Category: Tattoo Studios

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It’s never over: apprentice Trixie Luni and her mentor MVDV share their views on tattooing

Our contributor Sarah Kay learns about the relationship between mentor and apprentice…

Five years ago, tired of expensive rents and constant noise, delayed trains and endless commutes, I decided to move to a small village in the Upper Normandy region of France where neighbours all know each other and the cheese is definitely better than what I could experience elsewhere. Sure, it was a terrible decision as I travel a lot and was further away from airports, but I had an amazing bakery, a great apartment – then last year, something happened: a tattoo shop opened. Curious, I went in in the first days. Located two doors away from me, I had never seen a tattoo shop that far away from the big cities that had, according to their page, a serious quality to them.

I had just returned from NYC and asked MVDV, whom I barely knew at the time, to tattoo a slice of blueberry pie on me. His enthusiasm and really funny disposition made me immediately at ease, and the result is incredible. Having them as neighbours, I had the opportunity to know them better – and to continue booking appointments even as borders remain closed due to COVID-19. It’s an incredible luxury. I took time out of the apprentice, Trixie Lunie’s busy day to ask her questions about the tattoo world and her decision to enter it, and asked her mentor, MVDV, how he sees it. The keyword? Humility. 

TRIXIE

How long have you been an apprentice for now? A little over nine months.

How many tattoos have you done on actual people, including yourself? Over thirty I think on people, and five on myself.

How long have you wanted to be a tattoo artist for? For about 10 years. It wasn’t always possible, since a tattoo apprenticeship is unpaid, but now I can do it because I have a partner supporting me and after having worked for many years before I’m entitled to unemployment benefits.

Were you drawing before or were enrolled into any form of art curriculum? No, I’m an autodidact. I’ve been drawing since I was capable of holding a pencil though, I had been watching my dad tattoo – he was a tattooer himself. He was more of a scratcher: he would tattoo from home, mostly his friends, local people, I still got to take a look at how he worked, and we would attend conventions together. As clients, not professionals! (laughs)  Let it be clear that I’m not into his style, but he never was told or taught how, never had a strong foundation, and that’s what I wanted and needed. I wanted a reputable studio where I would be shown and told strictly what to do and how to learn to be the best tattooer I can be.

How long did it take for you to find an apprenticeship? A long time!  It’s really hard. There are a lot of requests and very few spots. It took me about a year to find this one. I found them through social media, I liked the work being performed, people seemed satisfied; I just didn’t want to go just by reputation. A reputation can take ages to be formed, but it can fall apart so quickly. I wanted something solid.  Now I truly believe I have what I wanted, with a great mentor.

So who is your mentor? Is it Casper (the owner) or MVDV (the tattooer)? Casper is my Jedi Master, and I am MVDV’s padawan. We’ve only known each other since February!  It’s going very well. I’m learning a lot, because my preference is manga and anime, and he works mostly in realism, so that was definitely a learning curve. He’s making me draw a lot, I’m starting to tattoo on fake skin, and he’s always behind me, telling me what I can improve. He gauges when I’m ready to do something, which may not always be when I feel ready. They’re making me draw some flash sheets right now so I can get used to creating designs.

I saw that you posted on your Instagram about the tattoo me too situation. How do you feel about that and how do you see your place as a young female up and coming artist? I know that in this studio I will never face any form of discrimination whatsoever. I think elsewhere however, womxn can be under-respected because they are still believed to only be there to draw cutesy hearts or butterflies; I follow a lot of female artists that do, and do so in very different styles and who completely own it. And there’s nothing wrong with being girly. Womxn can be good at everything. There’s enough room for everybody now, and now there are conventions for female tattoo artists too, so I’m entering the business at the right time. A few years ago, it may have been different.

Who is inspiring you right now? Charline Puth, who has a private studio in Paris, I’m getting tattooed at Getcha Club by Charlotte E San in Lille. I love all this Japanese inspired art world. At the end of the day though, we’re all here to do the best job possible for the client and their idea of the design, so as Casper told me when I started, we need to be able to do everything. Of course I’d like to specialise in manga-inspired work and work on really colourful designs, and there is an audience for that, but I must be capable of performing in any style as well. 

