Steve Kruger is tattooed over 90% of his body. The Vietnam veteran is a walking, talking, collection of art done by some great and talented artists of El Paso. Steve came into tattooing late in his life at the age of 53. After being disabled from a job injury, he underwent what was to be failed back surgery, the result of which he was given a marginal chance to ever walk again. With a grim outlook and his future uncertain, Steve unknowingly embarked on a journey of self-discovery in the world of tattoos. Fusion Magazine spoke to Steve Krueger, and this is what he had to say.
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I came from a very conservative town in Minnesota. We didn’t have tattoos there. I moved to El Paso and worked until I became disabled. I was around 53 years old. Because of my disability I could only sit in a chair. At the time, a friend asked me to find him a picture of a dragon on the Internet so he could get a tattoo. When I found the picture we talked about him getting the tattoo and he said, “I know you want one too. I will pay for it.” The Pandora’s box was opened and that was when I got my dragon on the back of my right shoulder.
It was something I never thought I would do at that age. A month before I had chastised my son for getting a tattoo because I was still in the mindset of my upbringing where no one in the family had tattoos; and now here I was with this large dragon tattoo. Once it was there, my opinions and my thoughts began to change. I had overcome the fear of getting a tattoo. That fear was not about dealing with the pain; it was about being one of “them.” One of “them” was the typical stereotype associated with anyone that has a tattoo. You know, they are a bad person or stuff of that nature. Coming from a strict upbringing it was frowned upon and it was a lifestyle that marked a person for life both literally and figuratively. Well now I was a part of that same group.
Two weeks later, I went to get the other shoulder balanced out with another dragon. Eddie (McQuestion, from early Fleshtones) and I discussed a back piece and he started doing the outlines for it. Having the input to create the art that was going to go on my body and then enduring the process and seeing the outcome. I was hooked after that. The back piece was 84 hours over the course of a year. During that time I would get other artists to start tattooing other parts of my body. My wife had passed away and I had Robert Chavira tattoo me a rose for her that he drew from an actual rose that was at her funeral service. My left leg started getting inked and I was starting to think about getting my whole body done. I was meeting other artists and seeing their work and it slowly was becoming that my whole body was being covered. I got my sleeves done by Jay Chavira. I was and still am into dragon lore and I got my left arm sleeve done first with many dragons. There are so many dragons on both arms that I do not honestly know how many there are. I originally wanted the sleeve to end at the wrist but when it crossed over my wrist I knew there was no turning back now. A shirt sleeve would not be able to hide my sleeved arm and I was truly marked for life. It was who I was. I now wanted the full body suit and my friends did not believe I would do it, but I am a Capricorn and I was more determined to do it now.
I started to pick the artists and subject matter more carefully. I worked with the artists to get a better outcome on the piece. I gave them my ideas and I would say, “tell me what you can do with that.” I met a wonderful lady artist named Tierra. She created my right thigh piece of which it is things you would find under a sofa. There’s dust bunnies, a half eaten snickers bar, pennies, a used condom wrapper, a dead rat. It is a whimsical piece and one of my favorites. During the course of all of this I got into piercing. So here I am 55 years old and I get my nipples pierced because it was a taboo thing for a man to do at the time, especially at my age. On my left ear I had 23 piercings at one time. There was a great deal of pain but it was for me a rite of passage. To get through the pain whether it was a tattoo or piercing. When my body was completely covered, the feeling of elation after getting through it was so self-satisfying to simply say, “I did it. I did it!”
Being marked for life and unable to hide my tattoos, I would get negative reactions from people but I didn’t pay any attention to them. I was the same person inside. I never changed I just became open minded. Don’t judge a book by its cover. A person is a person until their character proves them wrong. Tattooing allowed me to interact with all different types of people. I can have a discussion with kids half my age and I don’t talk down to them because having the piercings and tattoos allows me to relate to them. I don’t judge them or anyone else. You tend to lose out by judging others simply on their looks.
My job was my life and it was my identity, it was who I was. I thought I lost everything because of my injury. Tattooing gave me my life back. I am now 64, and in the past 11 years, it has made me the person who I wanted to be. It opened my mind to not being narrow-minded. I became the extreme person that I judged before. Tattooing has given me friendships and experiences I never dreamed I would have. It has given me life and it has showed me how to live.
TEXT: A. LAWLESS
PHOTOS: MEGANLEIGH WARD (C) 2011