Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Mcfarland
Hi Jared, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Jared aka Pizarro or just P. My curiosity of tattoos began at the age of 16. I’d notice one of my friends in school in Manchester Connecticut come to class with a new tattoo of a grenade me being an artist all my life was like “man that’s cool!!!” I immediately told him to take me to where he went. I knew my mom would be mad but I din’t care so he took me to some guy in a house and boom next to you know I’m getting a tattoo on my leg. At this time EBay and YouTube had just came out so I ordered a tattoo machine kit online and watched countless hours of videos on how to set up the machine and take the proper steps to do a safe and clean tattoo once I was confident enough I attempted to do a rose on my thigh and let me tell you it hurt and It was a different feeling from drawing or painting. I was hooked I made it my goal to figure this out and get better and better. After high school I was lost working 9 to 5s and by now I was 18 and now having my neck and hands tattooed made it even harder to get a better job being judged by my looks. I ended up taking jobs such as landscaping, construction and washing dishes etc. while working these jobs i would tattoo my friends at gatherings and sometimes bartering just to get the chance to tattoo again. Life did to me what life does to everyone throw curveballs. I eventually landed myself in trouble with the law and spent about 6 years of my life on and off probation. I was hanging out with the wrong people and proving myself to them as peers do to one another to fit in. In 2013 I ran from my probation from Connecticut packed up my tattoo equipment and a hamper full of clothes and took a roadtrip out west with one of those so called friends after 3 days of driving we made it to van nuys where I stayed on my friends couch from back home for about 6 months. I did odd jobs here and there to make it by one day my friend said dress in all white and stand at that corner you will get some work being from Connecticut I dint know what he meant by this I figured it out real quick the next morning. I went off to paint mostly and help out. I saw the hard work guys would do everyday and sometimes get free lunch I said hey this is alright and low-key which is what. I wanted after a few months of this I ended up working a catering job at valley Beth shalom in encino i pushed myself everyday to keep working and forget about my actual problems from back home. I knew eventually the law would catch up to me but I was happy at the moment. I said to myself new city new me. After a year here life would catch up to me. My friend and I were stopped at a routine DUI checkpoint. They ran our names and a warrant came back for me out of Connecticut for me after a week in the county jail. Connecticut did not want to extradite me but I knew as a man in order to make things right you have to take a few steps back to move forward. I had to make a decision to either keep hiding or face my time. I made my mind up and went back to Connecticut turned myself in and buckled up for whatever was coming my way. The court found me guilty of violating my probation and sentenced me to 2 years after a year and a half later i got out on parole with an ankle monitor a week after being out my mom recommended a place to work. I reached out to Paul Finney a recognized chef who owned October Kitchen he needed help in right away i told him about my situation of my bracelet situation and he said no worries I have had other parolees before and they ended up being my hardest workers. I worked for him for 5 months until my parole was up. Now it’s 2016 and I was a free man no probation no parole no more problems. Again i packed up my things I had gathered living with my mom and headed back west with a new outlook on life. Prison can do that to someone. I ended up staying again with friends here and there trying to rebuild slowly I would hike daily and on other days I would go shop to shop asking if they needed an apprentice meanwhile washing dishes at chi chis pizza in Northridge on weekends eventually after 6 months of that. I got the call that would changed my life forever. One of the shops I had previously visited was letting 2 of their artists go. I quit on the spot on a busy Friday night. The following week the owner of the shop Hilda Martinez at L&G tattoos in panorama city set me up with the things I needed to become a professional tattoo artist I went to go get licensed and take a test. I’m now a professional tattoo artist the beginning to a life journey. I worked there for about 3 years tattooing anything that would come through the door at this point I took the opportunity to go back to school at pierce college i started with oil painting,printmaking and eventually to art history. I love history in general. 