When it comes to the tattooer-client relationship, what are the values that you hope to bring to the table as a solo artist? What matters to me is to have a very clean shop, that is inviting, really abide by strict rules of surgical hygiene with the equipment, and look my best as well, so people can trust me. Then I want to establish a friendly atmosphere, regardless of the mood I’m in, just like in any other workplace, a lot of humour so people can feel comfortable, and be really respectful of their bodies and of their boundaries. 

How do you deal with someone who is anxious – because it’s their first tattoo, a sensitive body part, because of the pain, how do you put them at ease? You talk to them a lot, you offer them a cup of coffee, you ask them if they had something to eat, you take your time. You make sure to have a lot of time so the person can take as many breaks as they need to, I know MVDV is really cautious on the first lines to see how the person reacts and how he can talk them through what’s happening. 

Do you think it’s a possibility that a womxn would enter the shop and would rather have you tattoo her than MVDV? That’s a total possibility. It depends on the body part. I would do it, if this is a person that would rather have a womxn do it, especially with everything that’s going on. With MVDV though, he’s been working with some sensitive body parts as well and everything went smoothly; that’s his job, he’s used to it, he knows how to work it, and he would never post insensitive photos on Instagram afterwards, you see.

Do you think it’s harder to be a female apprentice with a male mentor? You need to have a strong personality in this business anyway, because there are stupid people everywhere.  You need to stand your ground and go for it once you found the place where you’re comfortable.

About competition? Of course there’s a lot of competition, but as I said there is room for everyone and everyone can carve their own space.

How do you see your future in this shop? I’ll be 80 and still tattooing on fake skin. (laughs) 

Your biggest fear right now about tattooing someone? I recently tattooed one of my good friends and she was really stressed out and it was contagious, but I managed to keep a steady hand and I had really prepared for it. 

This fear that you’re permanently altering someone’s body and you’re afraid to screw up, that never fully goes away, right? No, it doesn’t.  With experience, you gain perspective. A tattooer will always have something to learn. If someone goes ahead and tells you they have nothing left to learn and know everything, I don’t think they got the point. They no longer evolve. Techniques change. Methods change. Equipment changes. Designs change.

Now that tattooing has become so prevalent in the last decade, you see “tattoo schools” pop up, and people entering the fold with art degrees. What do you think about it and how it changes the nature of tattooing? I believe in apprenticeships, but it would be helpful if it had a real legal status. We deal with it, and I do, but it would be great if it could be recognised as an apprenticeship just like any other profession. As for art, you may be a brilliant artist, that still won’t make you a good tattoo artist. Those are two different things. Nothing can replace a solid apprenticeship.

How long do you think your apprenticeship will last? My whole life! After a year and a half I think I will have a good foundation. Just the foundation. But I wouldn’t be a good artist then. I am going to start tattooing soon, because it comes with practice. The shop remains small and approachable, even though we’re starting to be booked quite solidly, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. My two masters are extremely good, we have a great working relationship and they tell me if anything is wrong. They explain to me how to place order, how to manipulate equipment, hygiene requirements, but this is not a shop where they will only have me serve coffee and sweep up for a year, you know? They’re making me draw and work on fake skin every day.

A last word on womxn in the industry? That female tattoo artists are just as qualified as a male one, that some can run circles around others, that we’re not here to be a punchline. Things are changing really fast, hopefully for the better. And there also should be no objectification of heavily tattooed womxn either!

MVDV

How long have you been tattooing for? It’s been nine years. Very happy with my evolution – I’m learning more about the craft every day. I was just doing my thing for five years and now I’m officially set up in a shop for four.

And now that you’re an apprentice’s mentor, how do you feel about it? It feels really strange because I don’t feel like I am in a position to be a mentor. I don’t feel I have what it takes yet to be a mentor.  I don’t feel any seniority.

So how does the dynamic work? I can give her tips and pointers based on what I am capable of doing, but I still feel like mentorship has to be earned and being a mentor is something that carries with it a lot of responsibility. No one is really a mentor as we all learn something new every day. To be a mentor, for me, is the end-all-be-all of the work, it’s being in such a strong position of authority in the history of tattooing.

