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Interview with tattoo artist: Hollie West

28-year-old Hollie West, who tattoos at Indigo Tattoo Studio in Norwich, is known for her brightly coloured chubby babe tattoos.We chatted to her about her collaboration with illustrator Gemma Correll and what inspires her work… 

Hollie

How long have you been tattooing? Two and a half years since ending my apprenticeship, which I started at Indigo, after finishing my degree in illustration at the art school in Norwich.

How did you become a tattooist? I was managing a pub after finishing uni, it was a very creative pub where we put on lots of exhibitions and live music so it was fun creatively but I missed drawing and designing. I became friends with the Indigo lot as they were always propping my bar up, the owner (Gema Gold) came across a website I’d set up to get some illustration work and asked me (after a few glasses of wine) if I’d be interested in trying to convert my illustrations into tattoos.

I, of course, jumped at the chance. The next morning I visited Indigo with my portfolio and fortunately Gema was already waiting for me, after looking through my work and discussing the reality of an apprenticeship she took me on. I was over the moon!

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If you weren’t a tattooist what would you be? A children’s book illustrator, I love character design and bright colours and unusual images. I think a lot of the designs I tattoo wouldn’t look out of place on the pages of a kid’s book.

How would you describe your style? Illustrative, bold, colourful, bright and fun (hopefully). It’s difficult fitting my work into a tattoo category, it’s not really traditional although I definitely draw a lot of inspiration from that style, it’s not really new school either.I think there are a lot of girls doing similar work to me at the moment and I guess we all fit into a category together, I just don’t know what you’d call it!

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You are known for your chubby women tattoos. How did your chubbas come about? I find curvy women so much more fun to draw, they have such a great flow which lends itself to tattoos so well. Big bums and boobies always come across so cheeky and fun, rather than seedy and overly sexual. They can be super sexy but in an old school pin up way that would make you have a giggle rather than rubbing your thighs and grunting.

I only did one or two as a little fun project but thanks to Instagram they kind of took off and I was getting emails all the time with amazing ideas from people about what these curvy ladies could be doing. It’s so great when people give you a basis for an idea but let you run with it and do your own thing, when I have the freedom with a design they often end up the best ones because I get to play and have fun with them.

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What inspires you? Kids books, I have a huge collection, I get them bought for me at Christmas and birthdays. Colour, my particular corner of the studio is like a busy rainbow mess, so is my bedroom. I think collectable clutter around me definitely inspires me. I get all sorts of strange little creatures from charity shops, customers are amazing and bring me more to add to my shelves too.

I like fairy tales and stories, fantasy, nothing too real life and serious.

Is there anything you’d love to tattoo. I recently drew a castle, I’m going to have a go at a couple more and see how they might look as tattoos. I love how buildings look in tattoos, there are some really skilled tattooers doing landscapes and buildings and I think they’re such an odd, un-organic thing to sit on a body but they (for that reason I think) just work, I’d like to challenge myself to do something like that. It’ll end up looking like a princess castle even if I’m attempting a burning church though, I can’t escape girly and cute.

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Can you tell us about your Gemma Correll collaboration? I have been lucky enough to be tattooing Gemma and her husband over the last year or so, they’re such amazing and creative people, it’s great spending time talking with them. I’ve always loved Gemma’s work (like the rest of the world!) and after tattooing her one day a few weeks ago I came up with an idea that we might be able to do to raise a bit of money for local animal charities. Her illustrations lend themselves so well to tattoos, I’d done a few previously and Gemma had said how much she likes to see her designs as tattoos.

So Gemma has designed a flash sheet which we will be taking to the Norwich Body Art Festival in August, we’re keeping it secret for now so that people who arrive will get first pick of the designs, as we will only be doing each design once. All money raised will be going to charity so it’s great that Gemma was willing to give up her own free time to design these, we’re both really excited about it, it’s getting a lot of attention on Instagram.

Do you have any guest spots and conventions lined up? Just Norwich convention and hopefully in Bristol in September, I’ve done a few guest spots this year at amazing studios such as Cock A Snook, Painted Lady and Never More. I’ve made such amazing friends doing these, I would love to be invited to do more. It’s so great to have a job where you can travel and socialise as part of it.

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The Art of Alex Gross

Alex Gross is an LA based artist who creates incredible oil paintings that often explore the themes of globalisation, commercialism and beauty. His works suggest that in the world we live in, it is impossible to escape consumerist and media pressures.

