Creatively optimistic
Photo: Giles Clasen
by Giles Clasen
Scott Rodger has constructed a creative arrangement to avoid sleeping on the streets. avoid sleeping on the streets
After losing his security jobs with nightclubs and dispensaries during the pandemic, Rodger became homeless. When the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and other programs in the American Rescue Plan Act expired, he found himself unable to pay his rent and slept his first nights in a tent, under overpasses, or anywhere else he could find shelter.
Then, he had the idea to find a safer path forward by turning to his old love and working as a tattoo artist.
“I’m couch surfing right now and trying to get by,” Rodger said. “I go over [to their homes] and tattoo, and we have a few beers. It gives me a place to sleep. At the end of the day, I’ve got a roof over my head and a safe place to sleep, rather than under the stars in the park.”
Rodger has no shortage of clients. He has tattooed other unhoused individuals living in trailers and found a steady stream of housed clients. All of them let him crash on their floor or couch after lengthy tattoo sessions.
Rodger is fastidious about cleanliness and safety. He buys his single-use tattoo needles from mainstream tattoo supply shops. After donning gloves, Rodger shows his clients the unopened needles and fresh ink. He also uses an antiseptic to clean the skin he plans on tattooing and then begins to freehand his work.
“I always feel honored that individuals let me decorate their bodies. We don’t buy art anymore. It is crazy expensive,” Rodger said. “Tattoos are the art people invest in. It is more than art. Tattoos are an expression of who we are, it is the art we carry on our bodies for the rest of our lives. It has meaning.”
Rodger’s life has been defined by two things: art and hockey. He walked on as a hockey player at the University of Denver and played for a year at the University of Colorado, too. His official position was defenseman, but his real job was to be the enforcer on the ice. He was good at hitting opponents and protecting his teammates.
Rodger found his greatest success playing on a couple of semipro teams around the Midwest. He played 47 games as a defenseman for the Minot Muskies in North Dakota. He also played 41 games for the Great Falls Americans in Montana.
The hits that he sustained started feeling like daily car crashes, slamming against his body, and he decided to pursue his other love – working with pen and ink and calligraphy.
Rodger received a degree from the Art Institute of Colorado. While at the Art Institute, Rodger found his groove doing etchings in bone, then metal. He briefly contemplated pursuing a career as an engraver for the United States Mint.
Ultimately, Rodger landed an apprenticeship at Celebrity Tattoo, where he found a bit of stability needling ink into skin. He was learning his craft and not making a lot of money yet, but he was assured that working as a tattoo artist would bring him security.
“Money has always been hard for me,” Rodger said. “Money has been tight since I tried to make it in hockey. While I don’t have much paper to show, I have memories for days.”
Rodger finds it difficult to stay on one career trajectory. He has attention deficit disorder and gets bored quickly. He also talks fast, verbally sprinting, from one subject to the next as quickly as he moved in and out of penalty boxes.
His need to chase new interests led him away from tattooing full-time, and he moved into drawing art and caricatures of children and families at the Denver Zoo and Elitch’s. He worked security jobs, as well, to stay afloat.
Just before the pandemic hit, Rodger was hired by Casa Bonita. He was certain it would give him a new purpose and creative outlet. He hopes the new owners will still honor the old offer. According to Rodger, he recently stopped by the Casa Bonita construction site and has been told repeatedly that they will call the old staff back sometime soon. But it is far from a secure job offer. Until then, Rodger continues to find individuals interested in trading a good night’s sleep for a new tattoo.
He doesn’t think he will qualify for an apartment any time soon because the eviction after the pandemic has locked him out of the apartment market. It is a nonstarter everywhere he looks. But Rodger is a creative optimist and believes he has found a solution. He is in the process of buying an RV to give him a secure place to lay his head. It is the only option he sees for himself.
“I’ve lived a very nice life, but I’m homeless right now,” Rodger said. “There are a lot of us living in a new reality after COVID and in places, we never expected to be.”