Zeke Owen was born on August 12th, 1940 and his first tattoo influence was in the 50s from his uncle, Tattooist Ernie Sutton. He started tattooing at the Pike in 1957. The Pike is considered one of the West Coast’s historical tattoo sites thanks to Bert Grimm & Bob Shaw, two legends of tattooing.  Zeke Owen was part of that legendary crew. Then in San Diego, Zeke first worked with Al Miller and eventually at the Ace Tattoo Company. In 1960 Zeke had to leave town after an altercation with a couple of San Diegos finest. Zeke then went up to Seattle and opened Tradewinds Tattoo. He met Danny Danzl, who introduced him to Sailor Jerry Collins. He later sold tradewinds to Danny, who renamed it the Seattle Tattoo Emporium. Then in 1964 he was the first person to re-open tattooing in Guam, since his uncle, Ernie Sutton, opened his shop there in the 1950s.  Tattoo Zeke opened his own shop in Rachael and Punchy’s Terminal Café in Agana, Guam. Zeke moved to Joe Blas Tavern towards Tamuniing and later back to Hawaii. When he worked at 1033 Hotel St. in Hawaii, on military paydays, Zeke would work nights with Sailor Jerry Collins, around the corner on Smith St., after Johnny Walker left Jerry’s. Later in the mid 60s he started Ed Hardy in the business in San Diego.  Zeke OwenMike Malone also worked at Zeke’s shop in San Diego. Hardy and Owen had a shop together in San Diego, for a few years. He has worked at many of the older shops in the US, with Kazuo Oguri (aka Hori Hide), in Gifu City, Japan and with almost everyone in New York City, including Jonathan Shaw. Lucky Tiger was another of Zekes shops, again serving military, in Jacksonville NC. This is just the tip of the iceburg of the highlights of Zeke Owens carreer, a true and legendary icon of tattooing world wide.

Zeke was one of the forerunners of early Japanese style tattooing in America. He has spent decades on the road doing guest spots at tattoo shops from Georgia to Alaska, tattooing collectors, spinning yarns, and selling antique tattoo art & stencils. Owen’s charisma, wit, lifestyle and encyclopedic memory of tattoo legends and lore was captured in his popular “Ask Zeke“, columns in Skin&Ink magazine, some of which are reprinted on the website tattooroadtrip.com blog.

His influence on the tattoo community is immeasurable. Others have tried to follow and failed, because when they made Zeke Owen, they broke the mold. The stories about him are endless. Back in the day, he was what tattooing was all about: being a tough survivor in an outlaw business based on art. He aspired to be the best at what he did by walking on the shoulders of those that came before him. He also gave information freely to those who really sought it.


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