A broken home left him rebellious.
Eben Steyn did not have the easiest childhood and after his parents divorced, he blamed himself. Thus began his early life on the streets as a runaway.
“Once you are living on the streets, you tend to go down a very dark path. You constantly battle the good from bad,” said Eben.
He got his first tattoo when he was in Grade 3, to mark where he was at that point of life.
“My first tattoo was Casper the Friendly Ghost. I felt transparent and unnoticed.”
From there, he decided he would mark himself with a tattoo every time something new happened to him; it would be a souvenir to remind him where he came from, and where he was headed.
“My tattoos are for me, no one else.”
After a while he realised people began treating him differently and he struggled to find a job, believing his ‘art’ made people think less of him. But he refused to give up.
“My tattoos do not do the work. I do,” he said.
At the age of 17, he tattooed the words, Only God can judge me, on his right forearm.
After getting his first professional tattoo, Eben realised he had talent. “I could do a tattoo so much better with my home-made machine than the guy with his professional kit.”
In 2003, Eben went for a five-day tattoo course, which taught him the ‘old school’ method of tattooing.
“Back then, we still had to build our own needles. After I had completed the course, I freelanced in tattoo parlours to gain more experience.”
He said being a tattoo artist encouraged him to meet people and learn their stories. It also allowed him to make a difference in someone else’s life.
“Most people get tattoos because it holds meaning to them, and as an artist it is his work to make a tattoo as perfect and special as possible.”
Eben enjoys helping people by fixing bad tattoos and turning them into something splendid.
“It’s what being an artist means to me. I do not do tattoos for the money; it’s a passion. If you are doing tattoos to get rich, put your machine down immediately!” he exclaimed.
Eben and his wife, Denise, recently welcomed baby daughter, Gabriella, to their family.
“Apart from my passion for being an artist, my family is my inspiration, and everything I do is for them. I will go out of my way to give my wife and children the best in life.”
For Eben, being a tattoo artist, means being a ‘therapist’ for clients as well.
He elaborated his background allowed him to provide emotional support, and possibly help, for people in dire straits. “This makes my work worth it.”
He advised people to be very sure before getting a tattoo, because it was permanent.
“Tattoos are all about the pain. The picture is your souvenir; remember it’s for life so choose your artist right and make sure you are happy,” he concluded.
