When I was 19/20 I got tattooed by Adam Miller multiple times spanning those two years and I absolutely regret it. Now that I am about to be 29 and have much of my body tattooed, have multiple friends in the industry, and have had deep conversations with those friends about this experience, I feel the need to say something.
I was very impressionable and still quite young. I was excited to start getting tattooed and only had two before I was a client of Adams. The first tattoo I got was a cover up. What I asked him to cover up was a bullet about 2 inches long and a half inch wide that was on my forearm. I sent Adam a photo of an American traditional rose with smaller five point flowers and some other details around it. Over messenger he assured me he could do something like what I had sent him. When I went to see him in person day of my appointment he had drawn me three roses in an almost neotraditional/dark style with nothing else. He pressured and talked me into getting that tattoo even though it was not what I asked for and three times the size of what I asked for. He ended up covering my entire forearm, from elbow ditch to wrist. He also made the roses so dark I'm now considering getting black work over them. Every tattoo artist I've seen since has commented on how unnecessary it was to make them so dark. And now that I've seen other cover ups, I know he was lying when he said it was necessary to do three roses to cover such a tiny tattoo. He was manipulating me and I think I ended up paying around $600 dollars before tip for that tattoo. Again, I was still very young and that was one of my first couple tattoos. I still knew so little so I believed him when he said it was a good quality tattoo, it should be that dark, and that the size was necessary. I still trusted him.
So I reached out to Adam again to get a Friday the 13th tattoo. I sent him designs that had a 13 with bones and specifically the color green. My favorite color. He once again said he'd draw something up that was similar. When I got there day of my appointment, Adams drawing was just a plain 13 shaped to look like a "B" (my last initial) and was just black and gray with red. No green. No bones. He was overly enthusiastic about it, saying it was devilish like me, yadda yadda and convinced me to get it. I think the worst part about this is, I wanted it somewhere hidden but he convinced me to put it smack dab on the top of my wrist. I have now, for about 9 years, have had to explain countless times that I am not in MS-13. I have been told by actual MS-13 members that I should not have that tattoo. Adam should have known he was putting what essentially looks like a gang symbol above my effing hand. It does not look like a Friday the 13th tattoo, it looks like an MS-13 tattoo. I paid over $200 for that tattoo before tip. Once again, he was manipulating someone new to getting tattooed.
It's clear to me now after telling my story to other artists that he had no interest in doing the American traditional style tattoos I had asked of him to do, and what now covers my body. He had his own style and he manipulated me into being his guinea pig.
He also would reach out to me on social media, visit me at my work, and asked me out multiple times. I did go out with him once, but again, I was young and he was someone in a position of power to me at the time. I was so excited to be getting tattooed and to feel welcomed by someone in that realm. He could see that.
I'd like to lastly say that I went in a last time and asked to have a drawing that I did of my dog tattooed on me. It's the only one I don't regret. But I drew it. And he still managed to make fun of me by laughing and saying "you want me to put your name on it too?". I told him nope, just tattoo exactly what I drew. I never went back to him again and he's the only artist I tell people to avoid and will continue doing so. read more