Memory Fragments, 2015, oil on canvas, 40.25 x 53.5 inches

Candy Crush | Oil on Canvas | 48.25” x 33.5″ | 2014

Selfie | Oil on Canvas | 22” x 15″ | 2014

Come to where the flavor is. | Oil on Panel | 20.5” x 18” | 2010

Original Sin | Oil on Canvas | 54” x 56” | 2011

Siren | Oil on panel | 28″ x 45″ | 2004

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Interview with tattoo artist: Natalie Gardiner

Natalie Petal Gardiner is a 25-year-old tattoo artist who works at Old Town Tattoo in Edinburgh Scotland. She is known for her beautiful animal tattoos filled with ornate detail and character. We chatted to her to find out more about how she started in the industry, what inspires her and why animals are her main subject matter… 

How did you get into the tattoo industry? Art has always been important to me. When I was growing up, there wasn’t a day that went by without me sketching or creating something.  When my older sisters began getting tattooed, my drawings quickly became more tattoo inspired. My walls started to fill up with traditional paintings and drawings. I would tag along when they were booked in and I couldn’t wait to get tattooed myself!

When I got to uni, I started getting tattooed regularly and taking my artwork more seriously. I knew that when I graduated, I was going to begin my search for an apprenticeship. When I moved back home, I got a job in retail and spent every night slaving away over my portfolio.

One morning before work, I plucked up the courage to approach some tattoo studios. I went into each one in Chelmsford, asking advice and showing them my portfolio. Finally I came across Eternal Art. After looking through my drawings and having some nerdy art chat, he offered me an apprenticeship.


How long have you been tattooing? I have been tattooing professionally now for three years. I had a short apprenticeship, with Prizeman at Eternal Art, which lasted around 6 months. He was very critical of my artwork, strict with my technique and boarder line OCD with hygiene. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that he gave me and for teaching me to push the boundaries.

Do you have a background in art? Academic subjects weren’t easy for me, I still can’t even tell the time! (Hooray for Casio watches). All of my subjects chosen at school, sixth form and university were creative. People sometimes assume that I studied art at university, I actually graduated in video and photography. You don’t need a degree or GCSE’s to get an apprenticeship. When you finally pluck up the courage to approach studios, all you bring is your portfolio and your brave face.

How would you describe your style? I would describe my style as detailed neo-traditional. My friend Josh tells me that I’m autistic, not artistic.
I enjoy building up lots of texture with line work, exploring movement within my subject matter and creating a piece which makes people look twice.

What influences you? What inspires you? The main things that inspire me are animals, plants, nature and jewellery. I have a huge collection of bird books and gardening books. If a stranger was to walk into my house, they would think a green-fingered old lady lived there.  I find wildlife and nature so fascinating. I regularly visit zoos, farms, garden centres and antique shops for inspiration. I’m always captivated by the silliest things, such as wild mushrooms growing in a field, a different bird siluette in the sky or hand painted pub signs.


Are there any artists you admire? Salvador Dali was the first artist to truly inspire me. His surrealist film, photography and artwork was unique and pushed boundaries. Although my designs are usually far from surreal, he is still a key influence in all of my work. There are also many tattoo artist that inspire me, such as Tiny Miss Becca, Antony Flemming and Sam Clark. The neo-traditional ‘scene’ has so many strong artists right now. I enjoy seeing their work on my news feed every day, it encourages me to push and better myself.

What draws you to animals? Are there any subjects you would like to tattoo? My family have always rescued small animals. When I was younger we pretty much had a zoo in the back garden. My weekends were always spent mucking out hutches and handling animals.  I find animals intriguing. They can be much more intelligent, beautiful and loyal than us boring humans. Which is why I have always been drawn to them.

I love that people contact me to book in for a variety of different animals. I also don’t mind taking on some of the more popular tattoo ideas; such as owls, rabbits and foxes. I enjoy the challenge of creating a new and unique design, even if I have drawn the animal many times before. I would like to take on more reptile pieces though. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the fluffy things!

Is there anything you won’t tattoo? I understand that everyone likes different things, so I try not to reject any ideas. Sometimes I help to guide them in a better direction if their ideas a bit naff though. It’s not exactly a design that I wouldn’t tattoo, more the placement. I get asked a lot if I’ve ever tattooed a willy before. The answer’s no and I intend to keep it that way!

Do you have any plans for guest spots or conventions? I have lots of plans for conventions and guesties! Conventions will kick off next year all around the UK, possibly creeping outside of the UK too. As for guest spots, I guest in Essex every month for a whole week! I also guest regularly at Timeless Tattoo, Llanelli, Wales.

