Jeremiah Griswold (he/him) is founder and co-owner of White Whale. He is a contemporary oil painter and exhibits a mastery of the medium of tattoo after 16 years of praxis. Jeremiah specializes in figurative art, portraiture, linework, single needle pointillism, scientific illustration, and academic styles. He has learned from some of the finest artists in the world, including Roberto Ferri, Shane Wolf, Alex Venezia, Barry Moser, and Craig Moore. Jeremiah holds degrees in Literature and Theology in addition to his art training, and particularly enjoys the intersection of art, literature, and the mystical.
Rebecca Griswold (Becki) (she/her) is a poet and co-owner of White Whale with a degree from University of Cincinnati and an MFA candidate at Warren Wilson. Rebecca manages the shop and runs a tight ship in order to provide a world class tattoo experience for all of our guests. Her poetry has been published in multiple literary magazines including Superstition Review, Blood Orange Review, Cimarron Revolute, and Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel. Her debut full-length poetry book, The Attic Bedroom is out now with Milk and Cake Press.
TC Thomason (he/him/ya’ll) is a self-taught artist from Russellville, KY. His visual art background spans many mediums and styles - charcoal, pastels, ink, and paint; portraits, pointillism, and line drawings. He organizes shows and events as both an artist and curator, emphasizing the role art can play in community-building, connecting people around beauty and meaning.
He has a degree in economics from Centre College, an MA in Arts administration from Ohio State, and lives with his cat named Bill Murray.
Artie Pee (he/him) has studied art in various mediums throughout his school years and beyond including drawing, oil painting, acrylics, and ceramics. He draws much of his artistic inspiration from everyday life.
Artie has been tattooing professionally for over 10 years, specializing in black and grey fine-line realism with surrealism elements. Artie especially likes using small needle groupings including single needle. Additionally, he enjoys designing and tattooing custom lettering, and has extensive experience tattooing anything from miniature fine line to full upper back lettering pieces.
Outside of tattooing, Artie enjoys motorsports, including collecting vintage and nostalgic motorcycles and hotrods. He also loves spending time with his small family including his teacup Chihuahua, Sasha.
John Starr (he/him) began tattooing in Brooklyn, New York in 2017 under the apprenticeship of Reverend Lifan Chang at Gnostic Tattoo. Since then he has worked and practiced in traditional and custom style tattoos making guest appearances in LA and Miami.
His fine art and illustrative studies started in Sarasota Florida at the Ringling College of Art and Design, where he graduated in 2010. After graduation, he made his way to New York City to pursue a career in the arts. There he took on numerous projects including animating for tv shows, assisting in gallery paintings, illustrating independent books, creating mural art for local bars, and working with his wife in professional comics.
Fortunately, everything came into focus once he discovered tattooing and he has been tattooing professionally for the last 6 years. John is excited to bring Brooklyn-style tattooing back to his hometown of Cincinnati. He hopes to continue to create tattoo art for as long as his body allows.
He now shares a home with his wife and 3 cats in OTR.
Cole (they/them/comrade) is a Texas native hailing from the Great Plains, and has been residing in the Cincinnati area since 2016. They studied at the Art academy of Cincinnati and have a BFA in illustration, with a minor in art history. Much of their personal art explores the illusion of self and its ever-changing from, with the occasional goofy doodle thrown in to keep things fun. Favorite media includes graphite, ink, sign-painting, and colored ballpoint pens.
Tattooing since 2020, Cole specializes in fine-line, micro-realism, and illustrative work, though they love exploring styles and tackling new challenges as well. They also hold a special love for art nouveau and the human form, inspired heavily by Alphonse Mucha and French posters from the early 1900’s.
Outside of the studio, Cole enjoys time with their spouse and 4 cats, late night trips to Skyline, and bad anime dubs.
Seth Gerke (he/him) was born and raised in the city of Cincinnati and studied Industrial Design before earning an MBA at UC. This led him down the path of footwear design post-graduation, however, his 6+ years of experience in the outdoor industry has led to a desire for a less-corporate and more human-focused creative pursuit.
After being formally educated in the art of tattooing by Victoria Baker (@unholy.hand) Seth returned home to Ohio to continue building footwear remotely and focus more heavily on tattooing. He specializes in black and grey, fineline, west-coast inspired and turn of the century motifs. Favorite tattooers throughout history include Ed Hardy, Sutherland Macdonald, Freddy Corbin and Juan Teyer.
Outside of work, Seth enjoys painting, shooting hoops around cincy and petting as many animals as possible.