User:Thor.brickman/RoryKeating

Rory Keating is an American tattoo artist and protégé of Leo Zulueta.

Biography
Rory Keating was born in Boston in 1964. His parents had just returned from Guatemala and he credits the various pieces of Mayan art they decorated their house with as an early influence on his artistic style. His family moved to Ireland when he was 12 and he was enrolled in an academic high school in spite of his desire to study a craft such as wood or metalworking. At the age of 18, he enrolled at Cornell University from which he graduated with a degree in Anthropology. During this time he was exposed to the artwork and history of both the Mayan and Celtic cultures. After graduating, Rory moved to San Diego, Ca. and worked in theater, predominantly the La Jolla playhouse, for the next two years. In search of greater professional growth, he took a job with Siegfried and Roy's illusions department in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Apprenticeship
Rory met Leo Zulueta while Leo was tattooing Rory's wife, Virginia Keating. He learned at that time that Leo was looking for an apprentice and began his apprenticeship in 1997. He worked at Leo's shop, Black Wave Tattoo, in Los Angeles for two years and then moved back to San Diego where he worked for a brief period at Jade Tattoo and finally settled at Guru Tattoo. Rory credits his training and travels with Leo as being the basis for his artistic style and sensitivities when it comes to tattoo and many consider him to be carrying on in that tradition.

Professional Work
From his beginnings in modern tribal tattooing, Rory tends to refer to his current work as "culturally-based tattooing". His work has been highlighted in both "Black Tattoo Art 2: Modern Expressions of the Tribal" and "Planet Ink: The Art and Studios of the World’s Top Tattoo Artists". Rory is also frequently mentioned in industry blogs like "Needles and Sins" and has been nominated twice for Best Tatau Artist at the Polynesian Tattoo Awards. He was interviewed by artist Paul Ecke in 2010 about tattoo as fine art and he was featured with his mentor, Leo Zulueta, in an episode of the reality TV show "Tattoo Wars".