Our team, our home and how our experience can help you on your next journey
Boutique
Training Academy
BTQ Training Academy, located in the heart of the very popular and trendy High Street in the Old Town, Stevenage, was designed and created to cater toward those individuals interested in pursuing a lucrative career within the tattoo or body piercing industry.
By successfully completing the course requirements, students would have gained the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary toward acquiring an apprenticeship with an established studio, further leading to successful, and permanently rewarding career.
Upon completion of the 10 day course, students will be rewarded with a certificate of accomplishment in tattooing, as well as becoming certified in tattooing health and safety and blood borne pathogens, which is recognized by Public Health of England and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.
Students undergoing the course can expect to:-
- Gain a thorough understanding in tattooing, and/or body piercing.
- Obtain a certificate of completion.
- Be certified in tattooing and/or body piercing health and safety.
- Be certified in blood borne pathogens.
- 6 month follow up.
- Upon completion of the 10 day course, we offer both advanced, and refresher courses.
Here at BTQ Training Academy, we aim to provide students with the skills, knowledge and confidence required to succeed in the tattoo industry.
However, make no mistake, completing the 10 day course will not be enough for you to begin tattooing professionally and any academy that promises this is misleading. Tattooing takes years of practice, hard work, and determination, which certainly does not happen overnight.
However, we at BTQ strive to give you a strong foundation and understanding necessary for you to excel in your journey of becoming a successful tattoo artist.
Please note, before you endeavor in any course, it is always advised to take a look at the instructor’s portfolio to check out the quality of their work before you part with your money. Both of our instructors’ portfolio’s can be best viewed on Instagram. You can view them by searching:-
insta@sustattooing
insta@szymongarbacz
Our team is comprised of genuinely gifted artists
Szymon Garbacz was born and raised in Poland. His adventure with tattoo art started when he was 21 whilst on military service in Poland. It started as a hobby which very quickly became his passion and something he wanted to make a career out of. Szymon is a self-taught artist, who started tattooing after hours in his flat in Poland and in 2012 got an opportunity to work in a tattoo studio in London. His original plan was to only stay for a year but because there were more opportunities for development in UK, he decided to stay.
For the first few years he worked in a small tattoo studio in Walthamstow, London and as his family grew he decided to move out of London and that's when he found the Boutique House in Stevenage. In the meantime he attended multiple conferences and training sessions to further develop his skills. He attended The Great British Tattoo Show at Alexandra Palace in London, Epidermist Tattoo Convention in Exeter and Freeze Tattoo Convention in Telford.
In 2019 he took part in training session with Jarek Gorajek - one of the best tattoo artists in Europe. They worked on black and white and photorealistic tattoos. During his 11year old career he's made tattoos in multiple styles but his passion lies in black and white and realistic tattoos, and he hopes to develop his skills further in that particular style of tattoos.
Growing up in Stevenage and drawing from a young age, Steve gained a keen eye and artistic flare which expanded his natural talent and creativity. After Learning to play the piano from 9 years old and the guitar from 11, Steve’s love for both art and music soon became second nature to him.
Moving to Hawaii at age 20, he was presented with several opportunities which allowed him to expand his artistic skill, and knowledge. This in turn, paved the way, leading him to eventually obtain a lucrative career as a tattoo artist.
Several years later having friends already in the industry, Steve was able to gain advice on certain aspects and correct procedures of tattooing. This gave him a new found drive and determination of becoming an artist.
Having a passion for drawing realism and portraits in particular,
Steve focused his attention within this area and practiced drawing with a biro pen as his medium which led him to win a renowned competition for best realistic piece. He then gained interest from others and began commissioning his work.
Shortly after, and still without even picking up a tattoo gun he moved back to the UK and began working as an apprentice at The Boutique House in Stevenage under the guidance and tuition of Sanchez Santi, and Szymon Garbacz. This is where his journey as a tattoo artist began.
Tattooing for over 3 ½ years, Steve excelled and gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and understanding within the industry, which in turn, gave him the opportunity to work at a couple of conventions. Epidermis tattoo convention in Exeter, and The great British Tattoo Show at Alexandra Palace to name a few.
In 2018 with a desire to continue progressing, Steve attended a seminar with world famous artist Thomas Carli Jarlier. Having a considerable amount of respect and admiration within the industry for him, Steve absorbed everything Thomas taught, this was a game changer for him. This, in turn gave him the skillset, and mindset to develop faster and to produce the work he does today.
Still with a passion for portraiture, Steve is considered by many as one of the best portrait artists in the area, to this day he never stops learning, and progressing towards achieving his goals of climbing his way to the top and becoming one of the best artists out there.
Having her first piercing at 13, Paris fell in love with the artform of body piercing. By the age of 15, Paris's fascination and passion for the body piercing and body modification culture grew, this has led to her to qualify as a professional body piercer and receive a diploma from the British Body Piercing Association in 2012.
Paris has worked in studios across Hertfordshire. She has also had the opportunity to work with and learn from a well respected, very talented and knowledgeable Body piercer in Hertfordshire. After 8 years of piercing and some amazing experiences, Paris was ready for something new.
From August 2020, Paris joined the Boutique family; she’s delighted to be running a professional studio and working with an amazing team.
Paris has loved learning new things, experimenting with piercings and new piercing ideas over the years. She has gained exceptional knowledge of running a studio, the importance of hygiene and safety within the studio, piercing techniques, piercing aftercare and problematic piercing/situations within the studio.
Paris is keen to share her experiences, knowledge, techniques and skills with those who share the same passion.