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I was born and raised in the small town of Miles City, Montana.  My interest in art started at a very young age.  Our family’s house was covered in paintings, drawings, and statues mostly made and passed down from past generations of Muggli.  My mother pushed me to draw whenever I couldn’t keep myself entertained.  She always steered me out of my comfort zone of drawing monsters and gross things, pushing me to draw aquariums, fish, flowers, insects, and thimbles. My dad noticed my struggle in junior high on an art project.  He is a farmer and a very technical man.  My dad broke down the art assignment technically, explaining how to achieve definition by using light sources and textures in my projects.  

My interest in tattoos also started at a young age, finding an easy Rider magazine in an old abandoned house on our family farm.  I took it home and hid it.  After mom found the magazine she removed several pages of nude women and let me keep the rest.  There were lots of tough-looking guys with tough-looking tattoos and bikini-wearing biker babes showing off Ink.  I was certain tattoos were going to be part of my life.   At my granny June’s request my first design piece was making business cards for my mother’s quilt and fabric store at around age 8.  This fueled my love of art.  

In High School, I was president of the Art Club in both my Junior and Senior year. Our yearly art club trips took us to destinations Minneapolis Minnesota and Denver Colorado to visit the art colleges and museums.  I knew at this point I wanted a career in Art.  In 1998 I moved to Oregon to live with my brother to give life in a big city a chance.  I immediately fell in love with Portland and all the surrounding areas. Mountains to beaches in a short day’s drive.  The music and art culture in Portland was more than I hoped for.  I started going to school for graphic design at Portland Community College.  

My school was put on hold with the birth of my beautiful daughter.  I had already been working full-time for the Northwest company GI Joe’s. With the kid growing up fast and the bills coming in daily I started looking for promotional opportunities with GI Joes.  Within a few years, I was in management.  I enjoyed my job at Joe’s and had no plans on leaving there.  Then in 2009, Joe announced they were filing bankruptcy.  Shortly after that announcement, I scheduled to get another tattoo added to my collection.  

Not only was I in need of a new tattoo but I was curious about how to get into the business.  The artist and owner of Above the Pearl Tattoo Tanya Magdalena in Portland directed me to Rio DeGennaro of Oregon School of Tattoo Arts.  I did my research and determined this was not your typical fly-by-night tattoo school.  Rio had been around the business his whole life and started tattooing in the 60s at Bert Grimm’s shop on the Pike in California.  After completing my schooling I received my license from the Oregon Health License Agency.  

I worked locally in Hillsboro for a few years after receiving my license.  Then with the encouragement of my awesome wife Janelle, my family, and friends, I decided to open Destination Ink Tattoo and Body Piercing in Hillsboro Oregon.  I strive to improve my work with every tattoo.  I love all styles of tattoos. Come in and see me or reach out via email: 

nikmuggli@hotmail.com