This is a story that starts with new beginnings, opportunity, artistry, loyalty & camaraderie but ultimately ends in betrayal. It’s a story you’ve probably heard before a thousand times. We’ve all been through it or known someone who has.

It starts simply enough. I went into State of the Art Tattoos LLC to get a job as a professional tattoo artist, a job I have been supporting my family on for over a decade. The owner wanted me to start immediately unfortunately I did not have my equipment with me, just my portfolio. I was hired immediately on the basis of my portfolio work which can be seen at http://cogink.com/ and in the photo albums at http://facebook.com/cogink

I worked at State of the Art Tattoos LLC when they had only been open for six months. I maintained a good reputation and work ethic for over two years including a short three month stint when the co-owner/senior artist took a leave of absence and I was the only person working there making me the senior artist. During that three months I worked by myself, 6 days a week, 8-10 hours a day, making money and placing it in the register and notifying the owner of any monies made every day. I was loyal, honest, trustworthy and I was the only thing that kept that shop alive, period.

After a few months on my own the other co-owner came in and took over the shop. We were over three or four months behind on our electric bill and close to getting it shut off, in essence shutting the shop down. The co-owner came in and caught up on the electric bill with money that I solely made being as I was the only artist working there. I literally kept that shop in business by being a good employee and coming to work every day and making money.

Eventually another artist was hired and they invested $5,000 in the company making them part owner of the shop and Shop Manager. For some strange reason this other artist/co-owner did not like me but we kept things civil and worked together for over a year with no major problems.

In October of 2010 our electricity was shut off after only being behind for one month. The electric company wanted an obnoxious amount of money as a deposit to turn the electricity back on and our owner did not have the means to pay this deposit. Basically I was laid off as there was no way to work with no electricity.

The Shop Manager/co-owner found someone to buy the shop from our owner who did not want the responsibility of running a shop to begin with. The shop was re-opened and the electricity was turned back on but there was something missing… Core from COG Ink Tattoos was left out of the loop and not invited back to work. In other words I was fucked out of my job for no reason. Sure the new “Owner” will come up with all kinds of bullshit reasons for why I was not invited back to work but it boils down to this, I worked my ass off for that shop and kept it alive when no one else gave a shit about it and in the end I was literally fucked over and fucked out of my job. This not only effected me but also my children and spouse.

I am still a professional tattoo artist and I still do tattoos out of a shop if necessary. Please join me in banning State of the Art Tattoos and continue to get your ink from Core from COG Ink Tattoos by writing me at http://facebook.com/cogink , e-mail core@cogink.com or by calling (989)-717-2288.

Please continue to get your ink from Core @ COG Ink Tattoos! Your tattoos will be better and the price will definitely be better! Thanx for the support!

With Much Respect,

Corey ‘Core’ Grundstein

COG Ink Tattoos