What has been the most challenging piece for you so far? It was a realistic lion that I just did this week! And it has taught me a lot about what I can do and how to best approach it. 

How do you see Trixie debuting in this industry once her apprenticeship will be complete? I’m not necessarily apprehensive, but just like I did have, it necessitates a lot of rigor and a lot of perseverance to make it. For those of us who had to learn everything on the go, it’s even harder, so it requires a lot of personal commitment.

What does it mean to you to train a new female artist? There are so many womxn out there who are doing such an amazing job, discrimination makes absolutely no sense.  Womxn have their place in this industry the way they do everywhere else. 

What do you think of this reckoning right now in the tattoo industry about sexual misconduct? Those are horrible people who would be horrible in any other job as well but abusing their position. We are in a profession where the human body is literally our canvas, our workplace, so men who are unable to behave with respect in this job have absolutely no place here.

Do you feel a specific type of responsibility when you tattoo a sensitive body part? A place that she wouldn’t like, but she wants to look at and see something beautiful instead? It’s the case for everyone, I feel, that they come to tattooing to change the way their body is before, and turn it into art. And it’s entirely my responsibility to do the best possible job I can so they can look at it years onwards and still love it. It’s true that if they’re having a difficult time because of body image, we have the opportunity to work with the client to make something really significant.  Any art you work on is for life, and you have a duty as an artist to make it as perfect as possible. There’s no way to half-ass it. Whether it’s your specialty or not, if you accept to do it, the responsibility is there. I think about this all the time: it’s permanent body altering.

And that’s really something you want to transmit to your apprentice. Yes: the love of working with people, the love to create; and to me this is when you know someone is really into tattooing and has the potential to be a really good tattooer, it’s when they take pleasure in the challenge of creating something special. Going to work is not a chore. The tattooer-client relationship is an exceptional one. And being talented is something you have to constantly perfect, constantly improve.

The piece that makes you the most proud? I recently worked on a UFO, and I really loved it. I had added it to a flash sheet and I never thought someone would pick it; it’s something that is really dear to me, UFO and aliens, and that was really just something that came out of my head. This person really crushed on it and loved it, and I was just so happy to be able to do that piece. I thought it would be a little too “out there” for people, and no, it found its client!  And that was wonderful for me.

What’s the future like for you? I’m not worried about clients coming in, but I know I have to keep on learning, evolving, meeting new people, working on my craft, because you can become irrelevant real quick, there are new people coming out every day who just blow everything out the water. That’s something I learned immediately, so I’m just really looking forward to being in a job where I have to keep on learning every day. And if I can travel with this, learning other techniques, histories, legacies, that would be ideal. I had no mentor personally – when I arrived at Casper’s, they showed me the technical aspect of this, how to pose a stencil, how  to best see a placement, and for that I’ll forever be grateful. But I don’t consider myself “arrived” or anything like that. I have a team that is family for me, and being a little orphan boy, having found them matters so much to me.

Both Trixie and MVDV are working at Casper S.O. Ink, Chaumont en Vexin, France.

Sarah Kay is a very, very tattooed international human rights lawyer living between Paris and New York. Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sarah has kept its taste for cold rain and the rewards that come from sitting still under pressure. You’ll probably find her in London drinking wine.

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Strength in softness: Claire Louise Tarrant

Claire Louise Tarrant creates cute girly tattoos with a tough edge at Gravity Tattoo in Leighton Buzzard. We chatted to Claire about her tattooing style and inspiration...

I was first inspired to become a tattoo artist when I was at university studying fine art. My work has always been illustrative, but I never thought tattooing could be a “grown up” career. Nowadays, I think it’s the most intense job I’ve ever had! I was very lucky with finding a studio where I could learn to tattoo, but found the male dominated studio and industry difficult to navigate.

When I first started dating, before I met my partner Josh, I got the typical weird questions about my tattoos and if it meant I liked pain. Even now I often get the odd customer who says comments such as “women with tattoos are sooooo sexy”. It’s boring! People who have loads of tattoos or can easily get tattooed, honestly forget that they’re a big thing to other people. 

I quit tattooing around three to four times due to anxiety and fear of what committing to tattooing meant. It’s such an amazing, insanely cool job, but it’s also overwhelming. It’s helped shape me as a person in more ways than I can count.

