Studio X Tattoo

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Tamding Tsetan was born in a village in Amdo, East Tibet. Due to the humble circumstances of his childhood and because he had no access to formal education, he spent much of his childhood drawing pictures on rocks and building stupas out of mud. From an early age, he was naturally interested in drawing, painting and music, even though he didn’t have the means to support these interests. But as soon as he awakened to another possible way of life, he made a strong and determined decision to escape Tibet to seek education. He escaped from Tibet to India in 2002 after more than 43 days of walking, a long and arduous journey across the Himalayan Mountains in the winter months. He was alone, broke, and all he brought with him, apart from the clothes on his back, was a yearning for education and freedom. And while he had nothing to call his own, as a child he had herded his uncle`s sheep across the windswept mountains of eastern Tibet, he did have the values of hard work and resilience. He lived on the streets of India when he first arrived but slowly, over the next few years he managed to learn the language of his new home, get a formal education as a Musician, and learn traditional Tibetan Tangkha painting and Modern Art. Looking for an outlet to express his art, Tamding became interested in tattooing in 2003. The art of Tattooing was still taboo within the Tibetan Community but always determined to break barriers in the community, Tamding made his own tattoo machine and taught himself the art. He started tattooing professionally in 2006 when he opened up his own studio in Dharamshala, India. In 2011, he participated in the International Tattoo Convention in Delhi, India where he was awarded 2nd place for “Best Tattoo in India.” He has enjoyed a reputation as one of the best tattoo artists on the Indian subcontinent and the first Tibetan Tattoo Artist in the world. He offers his tattoos free of cost to anyone who wants a tattoo which is related to Tibetan freedom and the current political situation. Recently his tattoo art has been acknowledged in some of the most recognizable tattoo magazines in the world, including “Total Tattoo” magazine in the UK in 2012, and “Taetowiermagazine” in Germany. He appears regularly on VOA - Voice of Asia, Tibet as a correspondent, participates in small acting roles in movies such as “Escape from Tibet”, interviewed regularly by various publications for his activism and continues to be a popular Tibetan Musician with his most popular song entitled “My Lama Tenzin Gyatso.” In November of 2013 he moved permanently to the USA and is currently tattooing out of Vancouver, Washington

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