Tow.... I can only tell you how I found an artist before I got my first tattoo a few years ago.
The internet is a great source..... you can research locally, go onto tattoo Forums and ask about artists, and just pop into shops and talk to artists and look at their work.
I liked the pop-in method....... this gave me a chance to talk to the artists to see if there was a comfort level, how they fely about me asking for tweaks of their drawings of the design, and gave me a chance to look around the shop to see if it was clean.
I actually politely walked out of a few places because of either what I felt were cleanliness issues or I just didn't get a good feel from the artist.
Good luck......