I’m now at a all female studio, Gravity, run by the fabulous Holly Astral. Having a female mentor who understands what being a woman in the industry means has given tattooing an entirely new light. It’s now fun and exciting! Tattooing makes me feel like my inner child is playing every single day; I get to be creative, I get to chat with exciting people all day and I get to travel around and discover new places all the time (well before lockdown I could).

I feel as though I’m doing what I was put on earth to do; I practice Reiki and I’m studying to become a counsellor as well. I get to use these tools I’ve learnt on clients too and I feel so connected to the people I tattoo and other tattoo artists. I hate getting tattooed as I’m a huge baby, but the powerful feeling of having another piece of art on me forever reminds me how clients must feel! 

I would describe my style as traditional, playful, feminine and illustrative with a pastel and muted colour palette. In the future I’d love to concentrate on traditional style pieces covered in glitter effects, pink and gold! 

I am massively inspired by history in my flash sheets and tattoo designs. I’m obsessed with the Tudor period; there’s something so magic about castles, weapons, royal flags and embroideries. I also love traditional styles of tattoo flash, but with the colour palette of mustard, gold, pink, mint and maroon.

I like the idea that something tough can be beautiful; women can soften anything!

I love tattooing flash sheet pieces; I only ever tattoo them once, so I like knowing that it’s been tailored colour wise to the client specifically. I do, however, love connecting with a client and understand them more to do a custom piece! 

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Heleena on cultural appropriation in tattooing

Heleena, a tattoo artist and owner of Francis Street Tattoo in Leicester specialises in traditional south Asian folky tattoos. A ‘Guji baby’, shes’s been speaking out about the inequalities and discrimination in the tattoo industry, here she talks about cultural appropriation within the tattoo world and why it’s problematic…

I only found out what cultural appropriation actually meant very, very recently. We all know the term and get the gist – it’s not yours and you’ve taken it, also don’t make money off it if it’s not yours. But, the definition is adopting something from a culture when you belong to a different culture, so it’s the adopting that’s the issue.

I feel like cultural appropriation is such a tough subject to speak about and I feel like a lot of people don’t speak about it. It’s difficult to talk about because it’s hard not to offend anyone, but it’s good to have uncomfortable conversations, it’s important.

In my point of view, I think it’s wrong to profit from someone else’s culture, especially if you’re profiting from something you don’t actually have much knowledge about. Profiting off a culture is bad. I’m not saying you should know everything about Indian culture, I’m not expecting someone to know a lifetime’s worth of culture.  But if you’re going to use that art work, you should give back to the community that you’re taking from. 

So if you wanted one of my ladies, you’ve come to me, you’re not appropriating. I’ve done it, I’ve designed it for you. You’ve come to a south Asian person to have south Asian art, I don’t think you can appropriate art it if this is the route you’ve taken. It’s like if you go to India and buy a piece of art. You’re giving back to that community, and to a person who has that culture. What would be an issue is if you went to a white artist and say; ‘I’ve found this on Pinterest, it’s so cute, I know nothing about it, please tattoo it on me.’ That’s a big issue. I’m genuinely hurt that people are making money off my culture and don’t understand basic facts about it. 

The line between appreciation and appropriation

There’s a very fine line and obviously it’s very hard to tell if someone is on that line without getting to know them or knowing the person who they are. It can be very disrespectful to want something cause it looks cool, rather than knowing about it. I wish more tattooists would question a person before they tattoo something religious on them, for example.

I feel like I might get criticism here, because I do tattoo religious iconography on people that aren’t brown, because Hinduism is more of a spiritual thing – you don’t have to convert to Hinduism, it’s more of a state of mind. So some of my clients and regular clients are white. Many of them get a lot of my work done, and they’ve been to India, they’ve prayed in temples, they’ve done everything to assimilate to the culture that they’re in while they’re in it. And I appreciate that, that is a form of appreciation, you didn’t go there just to take cute pictures and look cultured. You went there to actually learn about the culture and immerse yourself. It’s a huge difference. 