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Liverpool’s First Tattoo Bar Opens

We’ve always been told that tattoos and alcohol don’t mix – and for very good reason…

For one thing, it thins your blood and can make tattooing pretty difficult and messy. Also have you seen the TV shows following drunk people getting tattooed in places like Magaluf, then waking up with their friend’s name or some other random tattoo, and regretting it? However, a new “tattoo bar” called Ink has just opened its doors in Liverpool, meaning you can mix cocktails with a new tattoo…

Ink is a brand new bar that has just opened in Liverpool. It offers not only an extensive cocktail menu, but also a chance to get tattooed on your night out. The bar will host an array of local tattooists in the ‘Tatts n Trims’ section, which will also home celebrity barber Cutthroatpete who can cut your hair for you. This means you can get a new tattoo or a haircut while sipping on a cocktail, genius idea? Or a recipe for disaster…

Check out the Ink Bar Facebook page, for photos from their launch weekend.

Would you get tattooed on a night out? Or have you already done it? We’d love to hear your stories!

 

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Create a life you love with Sarah Starrs

Sarah is a 27-year-old writer, coach and creator of SarahStarrs a Punk Rock Personal Development blog. We chatted to her about her journey of self-love, achieving your goals and her beautiful tattoo collection… 

Can you tell me a little about your blog and what people can find on it? You can find my blog at SarahStarrs.com, where I help women get their shit together & create a life they love. I mainly write about self-love, personal development, lifestyle design, creativity, and achieving your dreams. I believe that it’s absolutely possible to achieve your big goals and that it all starts with learning to adore yourself. But this doesn’t happen by sitting idly by and wishing for good things to happen. I show people how to get down and dirty with the universe to make magical things happen. But you have to do the work. That’s why I call it “punk rock personal development.” I’m launching a podcast with that name on 14th August, which I’m very excited about!

How did you become a blogger? I’ve been writing online in one form or another since I was a preteen – I had Angelfire, Geocities, Livejournal, Myspace, etc. My current website, SarahStarrs.com, was born out of my old website The Laughing Medusa, which I launched in 2011. I started blogging that time around out of a kind of necessity. I felt really stuck and strangled in my job as a magazine editor. I was longing for a creative outlet and editorial freedom, so I decided to start a blog. At the same time I was undergoing a lot of personal transformations as I learned about personal development and got into healthy eating, so my online space became a place for me to explore these new interests. It began more or less as a personal/lifestyle blog, but has evolved a lot over time to become the business and resource it is today.

Where do you get your inspiration from? I’m most inspired by people who are balls to the wall following their passions and going after their dreams in an unconventional way. A lot of my writing is inspired by the things I learn from these types of people, as well as my own experiences learning to transform my life. But, as cliche as it sounds, I find that inspiration can spring from anywhere: a great conversation, an interesting film, a beautiful pattern, catchy lyrics… anything that catches my attention and gets me to look at things in a new way.

You are an advocate for self love and following your dreams how did this come about? Oddly enough, it started in a university philosophy class about existentialism. People know me as a positive, upbeat person who gets an idea and runs with it, but I wasn’t always like this. In truth, I used to be a bit of a neasayer. I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression all of my life, but I also just didn’t think the things I wanted were possible for me. I let fear rule my decisions for a long time. Existentialism is based on the idea that all of us is radically free. We all face limitations imposed on us by physical realities, our histories, material circumstances, etc. But we’re always free to choose our actions and reactions. And that’s who we are: the product of our choices and actions.

That really struck a chord with me. To be honest, I resisted the whole thing at first. It’s hard to accept that our destiny is in our own hands. It’s a lot of pressure! Around the same time that I was taking this course, I started delving into the world of personal development, reading bloggers like Gala Darling and Alexandra Jaye Johnson. I saw a lot of similarities between the concepts of self-love and existentialism – namely an emphasis on personal responsibility and taking control of your own life. I started incorporating the things I was learning into my life and my mindset started to shift. As it did, it was like my whole world started opening up. Not all at once, but slowly I started to take risks because I knew I had to take complete responsibility for my life. The things I want were possible and it would be my choice if I denied myself them. Since then I’ve focused on making bold, sparkly choices and intentionally designing my life.

Has it taken you a while to love yourself? Do you have any advice for readers? I like to make it really clear that I am not finished learning to love myself; I do not have it all figured out. Self-love is a lifelong journey. I still have my bad days when my inner critic gets the best of me or I start comparing myself to other people and I want to give up on everything. I still struggle with my mental health and have dark periods that are difficult to crawl out of. The difference is that I now have a toolbox of strategies, practices, rituals, and mindsets that help me navigate those times with love and kindness for myself. Those are the things that I want to teach people. I know now that my mind can play tricks on me and my thoughts are not always real, but I have the ability to choose a more loving thought.

