Local Business Focus: Skeleton Skin Tattoo

If you have driven through Mound House and noticed the towering skeleton and black hearse parked on the north side of Hwy 50, then you know Skeleton Skin Tattoo. The eye-catching display is not just a clever marketing move; it is a reflection of the creative, unconventional spirit of shop owners Josh Thornton and Heather Conka-Thornton, who have been making their mark on our community and the tattoo world for more than 15 years.

The couple’s path into tattooing wasn’t exactly planned.

“I tattooed a handful in high school and [screwed them] all up then quit ‘cuz I didn’t know what I was doing,” Josh admitted with a laugh.

Heather, on the other hand, was deeply involved in the local art scene. She was experienced in creating wood-burned and mixed media pieces, winning awards at the Brewery Arts Center. A friend from L.A. recognized their artistic potential and flew out to get them started with a crash-course apprenticeship in 2007.

“We just tattooed 24/7 for that entire time,” Josh recalled.

It did not take long for their talents to be recognized. Within their first two years, they entered into a contest “just for funzies” at their very first tattoo convention and walked away with first place.

The duo jumped straight into running their own shop – they spent the first year in Carson City, but this month marks 15 years of Skeleton Skin Tattoo in Mound House.

“Once we got up here, we realized that we really liked it because, you know, Mound House is weird and so are we. Keep Mound House weird,” Josh chuckled.

Two other artists – Erik and Jace – are also part of the Skeleton Skin family. Erik has been with the shop for 13 years and Jace joined them about one year ago.

Inside the shop, Josh and Heather specialize in different styles. Josh leans toward colorful, cartoony tattoos, while Heather has earned national recognition for her realistic portraits. She has also used lights and mirrors to tattoo most of her own ink.

“She’s won awards all over the country for portraits and realism,” Josh explained. “We’ve done conventions all over the place.”

One of Josh’s most memorable projects even landed him in Guinness World Records. In 2020, he was the canvas for 420 black ant tattoos completed by five artists in three hours.

“I have a lot of bug tattoos already, bugs I played with as a kid – pinchers, roly-pollies,” Josh explained. “I always wanted to do an ant trail because I used to play with the plastic ants as a kid, the little crank ones.”

The tattoo marathon was timed to coincide with Reno’s Zombie Crawl and served as a tribute to Zombie Boy, the heavily tattooed artist who had previously held the record.

When they are not in the shop, the twosome are engaged in disc golf, outdoor activities and other unique hobbies, like ghost hunting (commonplace on the Comstock!). What started as fun with friends turned into regular involvement in paranormal investigations. They have become leads with Northern Nevada Ghost Hunters (NNGH) but also look for opportunities further afield, including Carson Prison and the famously haunted RMS Queen Mary.

“The way I explain ghost hunting, it’s like fishing. You can go fishing all day and not catch anything. But once you catch that big one, you’re like, ‘Oh. I want to do that again’,” Josh said.

The couple’s creativity does not stop with tattooing or ghost hunting. Their shop houses a captivating oddities gallery filled with unusual items, many donated by friends and clients.

“We want stuff that people look at that intrigues and open their mind and think about stuff, instead of the traditional flash on the walls tattoo shop,” Josh clarified.

Skeleton Skin Tattoo is also very community-minded. They regularly participate in fundraisers and events in Carson City, Dayton and Virginia City. You will find them at events like Pig Fest and Dayton Valley Days, representing their own shop as well as the other organizations they support.

Even their family life intertwines with the shop. Their son, now 19, started tattooing as a teenager and continues to learn under their guidance. During the 2020 shutdown, they brought equipment home and immersed him in an intense apprenticeship.

“We just hovered over his shoulders for three months and told him, ‘you’re not gonna get this close and personal of an apprenticeship when we open again,” Heather laughed.

Skeleton Skin Tattoo has become more than a tattoo shop—it is a reflection of the team’s creativity, quirks and fun spirits. With their mix of tattoos, collections and ghost-hunting adventures, they have carved out a space as unique as Mound House itself.

Check out www.skeletonskintattoo.com for information and artist portfolios.

In Loving Memory: Ky Tsesmilles (1989–2025)
The Skeleton Skin family recently lost a dear friend and fellow artist, Kyle “Ky” Tsesmilles. Josh, Heather, and the Skeleton Skin community remember him with love and gratitude.