Meet Wayne Morel of Wayne’s Tattoo World in Derry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wayne Morel.

Owner and Artist at Wayne’s Tattoo World in Derry, NH, Wayne has been tattooing for 25 years. Married father of 3, step-father to two and grandfather to 2 beautiful grandchildren. Most recently he moved his Hudson, NH location into the Derry shop formerly known as FTP Ink Unlimited. The decision was made at the end of 2016 to have one location to grow into one amazing shop. Wayne’s Tattoo World currently has 6 licensed tattoo artists, 2 tattoo apprentices and 2 licensed piercers on staff. This is not the first time he has been in Derry, 19 years ago, he was located just around the corner on what is known as Crystal Ave at a shop named Tattoo Palace. Many know Wayne from his beginning of being in business for himself at this location.

His interest and collection of tattoos began with his first tattoo which he did on himself of “Pepe’Le Pew,” the French suave skunk, a character that he identified with early in his young years. The day he turned 18, he was tattooed in Norwalk, CT, a Tasmanian Devil. He hid this tattoo from his father, he felt this was a symbol of his independence. His father just passed away recently and this is a memory that makes him smile thinking back. He would create small drawings here and there, but never felt that his drawings would take him anywhere. When he first started he didn’t consider himself an artist and envied others. His cockiness persona, is what drove him to succeed, as he was determined to become a great artist. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and this is what got him his first job at Golden Tattoo in Salem, NH. However, this job was not as easy as he thought it would be, he would need more than just charisma to succeed. He jumped into the challenge and was humbled quickly. He remembers, “I was working on a tattoo on a big biker dude and really messed up the outline of a moon with a skeleton, he was pissed and wanted to kick my ass.” Wayne paid his friend Vic $50 to fix the mistake and make everything right. Being humbled comes at a price but not one that he didn’t learn from…eventually.

Some of his best memories include, the first person that he ever tattoo (other than himself), was an 86 year old man. When Wayne asked him, “Why now?” The man answered, “I didn’t want to live my whole life with it, only a few years, and I only have a few years left.” Also, the oldest woman that he ever tattooed was a 72 year old woman named Jane. She got Tarzan tattooed on her leg. After just 1 ½ years of working there Wayne broke his hand and Dan from Masterpiece Tattoo in Salem, took his place.

He moved to Hudson, for the first time, getting the second license in Hudson, NH for legal tattooing, mullet and all. He even made the papers. He continued to work hard over the years and has learned many things including how to be a better artist and businessman. He decided it was time to think tropical and went in partners with someone in St. Thomas for a tattoo and piercing shop named “Tatu.” He would go back and forth for 2 ½ years, working to build the shop, until his partner passed away from a battle with alcohol addiction. The decision was made to move everything back up to New England, and this is when he opened FTP Ink Unlimited in Derry, NH in October of 2012.

Now, (2017), he is back in Derry, NH merging his Hudson shop named “Wayne’s Tattoo World,” with FTP Ink Unlimited, making the decision to rename the shop Wayne’s Tattoo World. It has been quite the journey so far, and he can’t wait to see what comes next for him and his crew. It is Wayne’s future vision for his shop and crew is to grow to help everyone who works with him to be a success. For his clients, it is important to him that they feel unthreatened and feel right at home, no egos, just great atmosphere amazing artwork.

Kim is a licensed piercer by appointment at Wayne’s Tattoo World.  She has been licensed for going on 5 years.  Kim has been working in the industry since 2007.  Goes by the piercing name Kim AM.

She has worked in the Live Free or Die Tattoo Convention for the past 5 years and continues to support the crew at Wayne’s Tattoo World. Married to owner and artist Wayne Morel, she helps with office managing but her love is for adorning people with beautiful, high quality jewelry.  Kim enjoys piercing ages 8 years and older and believes in the importance of promoting and educating people about how to properly care for piercings.

Quality and care are very important as well as educating our clients on how to have their piercing be a success.  Stop on in or make an appointment!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are many challenges in this industry….it is important for our shop to keep the integrity of the art and to make our customers feel right at home, no egos. We have seen many times “artists” within the tattoo community compromise quality, which leave customers very dissatisfied. We welcome these people and try to help them see that not all shops are created equal. Many of our customers become not only good clients but friends. I have maintained a very positive attitude and try to never burn bridges, even when employees have done wrong by me. As a business owner you have to be impartial and not take everything so seriously, and need to find a balance with everyone in the shop.

Please tell us about Wayne’s Tattoo World.
We specialize in custom artwork and cover-ups. We have 6 licensed artists including myself. Each artist has their own style. We encourage people to research what they are looking for and view our different artists portfolios that we have on our website as well as Facebook and Instagram. We also offer high quality piercing services by appointment. We are different from other shops because we do our best to make people feel comfortable and are always willing to work with clients ideas with no egos.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Moving to NH from Key West, FL where I was born. All of my family lives here.

Contact Info:

• Address: 6 West Broadway, Derry, NH 03038
• Website: waynestattooworld.com
• Phone: 603-432-4828
• Email: waynestattooworld@yahoo.com

Steve Ropp

Andrew Ellis

Jake Parrington

Nick Goodwin

Sarah Arnold

Image Credit:
The head shot by Shaun Rev. Vegas from Tattoo Lifestyle Magazine
Side pic of owl roses by LOCAPHOTO Studios

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