Upon my many back and forth trips to Pennsylvania while my lady friend and I search for our new residence, we saw this pretty neat tattoo shop while we were driving around Stroudsburg looking for a Starbucks. At first we had no idea that it was even a tattoo shop. The storefront kind of reminded me of an old bookstore and the name of the shop is no dead giveaway either—Dreamland Creations—and if it weren’t for my girlfriend looking into the window and pointing out that it was a tattoo shop, I never would’ve noticed. Since it was the middle of the day, the neon “tattoo” sign wasn’t very noticeable.
Anyway, we entered this immaculately clean shop that is adorned with paintings on the wall mostly done by Dreamland Creations owner, Myke Maldonado. Of course, to the right, you’ll find the flash art portfolios, though the shop is mainly a custom one. According to owner Myke Maldonado, “The shop strives to provide a comfortable environment where people can speak with the artists about their special creative project.” This just means that the Dreamland Creations staff will take the time and consult their customers instead of rushing them into doing their pieces. Trust me, this is always a good thing!
Owner Myke Maldonado always considered himself an artist since he can remember. He attended the School of Art and Design from 1978 until 1982, where after graduating, Myke pursued a career in comic book illustration. He struggled here in New York City for a few years, but got a lucky break when Kevin Eastman, who now owns Heavy Metal Magazine, agreed to publish Myke’s book Flesh Wounds, which deals with tattooing and piercing—a passion that Myke had already developed! In 1990, Myke decided to become a tattoo artist and did his apprenticeship with Darren Rosa of Rising Dragon Tattoo in NYC. Over the next few years, body art became the number one medium in his life. In 1999, he joined a group of tattoo artists and started All Souls Tattooing in uptown Manhattan. After missing his Pennsylvania roots, Myke decided to head back and open Dreamland Creations in downtown Stroudsburg, PA, designing the shop to be more of an Art Gallery/Tattoo Studio to showcase his art, as well.
