Instagram @triphammerstudios @visualvortexphotography and @tattoos_by_scott_white and on Facebook under Scott White. You can also see his work on his webpage www.visualvortex.com If you would like to set up an appointment with Scott you can call the shop and set up a time to come in for a consultation or reach him via e-mail at [email protected]
Dean Corpse has been tattooing since 2009 when he began apprenticing at Solid Image Tattoos in Sunrise, FL. under the tutelage of Jay Black and SKAM. He was born in Parsippany, New Jersey and moved to South Florida in 1988. He joined the Altered State Tattoo staff in May of 2014 and has been a welcome and often entertaining member of the team ever since. His favorite styles of tattooing are doing realistic black and grey animal portraits and anything to do with the horror genre. Dean’s favorite thing about tattooing is getting to express his artistic talent on people and they get to enjoy his artwork for their lifetime. Tattooing is a great way to be a paid artist and make a living doing something that you love. His least favorite part of tattooing is when people are uncertain about what they want to get done. His biggest tattoo influences are Bob Tyrell, Paul Acker, and Paul Booth. His biggest art influences are Hieronymus Bosch, Todd McFarlane, Jack Kirby, Neil Adams and Drew Struzan. His favorite time period is anything from the 80s and when he isn’t tattooing he can be found spending time with his family which include his girlfriend Lori, her daughter Jaycee, and his eight year old son Damien relaxing and going to see lots of movies as well as playing bass in his band Graveseeker. If you would like to see some of Dean’s work on Instagram, visit his page @deancorpsetattoo or on Facebook at Dean Corpse-Tattoo Artist/Illustrator. If you would like to set up an appointment with Dean or a consultation, he can be reached at (305) 979-8115 or [email protected]
The latest member to join the Altered State Tattoo family is James Rodin Hawkins. James began tattooing at 19 years old while attending college and never though of doing it as a full time career. He actually began drawing artwork for other tattoo artists to tattoo at the tender age of 12 years old. When he married another tattoo artist at 25 years old, he began to take it much more seriously and eventually bought his own studio, Outrageous Tattoos in the 90s as well as another studio in Hollywood called Twisted Heart Tattoos. Although the businesses were profitable and successful, he wasn’t truly happy being the owner. He found himself just wanting to do the art and not deal with all of the stress involved in owning the business. He sold Twisted Heart about 2 years after purchasing it and sold Outrageous in the mid-2000s. After leaving Outrageous, James spent a lot of time traveling the country and working at conventions and traveling back and forth to Alaska to spend more time with his mom and family. His favorite types of tattoos to do are fantasy tattoos, and realism as well as surrealism tattoos. His favorite thing about tattooing is the interaction with his customers and hearing the stories they tell so he will have a narrative of stories to tell later in life. What he likes least is the not having the ability to be in two places at once as he wants to make as many connections and friendships as possible and do as many amazing tattoos as he can. His biggest tattoo influences are Jack Rudy, Paul Booth, Guy Aitchison, and the tattooist he apprenticed under, Big Jeff. His biggest art influences are Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, Salvador Dali, and his father Billie Blayne Hawkins. When he is not tattooing he can be found spending time with his family, playing instruments like guitar, bass, and drums. He is still, even after all of these years very excited about tattooing and when he loses that, he knows it will be time to quit. For now it is all about finding balance in his life. The best way to contact James to make an appointment to be tattooed is via Facebook Messenger @https://www.facebook.com/DaddyRodin He will be tattooing at Altered State for part of the year and then back to Alaska for the rest.
After being in Lake Worth since 1996, Pooch had been wanting to move the shop for a number of years. After considering a move to downtown Lake Worth, the opportunity arose for him to move the shop to Boynton Beach instead. He was able to move into a much larger location that was pretty much the perfect fit and allowed for expansion. The open format allows the artists to be in a collective space which is excellent for the exchange of ideas and suggestions. And the layout now includes a large reception space with a custom desk and bar including a glass top with tons of original flash by Pooch he has drawn over the years and some of the designs are available for tattooing or can be reworked to be made original. As we pride ourselves on being a custom only shop. We never want to do the same tattoo twice. The reception area has plenty of seating to make yourself comfortable for consultations and to overlook our huge library of reference material to get ideas. The walls are covered with original art by a multitude of artists as well as several prints that are available for sale. Part art gallery, part tattoo shop. The welcoming atmosphere of our new location is not only soothing and comfortable for our artists to allow them to give you your best work, but for our customers and visitors alike. We are located at 10114 S. Military Trail Suite #116 Boynton Beach, FL. 33436 and our new number is (561) 806-5853. Our Instagram page is @alteredstatetattoo and our Facebook page is @alteredstatetat2. We look forward to helping make your next tattoo idea a reality and welcome you to stop by anytime Tuesday through Saturday 1-8 pm. Hope to see you soon!
We will also be hosting guest artist throughout the year, including an incredible color realism portrait artists Patch McFarlane from Chester in Cheshire, England where he owns and operates The Black Freighter Tattoo Co. You can contact him on Facebook via Messenger to set up an appointment at www.facebook.com/patch.mc or via Instagram at patchmacfarlane. Be sure to check out his INCREDIBLE work and don’t miss out on this opportunity to get tattooed by a true master of the art. Patch will be at Altered State from October 2nd through October 15th, 2018.
