The face issue Things & Ink was published in 2013, this is an interview with its cover star, tattoo artist Cassandra Frances.
I first met Cassandra in 2012 at End Times in Leeds where she used to work – I instantly fell in love with her warm nature and dedicated work ethic. She put me at ease while she tattooed me, chatting about life, music and magazines. We were like old friends, talking away, of course the conversation always returning to tattoos.
When the decision was made to make issue 2, ‘The Face Issue’, I knew I wanted Cassie on the cover. With her fiery red hair and delicate porcelain skin, you almost don’t notice that she has facial tattoos. Her tattoos are so delicate and feminine, and will certainly make people think twice about their preconceptions about women with facial tattoos. The image on the cover is very powerful in its beauty. I hope it will make a statement to anyone with preconceived notions about women who choose to tattoo their face. We chatted to Cassie about her life as a tattoo artist, her style and how she decided to get her first ever face tattoo…
Who did your face tattoos? Andrew Mirfin, who owns End Times in Leeds .
How did you decide to get your face tattooed? First one (now covered up) was to celebrate getting my tattoo license. It felt like it was all official and I wanted to mark it with something special.
Who did the first one? The first one is now covered up, and was done by my old boss
Don Richards, just a small outline of a heart. I decided to make it a bit bigger and bolder
after time. Andy has done all the others.
How did you feel when you were getting tattooed? I trust Andy, so I wasn’t really nervous and I knew I definitely wanted it. The tiny ones hardly registered, but the bigger heart was fairly painful and gave me a headache. It was over in 15 minutes or so, though.
What kind of reaction do you get to having tattoos on your face? None really. I very rarely get any kind of reaction from anyone, I’m never sure if I just don’t notice it, but even my mum was sitting looking me in the eye over lunch for an hour and didn’t notice the heart and flower, I had to point it out.
Do you feel any different about your face now? After getting my beauty spot on my cheek, I instantly felt a million times more confident. When I draw women I more often than not give them a beauty spot, just something about them really appeals to me. If I didn’t have tattoos I think I’d be pretty boring to look at. My face looks how I want it to look and that’s all that really matters.
Do you think there is a difference between men and women getting such visible tattoos? Never really thought about it. Not in my little world really. Whether people think it’s unfeminine, I really don’t care. I like myself and so do the people who matter. If a man judged my level of attractiveness on that, he wouldn’t be worth the time of day anyway
Would you ever tattoo a face? I am too scared to tattoo a face, it is such a huge responsibility.
Has anyone ever asked you to tattoo their face and what did you say? My best friend wants me to do her a beauty spot on her, but I just don’t feel comfortable with it.
How would you describe your style of tattooing? It’s pretty feminine. I think my work naturally comes out quite delicate. If left to my own devices, I like to use red, gold and green, and I’m happiest when working on smaller pieces. My favourite thing to tattoo is lady faces and wish I could do that all day every day.
How do you feel about the tattoo industry? Including tattoo magazines/media. I’m not sure I know enough of the industry yet to have a valid opinion, I’ve been working away in a little bubble really. I do feel excited to be a small part of something so amazing and exciting, though. Tattooing is the love of my life, and some days I kind of hate it, but even on those I know deep down I don’t want to do anything else.
How did you feel about doing the cover shoot? To be honest, not 100% comfortable. I’d rather people looked at my work than my face. Bit of a strange experience having a room of people focused on me for that long. I feel honoured to be asked to do the cover and said yes as I’m not sure anyone will ask me again!
Did you enjoy it? It was an interesting experience and a nice bunch of people. Spending a day with people telling you repeatedly how beautiful you look is good for the ego.
Would you do it again? I’m desperate to be photographed as a flame-haired Pre-Raphaelite.
This was never enough and I kept thinking of different ideas, which we sat and discussed together. Then I started getting tattooed every weekend, I absolutely loved it. I also became very friendly with Tef the tattooist, which always helps, and I completely trust him.
My grandkids, all 18 of them and another on the way, live very near to me, and sometimes my granddaughter comes in to see me when I am getting tattooed, she loves showing me off as her nan. Don’t think any of her friends have a nan quite like me, and they all seem to find it quite cool. My grandchildren call me Glam-ma and always bring their friends to meet me – they all say they wish their nan was more like me.
Tell us about your tattoo collection. When was your first? My first tattoo was a tiny roll of film on my left shoulder, it was done by Tyree Patrick of 
piece, I reached out to some specialists in lipedema asking about tattoos. They had no real information or studies on it. Basically, the replies back were: “Not really sure, but if you go through with it, update us afterwards.” It wasn’t until mid-summer last year that I realised I had already tattooed on lipedema damaged area with Ursula. It made a lot more sense looking back at how Ursula was harder to heal and seemed to be “too wet.” My thigh has been really tender during the actual tattooing. My skin puffs and pinks up in the lipedema areas pretty quickly and makes it more difficult for Ty to see the saturation of the ink. It also seeps lymph fluid, which can be annoying. 
Healing the thigh has been interesting. There is a very fine line of just enough ointment to keep it from being dry and cracking and too much that keeps it too wet that doesn’t allow it to scab over. The lymph fluid can cause some deep scabs which are really painful and sore. Ursula and The Muppets have been harder to heal than any of my other tattoos but not bad enough that it keeps me from completing my vision.
Why Norma Kerr? I am one of four sisters and we all share the same middle names Norma (from my Dad’s side of the family) and Kerr (from my Mum’s side). It was always a great source of embarrassment to me growing up – especially Norma, as it sounded so old fashioned. I hated anyone asking “what’s your middle name?” As I got older I started to like the names more (especially when I discovered Marilyn Monroe’s real name was Norma) and that we all four sisters had the same name felt quite unique and special. So, when I started the business, I knew I wanted the logo to be based on classic 1940s-50s style female tattoo design – I had seen in a tattoo reference book years ago. So, once I drawn my own version I called her Norma Kerr. Norma Kerr is a sort of alter ego, a kick-ass girl who sits on top of the world – a strong woman.
Please tell me about the significance of the Grace necklace. The Grace necklace is the heart, wings and flower design. All things of beauty, a heart is something we want to give or receive from our loved ones, wings – wings of desire, wings to fly free, to be a free spirit. And flowers – there is little more beautiful in nature than flowers. I love to grow them, have them in my house always they give me so much pleasure. And did I mention – Grace is the name I gave my daughter?