I’ve created a whole course on starting your self-love journey but if you’re looking for a simple place to start, I would look at incorporating some simple mindfulness techniques into your daily routine. I’m working on a post about this right now but a simple way to start doing this is just a spend a couple of minutes connecting with your breath and noticing your thoughts, perhaps labeling them as “planning,” “worrying,” etc. and then letting them float away. As you practice, you’ll strengthen your ability to clear your mind and you’ll gain more control over your thoughts. I’d also recommend either writing down the things you’re happy and excited or grateful for or just taking note of them mentally. It’s a great practice to do first thing in the morning and before you go to bed, so you’re starting and ending each day filled up by the good things in your life.

What first steps did you take to achieve your goals? I’m still very much in the process of achieving my goals, but I guess the first step was learning to put myself out there. It can be so difficult to share your dreams or your creative work when you’re so far from where you want to be, but that’s the only way that you’ll learn and grow. You have to take action or your dreams are just fantasies. When I started blogging, the work I was putting out there was so reiterative and my inspirations were so obvious. I had to write myself into my voice and find my unique message, but if I hadn’t put that early writing out there, I never would have gotten to where I am today.

Can you tell us a bit about the courses you have on offer? I offer a self-guided ecourse called Romance Yourself: A 40-Day Journey to Self-Love. I think of it as the guiding hand, encouraging voice, and kick in the ass I wish I’d had when I started my self-love journey. Self-love is pivotal to living the life of your dreams, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. Romance Yourself will show you the way. The course provides a daily practice for you to start cultivating that feeling of love for yourself as well as daily insights and exercises to start exploring your thoughts and beliefs and creating a practice that is unique to you.

For anyone who’s feeling a little bit lost, I also have a free Define Your Dreams workbook to help start creating some clarity around your goals and what you want your life to look like. It’s completely free and you can download it from my website.

I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my new course, The Daydream Revolution, which is by far my biggest and best offering yet. It’s an 8-week course on achieving your dream and making big shit happen. If you have a bigger-than-life idea, whether it’s starting a business or going on an international adventure, or anything in between, but can’t seem to make it happen, this is for you. Through the course we’ll overcome resistance, tackle your fears, and drag your big dream into reality. At the end of the course you’ll walk way with a detailed action plan, a clear picture of how you can afford your dream, and the tools to stay motivated. Registration isn’t open yet, but if you hop over to my website and sign up for my newsletter, you’ll be the first to know when it does + you’ll get an exclusive discount.

What was your first tattoo? How old were you and do you still like it? What do you think about tattoo regret?  My first tattoo is a line of text that says “Dance like nobody’s watching” in my own handwriting around my wrist. I was 19; I got it for my birthday. It’s not my favourite tattoo but it’s unobtrusive and it’s part of my story. It’s not the quote I would be most drawn to now but it sums up my personal philosophy of living life on your own terms and always being true to who you are.

I think tattoo regret is part and parcel of being a tattooed person, the way I sometimes wake up and absolutely hate my hair, some days I wish I could wake up and erase one of my tattoos. But I’ve never experienced any lasting regret about any of my tattoos. I plan to be more or less covered in ink, so if I end up with a tattoo that I’m no longer wild about, it won’t stand out that much in the bigger picture of the canvas that is my body. And they’re all part of my story.

Which is your favourite tattoo? Do any of them have a special meaning?
All of my tattoos have some sort of special meaning attached to them, even if it’s just an association with a particular time in my life. If I had to narrow it down to my favourites, they’d be my chest piece which was done by Jessi James in Newbury. It represents self-love and personal transformation. And also the rose and bee on my knee by Cassandra Frances; I plan on getting the other one done to match. That tattoo was born out of a silly conversation with my friend about being “the bee’s knees” but I absolutely adore it.

Do you have any future tattoo plans? Are there any artists you admire? I want almost my entire body tattooed, but I like to think of it as a collection and I’m happy to curate it slowly as I can afford to get the work I want. I’m particularly keen to get pieces from Tiny Miss Becca, Emily Rose Murray, Rebecca Vincent, Peter Aurish, Danielle Rose, and Antony Flemming.

How would you describe your fashion style?
I describe it as technicolour punk rock chic! I’m a big fan of bright colours, fit & flare dresses, vintage silhouettes, statement jewellery, & motorcycle boots.