Tattoo artist uses pain to connect with others

A History of Addiction

For one local tattoo artist there is more to each session than the needle hitting the skin and the ink settling in.

Dan Lessard is an artist from Tecumseh who specializes with tattoo and air brush work. He spends his days working in his studio in his converted garage. Life wasn’t always like this for Lessard.

At around the age of 12 he was exposed to alcohol. By grade nine he found himself trying to be a nice guy but had anger building inside. He found an escape through alcohol and drugs.

“As a kid I think I had some kind of pain inside of me,” said Lessard. “I realize it today, I know there was pain and deeper issues.”

Eventually he started experimenting with drugs like marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine. Then one day there came a night where he reached the point where he thought he was going to die.

“I took too much cocaine, I was by myself in a bad marriage and I thought my heart was pumping out of my chest,” said Lessard.

The Road to Recovery

It was at that point he decided to work on fixing himself. He entered the program at Brentwood where he started his path to recovery.

As he went through the program he said he found a sense of relief seeing others who were just like him and feeling what he was feeling. He didn’t feel alone anymore. Lessard found success through the program since he has reached 27 years of sobriety.

Lessard said Brentwood specializes with getting the garbage out of your system and helps you made amends with those you’ve hurt. He said he found a sense of freedom meeting others like him and found the program cleansing.

“I feel it saved my life and I feel like it’s molded me into the person I am today,” said Lessard.

Even though he’s experienced success from the program he learned the hard way it doesn’t work for everyone. His brother went through the program four times. One night he visited Brentwood and ran into his brother. 12 hours later he discovered his brother had left the program and was found dead in his apartment with a needle in his arm after robbing a store.

Last year Lessard lost his mother who he credits to being the reason his talent with art developed.

“As a kid my mom taught me how to draw, she must have seen a talent in me,” said Lessard.

At the time of her passing they had both fully reconciled. Lessard said he a great relationship with his mother who came from a dysfunctional family herself since her father was an alcoholic. He said she was tough but also easy to lean on.

“That’s the thankful thing about recovery,” said Lessard. “Honestly if I kept on that path, who knows what our relationship would have been like last year when she passed.”

Tribute Tattoos

He has a tattoo design planned as a tribute to his mother. It will use his wife’s and youngest son’s hand to show a mother’s hand over a son’s which is holding a pencil. The tattoo represents how his mother guided him and taught him how to draw.

When asked about tribute tattoos, Lessard said he feels people get them help keep the memory of that person with them.

“I think it’s because as human, you’re afraid to forget these people,” said Lessard. “We can get so busy with life.”

Bob Gouin has been going to Dan for his tattoos for three years now. His first tattoo with Dan was of the Harley Davidson tattoo on his back that was modified to have an eagle carrying the bar and shield as a tribute to a friend of his who had passed away.

“It’s a constant reminder but also a tribute to the life that the person led,” said Gouin. “It brings back memories of the time you spent with that person.”
Gouin also has more tribute tattoos on his body. He has Less We Forget on his left arm as a tribute to soldiers who fight for the country. He also has a portrait tattoo of his dog who died at the age of four from cancer.

“For my wife’s birthday I had her face put on my leg so that my wife could always see her face,” said Gouin. “Dan did a beautiful portrait of the dog and that’s so we can always remember her.

He also has a tattoo dedicated to his father and law and mother in law on his other leg. The tattoo is a bible representing his father in law and underneath it is a blue jay which represents his mother in law. Which according to Gouin represents how women often carry their men.

Connecting with his Customers

When Lessard does his sessions he likes to talk to each customer and listen to their stories.

“The cool thing that I think happens is that I’m a talker, I like to connect with people,” said Lessard. “So when people come to me with a tribute tattoo, I like to ask a lot of questions.”

There have been sessions where he’s met the person for the first time and by the end they’ve told him their issues and what’s going on in their life. Being very religious he often prays for those who ask for it.

“I had a mom in here who was in despair over her son’s drug abuse who is in his 20’s,” said Lessard. “Once again you’re never too old to be a parent and I’m just telling her that I’ll pray for her and if she ever needs help I’ll guide her to it and she was in tears.”

During his sessions he’s open about his life and past experiences. He hopes to help others who might be going down the path he was once on.

Gouin has spent over 100 hours sitting in Lessard’s tattoo chair and enjoys talking with him.

“Every session with Dan is therapy,” said Gouin. “We’ll talk the whole time, we share things, we both are Christians and we share our faith. We talk about out personal problems and we uplift each other.”

In total Gouin has 14 tattoos, 12 of which were done by Lessard. Gouin even jokingly said when he got a tattoo in Las Vegas from someone else it felt almost like he cheated. He said you get two experiences with Lessard. The first experience is the tattoo and the other is getting Lessard’s story and communication.

“People open up to him kind of like a bartender,” said Gouin. “His being able to communicate, takes away the pain.”

Lessard considered opening up a studio but when his friend who built his studio passed away, he decided to keep working there. The benefit is he gets to work close to his wife and kids which is helpful for the times he works 12 hours days.

“As life goes on you realize how short life is and that’s the biggest part, having your family so close your wife can pop in or your kids can pop in,” said Lessard. “If they need me I’m here.”

It’s been a long road for Lessard. He went from suffering from drug and alcohol addiction, being in a bad marriage and even reached a point where he thought he was going to die. Now he has been sober for 27 years, has a family that loves him and spends him time creating art and connecting with new people.

If you or someone you know suffers from drug or alcohol addiction who needs help you can contact the Brentwood Recovery Home at 519-253-2441 for information.