You want to get tattooed, but you are afraid of pain or you are just hesitating? In fact, all you need is a friendly advice. Nobody randomly chooses their dentist, gynecologist or tattooist. Therefore my advice if you are looking for a tattooist is to go to Mario. He will make you comfortable with his charming smile and funny stories and you will forget the fear. When you see him you think about free spirit. “But freedom is relative. Each person is locked in their own life," he says. You may also think he is an unusual person. He draws paintings that look like they have come straight out of one’s dreams. He hasn’t graduated from the Art Academy. "Everyone starts drawing in the kindergarten,” Mario says “I just I continued to do it, while most people stop." He went through graffiti before tattoos came into his life. This happened when he was working as a diver.

 “Diving is truly something unique. When diving you see so many things that it cannot be described. But it's all over, because the diving center where I worked closed doors. I started with tattooing during that period,” Mario Grigorov says.

How does one become a tattooist?

"In some countries you need to pass training but there is no such thing in Bulgaria,” Mario says. “Almost everyone first tries tattooing fruits like oranges or grapefruit, then continues on pig feet or ears. The smell is not very good, but it works. Then you start experimenting on yourself and your friends. Watching other tattooists work also gives a lot because you learn different techniques of tattooing." 
 
Speaking about tattoo trends, he says that currently there are no such trends. A few years ago, everyone was crazy about tattooing labels like "Only God can judge me." Now people prefer tattoos that are somehow related to their own lives, or they just liked them in cyberspace. However, one should always listen to the advice of the tattoo artist because he is the man who has great experience and can properly assess if an idea would work well, Mario explains. "Tattoos are like paintings. You have a client who wants something drawn on their body. But there is also the artist who creates the compositions and creates the tattoo. Tattooing is an art, the young man says. His aim is to leave the clients satisfied.

Unfortunately just like many young Bulgarians today Mario is one of those who earn their living abroad. He went to visit a friend in Corsica where he found an opportunity to stay and work. He says he feels wonderful but adds that one day he would come back to Bulgaria. We ask him what needs to change in order for young Bulgarians to stay in this country.

"I think politicians should stop stealing so much. Then people will have higher salaries and better lives. In my opinion the only reason that makes people leave Bulgaria is the fact that they don’t have money. Otherwise, people have everything else here. I recently read an article about the salaries of teachers. In this country a teacher receives 300 euro a month while abroad teachers get 2000 euro. Poverty is the only reason that makes Bulgarians leave the country,” Mario Grigorov says.

English: Alexander Markov

Photos: private library