Joe Kintz

Joe developed a love for art at a young age as he and his brother didn't have a TV when they were growing up. They would instead spend their days riding their bikes (or skiing in the winter) and drawing. Their dad was always painting their motorcycle helmets, motocross bikes, and their dragster which played a major role in his artistic interests.

Joe got his first tattoo in 1988 from Scott Sterling at Sailor Moses' shop "California Tattoo Studio" in Biloxi, Mississippi. Interestingly, the design he chose for his tattoo came from a classic Ed Hardy flash sheet. His dad was making the trip from Florida to Biloxi every few months to continue his own tattoo collection by the legendary Sailor Moses.

Joe's brother learned to tattoo in 1992 and then taught their dad a couple of years later. In 1996, they provided Joe with a crash-course apprenticeship, during which he made hundreds of tattoo needles and tattooed his brother, dad, and his dad's friends. This marked the beginning of his journey as a tattoo artist. Over the next 11 years, Joe continued to hone his tattooing skills while serving in the US Navy. His journey took him to different places while in the Navy, this included setting up a makeshift tattoo shop during a deployment to Iraq with SEAL Team Five in 2006-2007.

In November 2007, Joe decided to say goodbye to his Navy career and retired, moving with his family to Sydney Australia. In December 2007, he started working at Manly Tattoo and later became the manager/tattoo artist at Dee Why Tattoo, which opened in January 2008. Joe worked at Dee Why Tattoo until February 2018 when he closed its doors and opened up Whistler Street Tattoo in Manly. 

Joe's style is geometric, dotwork and blackwork and his designs are typically best suited for large scale tattoos. He enjoys tattooing a wide range of clients and enjoys getting to know them quite well due to spending so many hours creating their amazing artwork.