Eric Maaske was born on Father’s Day, June 15th, 1969 at Kaiser Hospital, in Bellflower, CA. He spent his first 8 years in the city of Orange with his parents Dave and Colleen.  Following his parents divorce, Eric moved with his dad to Reno/Sun Valley, NV.

Eric grew up fast in rugged Northern Nevada, and found his passions very early in life; art, music, vintage cars, vintage collectibles…and most of all, tattoos.  Eric developed his art talents from a very, early age eventually honing his style to that of fine art.  Most don’t know that Eric was a self taught artist. At 12 Eric learned the basics of tattooing…then went on to be a world famous leader in the tattoo industry.

Eric built several classic cars, loved to collect 50’s antiques, and had a wide ranging taste in music, from old country to doo-wop, swing, big band, rockabilly, psychobilly and punk rock.

In the late eighties Eric moved back to Orange and remained close to his old home town for the remainder of his life.   He spent many years tattooing at Classic Tattoo in nearby Fullerton, ultimately buying the shop.  Eric completely remodeled Classic Tattoo and made it an authentic 50’s Americana environment.  Eric’s shop doubles as a tattoo history museum, displaying many pieces of historic tattoo memorabilia that Eric collected.

Eric traveled extensively throughout the world, working alongside some of the very best tattoo artists of all time.  Eric’s passion for his craft led to him become a notable and quotable historian of tattoo art, artists, and equipment.  Eric was proud to be that historian and earned much respect and appreciation for his efforts, by his peers.

To read some of what others have written about Eric over the years, click here