This is the thing with appreciation and appropriation, because someone can seem very much like they’re appreciating. But if you appreciated properly, if you knew enough about something, then you wouldn’t adopt it for yourself. Like the cornrows and Bantu knots of African women – ‘oh I’m appreciating cause I’m wearing this’, but if you really knew the oppression black women have faced about their hair, why would you want to join in with that? It just shows when people adopt things they don’t actually know shit about them.

I don’t claim to know it all, but the things I do know about I’ve learnt through reading – we’ve all got the internet you know! Google it all! What’s that saying? In the age of the internet, ignorance is not an option. I think that’s very true, and I don’t think there’s any reason to be appropriating at this point.

Whitewashed your feed

There’s been an influx of artists that have been trying to compensate for the lack of colour in their posts. It’s really strange did you know that you were doing this? Was this unconscious or did you know and now you’ve been called out for it? Or did you not realise and you’ve come through to own up to your mistakes?

There were a lot of angry people around my post about desaturation and taking the colour out of tattoos, saying things like, “so what we can’t edit our photos, we’re just taking the redness out?” I don’t know if anybody knows this but tattoos get red. I don’t know where the obsession with taking the redness out of pictures has come from. That’s what they look like. Nobody actually knows what they really look like, for some reason when we post a picture of a new tattoo it looks like it’s already healed, there’s no redness or swelling, no blood.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTLultndIu/

I used the term ‘corpse like’ on Instagram, which somebody didn’t really like, but that’s how it feels when you see someone taking the colour out of your photo – you look cold, you don’t look yourself, it makes you question – why did they do that to me? Why did they take the colour out of my skin? That’s definitely why I think stop erasing our skin tones. There’s no need for it. 

It’s nice to see brown bodies, that’s something I wanted to see when I first started getting tattooed. I only came across one Indian/south Asian tattoo artist after a lot of searching. I’m very appreciative that my feed is very brown, it’s orange and warm. I really wish I saw stuff like this when I was 18 and first wanted a tattoo and I wanted to know what it would look like on me. Google Indian/south Asian tattoo artist now and a whole bunch of stuff will come up and I’m a part of it!

The only brown person in the room

I asked my followers what it felt like to get tattooed as a POC and some of the answers were hard to read. Some of them were really heartbreaking. I asked because I didn’t know if it was a just a me thing, obviously me being a tattoo artist I’m usually in white spaces a lot, having white friends as well. I’m always the minority, it sounds terrible but I always feel uncomfortable, I sit with that discomfort a lot and I don’t say anything. When it comes to finding a tattoo artist, I’m heavily tattooed and like traditional work. Most traditional tattoo artists are white men. Whenever it comes to meeting a new artist, I’ll get scared and I’ll hesitate and think, I don’t want to go to this person in case they’re racist. It’s a genuine fear any time I meet somebody I’m terrified that I’m going to walk in and they’re going to look at me and think, ‘oh shit, she’s brown, I don’t want to tattoo her.’ I fear that they’re going to say something horrible to me and it’s happened before.

Kelly Smith did my back and she’s the loveliest person I’ve met in my life, but before I met her I was thinking, I’m going to be sitting day sessions with this woman, never met her, she could look at me and be like ‘omg she’s brown I can’t tattoo her.’ It’s a genuine thing, are they going to be racist, are they going to like the fact that I’m Indian?  It’s like those fears you feel when you meet a new artist for the first time, I’ve never met this person before. Are they going to be a complete dick? We’ve heard all the horror stories of the victims of sexual assault in the tattoo industry, they should never feel that way. Then the added fear of being a POC and a woman, and being in that situation. You’ve got double the fear, are they going to be racist, are they going to sexually harass me? It’s horrible.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQ7CuvnsWk/

Those were the things I was expecting when I asked the question to my followers but the things I heard were far worse. People had paid someone to scar them and then weren’t given the satisfaction of seeing that post on Instagram or if it was posted, the artist had edited away that person’s skin tone. People told me that tattooers had outright refused to tattoo people them or people’s skin had been ruined. It’s horrible, it’s so sad, and it breaks my heart that people have to deal with this. And I’m glad I asked that question because it opened up so many people’s eyes, it opened up my own eyes to the extent of how bad it was – as I haven’t gone through all of it. As a tattoo artist I am privileged as I know my clients will never have to deal with that. I think it was an eye opener for everyone!

