Kustom Kulture was established in the late 1990s in
Glastonbury by the pervious owner. Shortly after moving to Worle, a suburb
of Weston-super-Mare, in 2000, I took ownership of the business.
My name is Wendy Thomas and I came to tattooing about 7
years ago after moving to Weston from Oxfordshire. I was born in South
Wales, and did most of my school years in Plymouth, Devon. I moved to
Reading in 1986 (shows my age!!) to study Food Technology at University. A
lot people think it's a weird jump to tattooing, but a degree that focuses on
microbiology and engineering comes in very useful. I've always loved art
and I still paint and draw as a hobby, despite doing it every day at "work".
After my degree I spent 12 years in the food industry,
mostly as a hygiene inspector so I am a bit of an expert in sterile practices
and cross-contamination control. Told you that degree would come in
useful! From 2001 I also worked here at Kustom Kulture on Saturdays.
When the previous owner decided to move on, I took a deep breath, bought the
business and turned my back on the rat-race for good!
I've never looked back - the business has gone from
strength to strength I'm happy to say! My customers include people from
all walks of life, in all ages, colours, shapes and sizes! A lot of my
work tends to be cover-ups - sometimes small names (always a mistake!) but
mostly larger "first-timer" mistakes like bulldogs, Tazs', devils, etc.
I also do quite a few portraits and I'd like to encourage
more as I really enjoy doing them. Because of this you'll find my portrait
prices are extremely keen!
I also do a lot of custom work, where the customer brings
me a design or an idea and we work together to develop it into a unique tattoo.
This is a winner for everyone as it's more interesting for me and the customer
is more likely to be happy with a tattoo into which they've had an input.
Outside of work I enjoy going to gigs, pubs and travelling
round in my campervan! I'm a spicy food addict (though I have Clorets on
stand-by next to me tattoo chair!). I'm trying to learn to surf, so far
unsuccessfully as I need to lay off the spicy food and the pubs first! I
draw and paint at home in acrylics and watercolours. I'm an animal lover
with a dog, two parrots and lots of fish! Anything else you'll have
to ask me when you come in!