My name is Josh Schwegel. My career as an artist began at a very young age. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I began formal artistic training in high school and continued at Brown University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I accepted an apprentice position in Madison, Wisconsin and have been a tattoo artist ever since. My work at Slave to the Needle has been the most satisfying because it has a clean, professional atmosphere, with artists and piercers who are serious about their profession and love their jobs as much as I do.

In my spare time I paint, a sampling of my work is in the gallery at Slave to the Needle, and you can also find examples on this website. I am partial to Traditional and Eastern artwork but I enjoy working with my clients to find the design that works best for them. Tattooing differs from artwork on a static canvas. Pigment in the skin behaves differently than ink on paper, and I try to educate my clients on these differences to help them make a more informed decision. A design session with a client mixes my expertise with their vision to come up a finished piece which will work best for them.