It’s when people don’t see it as an issue, obviously I am a POC, I am very aware when I’m the only brown person in the room, but when you’re the majority in the room, you wouldn’t notice. In some sense I don’t blame people for not seeing something that doesn’t affect them, but when people are listening to you and they say, ‘I don’t feel like that, I’ve not noticed that’, you have to continue to say I’m telling you this has happened to me. 

Everything I drew was black and white

I’ve told people about the struggle I felt getting into this industry and they were like, well I didn’t do that to you, that’s not me. I’m not telling you that you did it I’m just telling you that’s what happened. When I got my first apprenticeship the artist actually said to me, ‘I hired you because Indian people work hard’. And I thought, ‘omg sick, being Indian got me a job’. Now I’m like he thought I was going to be an obedient little stereotypical Indian girl. And obviously I wasn’t that so I got fired very quickly.

I thought that in order for me to get a job in this industry I had to whitewash myself into very Eurocentric drawings in order to fit in. So I did a lot of neo-traditional work, but I still gave things a sort of Indian-y flair because that’s what I’ve always been drawn to. It’s interesting cause I feel like my work hasn’t really changed but then when I look at it, there’s new things.

When I moved back to Leicester, obviously there’s a huge asian population. Embracing the Indian side of my work would be liked here – people would like it more. Funnily enough I don’t really have a lot of clients from Leicester. Most of my clients travel from different parts of the country, which is amazing. Obviously it’s mad cause no one knows there is a little brown girl in Leicester that does tattoos, when I meet people they can’t believe it. 

No two skin tones or skin types are the same

I think if you are a colour work artist, it is important that you figure out how to adapt your colour palette to other people’s skin tones. Something I saw a lot from my questioning and the POC experience of getting tattooed, a lot of people got turned down or were told colour wouldn’t work.

I’ve seen colour tattoos on black and brown people, and they look amazing, they’re gorgeous. They don’t look the same as they would on white people, that’s not the point and it doesn’t need to look the same. It’s beautiful in its own right. 

No two skin tones or skin types are the same. You have to be able to adapt no matter what. Cause you don’t know what the person’s skin is going to be like if you’ve never tattooed them before. Everyone’s skin is different, so I don’t understand why if your skin is visibily different people would refuse to tattoo you – that’s a huge issue. 

I’m guilty of it too, I used to tell people that I didn’t do colour because I didn’t know how it was going to work on POC. I didn’t think it would work because during apprenticeships, that’s what anybody is told – tattoo a POC and the colour turns out like this, the tattoo does this and this. Then you believe it, but seeing other artists be like no it actually does work. I feel like an idiot, why did I just take somebody’s else word for it instead of learning about it and implementing it in my own art work?

By colouring a different coloured piece of paper or just turn the screen brown on your iPad, then add the colour to find what colours work. I see a lot of tattoo artists do that as well with their flash sheets, instead of having it just on white paper they use brown paper. That’s so cool, they’re so smart! Obviously tattoos won’t look like how they do on pen and paper but you get the gist. The contrast more than anything seems to be what everyone has the issue with. The lighter you are the more contrast black has one white, the darker you are the less contrast, it doesn’t mean that you can’t see it – it’s not invisible. 

The patch test thing has been controversial too, because if you wouldn’t do a patch test on a white person, why would you do it on a black person? It kinda make sense but I guess we’re not at the stage yet where we know enough about doing colour tattoos on POC. We need to build that skill set and can look at a POC and know exactly what colours will work with their skin. Since we’re not at that stage the best way to do it is to just put pretty little coloured dots on people, obviously it’s not going to look terrible but it’s like a little rainbow. I think the patch test should be a free service though, I don’t think you should be paying for it. It’s not your fault that you need a patch test, it’s that artist’s lack of experience.

One last thing I would like to say to anyone who reads this, stop getting Buddha heads tattooed. It’s very offensive. In Thailand they have signs everywhere saying do not get a Buddha tattooed on you. I don’t know the ins and outs of it but the fact they have to have signs up telling people to stop getting them tattooed on you kind of says it all, doesn’t it? So now whenever I see a Buddha tattoo I’m like NO. You don’t understand, if you really knew about Buddha you wouldn’t have got that tattoo. If you really cared that much about Buddhism you would have known it offends them – so shame on you. 

