
#Tanya newton skin#
Joe Boy, 10 years old, in The Skin Sorcerer studio, sporting his father’s gang cut. Left to right: Stratton’s colleague and him as medics in South East Asia, 2005.Īlthough both Joe’s mum and I are qualified nurses and I had been a volunteer medic in disaster-hit South East Asia, dealing with hundreds of wounded and dead, nothing at all can ever prepare you for finding your child dead. I barged the door open, breaking the lock, and we ran into his flat to see our beloved Joe Boy lying on the floor. I knocked on the door, and mum shouted, “Joe.” We looked at each other, and I just knew. I met his mum at his flat and checked on Joe, as we so often would. It was not unusual for his mother and me to be concerned about Joe’s welfare, and in the days before his overdose and death, Joe had been arguing with his partner, and she had ended the relationship. I was to become his full-time carer until his death such was the extent of his illness. Seeing Joe suffer was unbearable, and being powerless to help was the most difficult thing to understand. By the time Joe had reached high school, he was already showing the first signs of mental illness (depression and anxiety) this sadly escalated to drug addiction, and after that, Joe and I struggled to manage, as, for years, I desperately tried to find him happiness. I was so happy to become a father, and although Sarah and I separated soon after, we both enjoyed equal contact with our only child. During a sabbatical, we traveled to Holland together, and Joe, known as Joe Boy, was conceived whilst we were in Amsterdam in 1986. We lived in the nursing home on hospital grounds. Joe’s mother, Sarah, and I met in 1983 when we were nineteen and student nurses. I would like to know if you are willing to talk about your son Joe, what mental health issues he was facing, how old he was, and when he passed away? Stephen C Stratton, his son Joe, and his then-partner Sarah. These wooden blocks are templates for Coptic tattoos and are from the collection of the World Famous Skin Sorcerer. But before we get further into this topic, it is essential to understand Stratton’s journey. Stratton’s research focuses on Coptic Christianity and its significance to pilgrims who seek to adorn the ancient and historical Coptic tattoo. Stratton is currently an anthropologist and PhD student at the University of Essex, learning under the direction of Dr Matt Lodder-a senior lecturer in art history and theory and director of American studies. Then, along with his nephew Marc Newton, they opened the World Famous Skin Sorcerer tattoo and piercing studio in England.
#Tanya newton professional#
He continued as a health care professional until 1996.

Because tattoos were frowned upon in the medical field, he began covering them with long-sleeve shirts.

Stratton joined the military and became a nurse a decade later.
#Tanya newton mod#
At The Needle Master studio, he got his first professional tattoo, a Lambretta-scooter motif connected with the Mod revival subculture. Stephen C Stratton, a youngster in the late 1970s, tattooed his buddies with a popsicle stick and taped sewing needles.
