The Axiom was created after I left Creative Images in February 1995. However, I had been using the name off and on since I started piercing. The idea behind the Axiom was simple: to not only create an open environment that offered professional body art (Body Piercings and Tattooing) but also a business that isn't afraid to educate and enlighten the public. The original crew was DaVo piercing and Terry "Casper" Kasper tattooing. We were located at our old location of 412 1/2 E 5th St. in Des Moines, just a few blocks west of the State Capitol.

Thanks to the much-needed help of Terry and friends, with a month of renovating the studio (including new flooring and a drywall shell), we opened on March 28th, 1995. The first piercing was a nostril piercing, which occurred about 20 minutes after we opened. When the stress on Terry's personal and business life became too much, he left in June of 1995 and was replaced by Justin "Birdman" Crawford. Justin fit into the space where I envisioned the studio going. Bright, passionate, and above all artistically driven.

Later that summer, I took on my first apprentice, Dianne Smith. At the time, she was an RN at Mercy Hospital. She was not only a quick and apt student, but she also taught me a great deal regarding cross-contamination prevention and other sterilization techniques. Additionally, she possessed an incredible bedside manner and a way of instantly brightening up the room the moment she entered it.

It was during this time that the music in Des Moines, which gave birth to Slipknot, began to explode, and the Axiom was part of it. Many times after a night of drinking at 2nd Ave Foundry, GTs, Safari, or The Love Shack, we would find ourselves in the waiting area of the studio finishing off a case of beer. It was not uncommon to see nearly every member of Slipknot and their friends packed into the studio. My close friends Lanny and Paul would often begin the night waiting for closing time, then hit the clubs, only to return to the studio for a nightcap. Some nights we would leave the studio until 5 or 6 am the following morning.

In October 1995, we hosted our first Halloween Party, and at one point, close to 100 people walked through the door. It was an incredible time surfing back and forth between the studio and the local gay bar, the Blazing Saddle. It was a crazy night, to say the least. It was nice to see my clients and peers on a social level for a change.

The Darkest day the Axiom has ever seen was February 20, 1996. I was visiting a friend in Lawrence, KS, that weekend, and Diane was covering for me. When I called to check in on things on Tuesday, she told me that Jay had passed away. It was like time stood still. It was just so out of the blue. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that the Saturday before, when I stayed a little late and visited with him and his mother, Sandy, that it would be the last time I would see him alive. Something went missing when he left us that will never be replaced. His art, his laughter, his spirit, his passion, and his joy were all gone at age 23. If you would like to learn more about Birdman, go here.

It was some dark, long days following Birdman's leaving. I spent the next week contacting Tattooists I knew and finally asked a guy I had met the summer before to move here and take over the tattooing responsibilities. His name was Greg "Butch" Welts. He had been in some O.C. bands like Mad Parade and Organized Crime and had picked up tattooing after a motorcycle accident. Most of the work I had seen was solid and clean. So I hired him. He also began drumming for the Have Nots, a band with which I was in, along with Paul and Joey from Slipknot. At first, Greg seemed like a gifted artist, but soon his hobbies took over and his work suffered. After a short eight months, I had to let him go, and Axiom Body Piercing became the first piercing-only studio in the state of Iowa on January 1, 1997.

Slipknot signing their contract with Roadrunner Records in front of the Axiom on July 8, 1998.

The studio underwent several changes in 1997 and 1998, coinciding with my personal life. ON January 1st of 1998, the Axiom got out of the tattooing business. It was during this period that I also began to focus my jewelry purchases on improving quality and reducing the number of suppliers. Also, I began to stock some fetish clothing/items and t-shirts. Of course, the most significant change in my life was the birth of my son Quinn. He's the only thing that comes before the studio and is the love of my life and best friend. In the spring of 1998, the Iowa State House of Representatives passed a bill regarding Body Piercing, and it was sent to the Iowa Senate. I wrote a 5-page letter to all the Studios in the State practicing Tattooing and Piercing, my state representatives, the Iowa Department of Public Health, and members of the subcommittee working on the bill. Although the law failed to pass through the Senate, I believe and have been told that my letter contributed to the defeat of a bill that would have been, for the most part, ineffective.

On October 13th, 1999, I moved the Axiom into the Skin Kitchen Tattoo. I did this for several reasons. One being a better space and increased traffic. The other being that I greatly respect the artists there. It just made sense. It has been a joy to work with the members of the Skin Kitchen Crew. On December 2nd, 2003, we opened in our new location across the street from the old Studio. This would be our shared location until December 18, 2017, when the Plaza Lanes Bowling Alley, in which the building we were located, burned to the ground. It was a significant loss to Skin Kitchen Tattoo and the Axiom, as it had been our home for 15 years.

In January of 2018, The Axiom and Skin Kitchen Tattoo opened in our new shared location at 3800 Douglas Ave. With the new location, we began to collaborate on the Body Piercing & Tattooing YouTube Channel. 

Please feel free to stop by our current location on the southwest corner of 38th Street and Douglas Avenue. Our hours are Thursday through Monday from 2 pm to 8 pm.