Heleena is continuing to speak out and challenge the tattoo industry, make sure to follow her Instagram and why not join in the conversation yourself?

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Sweet as a peach: Chelsie Harrison

Chelsie Harrison co-owns Sweet Peach Tattoo with @emgormleytattoo in St. Helens, Merseyside, where she creates sweet, girly and cute tattoos. We love Chel’s work and so we had to find out more about the artist behind the tattoos…

We love your girly cute style, would you describe it like this? Yes I describe it as a girly take on traditional style tattooing. I draw things I would like to have on my own body and I think traditional never goes out of fashion! 

What inspires and influences your tattoos? To be honest almost everything inspires me, from watching the telly to going on walks. I have to jot ideas down before I forget them, my phone is backed up with screenshots of stuff that gives me ideas on what to draw – flowers, cartoons, patterns and colours.

What do you love to tattoo and draw and what would you like to do more of? I’m a big Moomins fan, I love tattooing anything Moomin related, me and @emgormleytattoo (who I work with) are both dinosaur obsessed and the studio is filled with lots of dinosaur stuff, we both love drawing them and have dinosaur offs!

I’d love to tattoo more traditional lady head designs, I think they are so pretty and I have a few tattooed on myself! Cute animals are something I enjoy too and of course always love flowers! I get excited when a customer completely trusts my judgement and just wants my style and designs on their body.

How long have you been tattooing? I’ve been tattooing nearly six years and I’ve loved every second of it. I got into it by getting tattooed by local artists and always talking about how much I’d love to tattoo, until one day my favourite artist that I was getting tattooed by at the time asked me out on a date! (@pau1terry_) We have been together ever since and he has been the best partner in crime. He encouraged me to find an apprenticeship because he knew how much of an awesome job it is, he is so supportive and I love the fact that we are both tattoo artists. We can just talk about the industry together and ask each others advice and opinions on designs and tattoos we’ve done. He gives a lot of constructive criticism which has helped me get better at tattooing over the years.

If you weren’t a tattooer what would you be? I’ve always set my sights on tattooing so I haven’t really gave it much thought, tattooing is my dream job and I’m so lucky to a lifelong hobby as a job. If tattooing was out of the picture I think I would like to work with children in a nursery as me and Paul have a little boy together and he brings us so much joy and laughter.

Can you tell us about your own tattoo collection. I’ve got a mix of different styles, I like both blackwork and colour. I have a lot of tattoos from my boyfriend Paul Terry I’m in love with his work and i just let him have free rain and he can tattoo whatever on me! Some of my favourites are from a Leeds based artist called Lucy O’Connell, she has done my chest, neck and forearm and I absolutely adore them, her work is just amazing! I have already booked in with her for more!

We travelled to Madrid last year as Paul was invited to do a guestspot at La Mujer Barbuda, I got tattooed by one of my favourite artists Derbora Cherrys while I was there, she tattooed a shattered lady face with a peach on me and it’s just perfection!

How does tattooing and tattoos make you feel? I love making people’s ideas come to life, it’s mad to think that my artwork is on them forever! (if they don’t get it removed that is). I also love how you meet so many nice individuals, the people I work with are like my family and a lot of clients I would call my friends.

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Apprentice love: Jade

As we scrolled through Instagram looking for new artists, budding tattoo apprentice Jade’s four-eyed women drew us in. We were captivated by bedroom scenes, bright pops of colour and striking murals – we had to find out more about this tattoo apprentice, who works at the all-female Heartless Tattoo in Los Angeles…

How long have you been a tattoo apprentice, and how did you get your apprenticeship? I started my journey back in November. I was apprenticing at a shop in Beverly Hills that was black owned, which was really dope. I was there for a few months but unfortunately that opportunity was cut short.  Even though I wasn’t  there long, I was able to absorb a lot of important information about what it is like to tattoo darker skin, which is very important for me as an artist.