2 years later I came out of there with an associates in art thank you Mrs. Konstance for always pushing my mind to my fullest potential and believing in me. You can only imagine a 28 year old tattooed guy head to toe in class with 17-18 years who had just graduated but it was an experience to remember. I was picking up more clients at the shop and started getting better and better. I left L&G right before Covid to explore my options and of course to get out of the norm and network. I bounced around from shop to shop from mission hills, north Hollywood and winnetka. Meeting new artist learning more tricks of the trade I dove head first more and more each day falling in love with my craft that god gave me. Here we are almost 17 years later from the start of my very first tattoo experience and I’m proud to say I’ve accomplished my dream but not my goals. I now work on my own from a private studio in Sherman oaks and weekends at Tattoohouse in Canoga park thank you Danny for your friendship. I hope my story reaches the youth who are stuck in life making decisions just know anything is possible with a dream. look into yourself and all you have to do is believe and everything will fall in place.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s never been a smoothed road from young I saw my mom struggle coming from Honduras in 1988 pregnant with me in her womb to have me here in the states to give me a better life. Always pushing herself to give me anything i could want and more. Born and raised in Miami you see a lot growing up in the 90s having my mom live through those years. she knew right away she dint want me to end up going rotten going to schools in the bad areas of town. she would ask her friends to let her use their addresses to put me in better schools at age 10 she would drop me off at the bus stop and I had to take a bus and metro to get to school and back home on my own an hour commute. I really admire my mom and love her for this for showing me the basic skills to make things happen and not having to rely on anybody. We moved around a lot in Miami eventually her work was getting too much for her and she moved us to Hartford Connecticut when I finished middle school. Being the new kid in town and starting high school was cool for a bit until you realize you don’t know anyone or have anything in common. I went from being a city boy to living in the suburbs a block away from UConn law school. I tried to fit in the most I could by trying out for football and the “all American sports”baseball , wrestling, hockey,”lacrosse etc. I then again switched schools for my sophomore year and had to start all over eventually graduating in 2008. In those years of high school I would considered myself a rebel skipping class smoking weed and drinking beers and not taking anything serious. After graduating I met the mother of my first son I was 18 young dumb and in love. I thought she was the one but also at this time is when i started dabbling in tattooing I was not ready to be a father and take responsibilities letting tattooing and having fun get the best of me. She eventually left me and took my son he is 17 now and lives in Florida my mom keeps me updated as much as she can. Her leaving devastated me i started experimenting with psychedelics and other recreational drugs for some time to find an escape from what was going on. This self destruction led me to jail and on probation. While being on probation things got worst I met people there and I started hanging out even more. I work as a waiter on the weekends. I would take liquor bottles and hide them in the parking lot for my friends to come scoop up and leave me half so when I was done with my shift Thursdays-Sundays were a blur in my early 20’s. After getting charged for a DUI in 2013 and being on probation I knew things weren’t going to end up good for me I ran from my obligations for a year and I knew that had to go back and face them of course My so called friends weren’t there when i really need them I turned myself into the authorities and landed a 2 year stretch at the department of corrections since 2016 I have been a free man living his life trying to navigate everything life hands me. I’m blessed to say I’m alive.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a professional tattoo artist since 2016 but have been artistic my whole life. I specialize in black and grey realism. I dabble with color from time to time. I’m not afraid of a challenge but know my limits. I’m mostly proud of my accomplishments and all the people I have met and have supported me throughout my journey hearing the compliments they get when they are out somewhere that gives me a sense of satisfaction to know I’m on the right path. I want to thank my sponsors Adam and Gabriella over at m.a.g and many more you guys are truly awesome. I feel what sets me apart from the rest is that at the end of the day I can relate someway somehow with all of my clients and of course my knowledge of art and attention to details.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory would be spending time with my mom and family going on trips to Disney world, beaches the movies and just spending time alone was happiness for me.
Pricing:
- My pricing is based on the style, size and color
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theroundupnews.com/2016/11/30/imprinting-significance-ink/?amp=1
- Instagram: @L_pizarron_art
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/rdE29FpW20A?si=Fe0sPcS6Ll6S1Rws
Image Credits
@rene_poetking_rodriguez
@blazted.network
@augusto_productions
