With over 17 years as a professional tattoo artist Ben Thompson started his professional art career publishing a graphic novel entitled “HUSK” in 2005. The book won the Xeric award grant for self publishers (founded by Peter Laird, co creator of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). With a day job designing Japanese Zen gardens at a company in Cambridge Massachusetts Thompson started his tattoo apprenticeship at night in 2009. Working at various New England tattoo shops over the years he opened a private tattoo studio called “New England Noir “ in 2001 and is now focusing mainly on narrative based figurative illustration and fine art, tattooing part time. He resides outside of Boston.