Honestly,  I got my first apprenticeship just being at the right place and right time.  After leaving my first apprenticeship, I was offered another opportunity to continue my journey at an all Woman of Color shop located in Los Angeles, Heartless Tattoo. The owner of Heartless, Yher, has been a long time inspiration of mine and friend and she told me when I was ready, she had a home for me. I couldn’t be more grateful for my Heartless family!

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get started in the tattoo industry? I would tell them to put themselves out there as an artist, make connections, continue to practice your craft. Nothing is just handed to you. Living out your dream consists of hard work, dedication, and practice. Also, I would tell them to make sure that this industry is something that you’re genuinely passionate about and that you’re ready to sacrifice for it. Pay respect to those who did it before you and the history behind it as well. 

Can you share with us your experience as a woman in the tattoo world, and your experience as a black woman in this industry? So far so good. The shop that I’m at is an all female shop so it’s really nice to be around feminine energy, especially in such a male-dominated industry. As I get further into the industry, I know that there will of course be some hardships for not only being a woman but also a black woman, but I am here for the fight and representation.

What’s the tattoo scene like in LA? LA has so much history and has played a HUGE part in the tattoo culture and history. From Ed Hardy to GoodTime Charlie, to Freddy Negrete and Mister Cartoon, they paved the way for us artists and put LA/SoCal tattooing on the map. It’s crazy I can call this place my home and just be surrounded by so much history. It’s very normal to see people blasted in tattoos in LA, it’s very accessible to get tattooed out here. It’s very normal. You will drive down Melrose Ave, and pass like 10 shops within a two mile radius. It’s quite interesting!

We love your double-eyed girls, what inspires your illustrations? I’ve always been inspired by black women and women of color. The four-eyed girl is how I add a little me into every painting. I’ve been wearing glasses since third grade and being called four-eyes has always been a thing, so I just re-channelled it into my world. When I got serious about my art, I wanted to create something that looked like me and the people who also look like me. I realized that a lot of the artists I looked up to weren’t depicting black women (up until recently honestly). And I wanted to create something that I would’ve loved to see when I was a kid. 

Are there any artists or tattooers you look up to or influence your work? There is a list of people who I look up to and influence my work. I can talk about them all day honestly. Tattoo wise, my Heartless family inspires me every single day, I can’t believe I’m surrounded by such talented, cool ass people. I’m also inspired by Doreen Garner (@flesh_and_fluid), Brittany Randell (@humblebeetattoo), K. Wong (@kwongtattoo), and Lydia Madrid (@lydiamadriid). My art influences are Christina Martinez (@sew_trill), @reesabobeesa, Natasha Lillipore (@lillipore), Hailey Losselyongs (@hai_ey), and Tamia Blue (@tamiablue). 

What do you like to draw/tattoo and what do you want to do more of? I love drawing my girls and I want to be able to tattoo them as well as my original art.

How would you describe your style? Where do you want to take your tattoos in the future? I would describe my art style as illustrative for sure. But as far as my tattoo style I want to push my work as neo-traditional and show black art in the neo world. 

Can you tell us about your own tattoo collection, what was your first, which is your favourite? I’ve been collecting tattoos since my eighteenth birthday. Both my mom and step dad are heavily tattooed so my mom literally dropped me off at the tattoo shop on my birthday. My first tattoo is a hamsa with a Ganesha inside on my rib. That’ll forever hold a special place in my heart since it was my first, however I don’t have any favorites. I think for the most part my tattoos are badass! There’s a couple that I definitely wish were different but I still love them and it’s funny to look back at.

Have your tattoos changed how you feel about yourself and your body? DEFINITELY! I couldn’t imagine myself without my tattoos and I am planning on covering the majority of my body. It’s so fun to look at the pieces and be like holy shit that’s my arm. 

I feel like they make me, me. It sets me apart from the rest and at the same time I’m a part of a sick ass community. 

We love how open and honest you are about your mental health on Instagram, can you say a bit more about why this is so important to share. I felt like at this time, It was time to share where I am and how I feel. I never liked talking about my mental health because it made me feel like a burden to others, but this time I knew that I wasn’t being open for me but for those who feel the same way and feel alone. I felt like it was important to let people to know that it is okay to be not okay.