This story begins with a heartbreak: in late winter of 2007 my best friend Lucinda died unexpectedly at 31. She passed peacefully in her sleep (in her own bed) with her gorgeous brown hair down (she rarely wore her hair like that). A few months later, the devastation turned into inspiration, and I decided it was high time to start tattooing again since my one existing tattoo suddenly seemed entirely insufficient in the face of dear death.
I was living in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn at the time, and I fondly recall walking up the block and onto 5th Avenue and into the first tattoo shop I could find, and there was Josh Egnew. Egnew has been tattooing for nearly 20 years, and he cites skateboarding, punk music, and “an affinity for graffiti as a young misfit” as early influences that inspired his passion for drawing that eventually morphed into tattooing. I immediately admired his tattoo-art style and his warm and gracious energy. I booked an appointment, and that very day began one of the greatest bro-love relationships of my life.
Fast forward 18 years and I am still devoted to Egnew and his outstanding tattoo skill. For over a decade I followed him from studio to studio in Brooklyn as he made his way. In 2015, he and fellow tattoo artist Jeremy Sutton established Electric Anvil Tattoo in Crown Heights (they celebrate a solid decade this year). I enjoyed frequenting their studio until the summer of 2020, when I busted out of the urban hustle and found my spot in Troy (Covid-era power-moves). Within a few months (and to my utter delight) Egnew and his family had relocated to the Hudson Valley as well. That same year Egnew and Sutton established Outpost Tattoo, first running their business out of Foreland in Catskill before opening their current storefront location on Warren Street in Hudson. Their shop is home to both Outpost Tattoo (in the back) and De L’Or custom jewelry (in the front). The cozy Outpost nook is home to four powerhouse tattoo artists, including Egnew, Sutton, Ashley Strout, and Adam Machin.
The De L’Or component of their business expands upon their artistic endeavors from tattooing to engraving precious metals. “Jeremy and I are proud to be making these heirlooms at both Outpost and De L’Or,” says Egnew. They started De L’Or in 2021 to provide upscale piercing for the area, and after years of focus and hard work—including an intensive with an accomplished custom jeweler on the coast of Maine—they now make distinctive solid-gold jewelry from start to finish. “Our specialty is hand-engraving, and we offer a fresh perspective on what piercing jewelry can look like. I think it parallels tattooing nicely in that way,” says Egnew. “Whether our clientele wear it on their skin or in their ears, it all makes us smile.”
Considering the changes in the industry, Egnew points to the rise of reality-TV shows that brought tattooing culture to the mainstream crowd, resulting in a more saturated scene since he began tattooing nearly two decades ago. “The talent level is insane now,” he states and therefore the half-assed types don’t last long. Egnew’s tattoo talents are among the strongest in the region and when I asked him “Why tattoo?” in conjunction with this profile, his blunt response is precisely why I remain faithful to him until the day I die: “Why not decorate these meat bags?”
