About
Rinel “Rhyno” Tabamo is the owner of Ironwood Tattoo, the first tattoo shop to ever open up in Morton Grove, IL in 2023. His journey in tattooing began in 2013 where he learned at a street shop and covered any style that walked through the door. He had always pushed himself to improve by learning art in different mediums; such as charcoal, watercolor, marker, and oil painting. In 2015, he began working at Tattoo Boulevard as one of the original members. In 2017, he started painting traditional Japanese backpiece mock-ups at Tattoo Boulevard and thus began his studies in the traditional Japanese tattoo style, also known as Wabori. He worked at Tattoo Boulevard for 8 years and later left to pursue his dream of opening up his own tattoo shop dedicated to only Wabori.
Rhyno goes above and beyond, fully immersing himself in the art of irezumi. Outside of work, he...
∙studies tattoo history and folklore,
∙is learning how to speak, read, and write in Nihongo— the Japanese language,
∙learns how to assemble tattoo machines,
∙solders his own tebori needles,
∙and practices the art of tebori—the original Japanese technique tattooed manually by hand.
This makes Rhyno the first and only tebori tattooer in Chicago. His dedication never falters and grows day by day. He hopes to be able to work in Japan yearly and maybe one day be given a “hori-” title, recognizing him as an honorary master in irezumi.
Above all, he believes that providing good service and developing a positive relationship with his clientele is of the utmost importance. Tattooing requires both the artist and the client after all. While working hard makes a good artist and craftsman, compassion is what makes a quality tattooer and human being. Rhyno is naturally personable and comfortable to work with. Feel free to send him an email with any questions and he will do his best to respond back within a day or so. Contact him directly through rhynotattoo@gmail.com or fill out his pre-consultation form by clicking here, the easiest way to start your booking process.
To learn even more about Rhyno, visit the Featured section which consists of interviews, magazines, videos, and podcasts he was a part of.
