Mark Longenecker Bio

I was born and raised in South Jersey. There, I grew up with my brother Jason who has always worked in the art field and is now teaching art. My happily married, parents are very supportive of our art and have always encouraged our dreams. They are both musicians and my mother has her own Bluegrass radio show. During my high school years I was living in Medford, NJ, and often found my self hanging out at the Jersey shore and the city of Philadelphia. During those days I was into playing music with my friends, skateboarding, and of course doing artwork. I won a few awards in high school art shows and for a mural I painted at the local ice-cream shop.

I attended the Savannah College of Art and Design and received a B. F. A. in Graphic Design. It was a rich experience, being surrounded by so many great artists in a city abounding in Southern culture and history. In my beginning years there I played in several bands and was entrenched in the local music scene. The underground rave scene was really starting to blow up. Though I resisted it at first, I soon found my self totally into it. By that point I was really getting into T-shirt design, with the idea that I was only one T-shirt design away from making me rich. I would make the shirts at the school design lab and sell them at the raves and to the local shops. These designs did not end up making me a millionaire but they did get the attention of my schoolmate Cayman’s family. He is Jimmy Buffett’s, God son, and through him, I ended up getting a design job in Key West. This was the perfect opportunity for me since I didn’t exactly feel like I was ready to go jump in some 9-5 job out in the “Real World.”

Key West was a new environment, and opened my eyes to the joys of living in tropical South Florida. Its is a small laid-back island, and is the home of many artists, writers and musicians. I had a few design jobs in Key West, the main one being a designer at the Solares Hill Design Group. There, I created many logos for the local clubs, bars and restaurants… and Jimmy Buffett’s Recording Studio. If you take a stroll down Key West’s famous Duval Street you can see many of myoriginal logos still there today. My first roommates were Jason Brooks and Kristian Bennett, tattoo artists at Goldie’s tattoo. I remember one night hanging with Kristian in our favorite bar… and I pointed out the fact that I did the logo on all their work shirts. He put me back in my place by pointing out the fact that he tattooed everyone who worked there. The medium of doing your art permanently on someone’s skin seemed much more powerful then screen printing it on a T-shirt. I started getting many tattoos and also designing them for my friends. I was already used to taking a vision out of someone’s head for their logo, doing it for their skin was not much different. Learning how to tattoo it on the skin was a whole different story. Goldie offered me an apprenticeship and I jumped on it. We all took a trip to my first tattoo convention in Miami and I was able to see all my idols at work. I got tattooed by Paco Excel of New Skool tattoos from San Jose California… and then I was hooked. Tattooing became my passion in life. After I finished my apprenticeship with Goldie, I worked there for a little while and then moved on to Miami Beach.

A well known tattoo artist Ken Cameron, called me to offer a job. That day happened to be April fools, so I assumed it was a prank. He has five shops, where he always has great artists working for him, and I became part of the crew. Ken would have a tattoo class on Wednesday nights in his garage. One night I became the class project and he drew a Japanese mask on my leg and let every one take turns tattooing it on there. Miami seemed to be just as crazy of a party town as Key West, which can be good and bad. I decided to move on to a less crazy beach town of Ft. Lauderdale. I went to work for the highly recommended Bruce Bart tattooing. Bruce is an instantly likable man whom is an educated intellect and successful business man. He has been a pleasure to work for and I still look to him for advice on just about everything. While working in Ft. Lauderdale I would still make many trips back to Miami to see my friend Joel Long who was working for Ken. He taught me a lot about water colors and the art of Japanese tattooing. He ended up doing some large tattoos on me including a full back piece of a Tiger Dragon. Joel has been one of my biggest influences and inspirations. At Bruce’s I have had the chance to work with many great friends and artists like Bruce Bart himself, Damien Bart, Tony Baris, Pinky, Mike Harpool, Chris Slota, Richie Calascibett, Jeff Jeffers, Doug Patrum, Michael Norris,Casper, and good friend Anthony Riccardo. Today I am very happy making a career of an art form that I am truly passionate about. I take great pride in making every tattoo I do a personal piece of art for my clients.

Me surfing in Barbados

Birthdat boy at the Mia Kia

Kicking it with the Foo Fighters