Tag: travel

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Interview with tattoo artist Ignacio Freysselinard

27-year-old Ignacio Freysselinard (@freysce), a tattoo artist from Argentina has been tattooing for eight years, in cities all around the world. We caught up with the artist to find out about tattooing around the world and how he had the privilege of getting a tattoo Apo Wang-od and stayed in her community in the Philippines…

How did you get into the tattoo industry?

I didn’t know anything about tattooing or how you were supposed to learn to tattoo when I started. I met my mentor, Pato Domingez, in Buenos Aires, 2015, because a mutual friend put us in contact.

I never had the patience to watch a YouTube tutorial or anything like that, so I asked Pato how to tattoo. Suddenly, he was telling me to clean his toilet, paint the shop and get his beers! Although I had nothing better to do and I thought he was a really cool dude, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I fell into an old school apprenticeship and I’m really lucky that Pato was the one to show me the way. One week in, I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.

You’ve been tattooing for eight years, how does it feel to look back on where you started? Where do you hope to be in another eight years?

It feels amazing. Tattooing has become part of my identity and opened so many doors, I’m deeply grateful. In eight years I see myself living exactly how I’m living today; tattooing, travelling and exploring the world’s cultures and beauty.

How would you describe your tattooing style?

At the moment I’m really interested in all kinds of ethnic and tribal tattoos. I enjoy exploring these and many contemporary styles like American traditional, geometric or ornamental. A few months ago I heard Dannyboy Sawyer say, “My style is tattooing”. It would be difficult to pick just one style as my favourite, so I will agree with Danny.

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by the rich history of tattooing that spans oceans and cultures — as well as the global community of artists who share and exchange their different styles and methods with one another. That’s what my work aims to do, and why I’m on a mission to tattoo across all continents.

What tattoo projects have you been working on?

At the moment I’m working on some sleeves and back pieces mixing Tibetan, Indian and many Asian ornaments with tribal scales as the background. Step by step I’m trying to make all of my big projects freehand and it’s really exciting. In the future I would love to do more Japanese style, that’s something I really enjoy.

Where’s been your favourite place to travel and tattoo?

It’s hard to name just one. So far, Amsterdam has been one of my favourites. There is so much to learn there and so many great artists and tattoo shops. My experience at Rose Tattoo was amazing and enriching.

Can you tell us about your experience getting a tattoo from Apo Wang-od?

Meeting Whang-od four years ago was my greatest adventure. It was hard to get to Buscalan without a tour guide – I didn’t know I needed one – but once I was there I felt really welcomed by the Kalinga community.

Apo Wang-od with one of Ignacio Freysselinard’s designs

I was curious about their beautiful way of living and many of them were intrigued by my colourful tattoos, I was lucky to share information with them too. Getting tattooed by Whang-od was like a dream.

What I learnt from her Kalinga tattoos is that a tattoo doesn’t need to be technically perfect to look beautiful and real, what matters most is its tradition and respect, technicality is just a plus.

I want to go back soon and get tattooed by her grand-niece, Grace Palicas, the one who’ll keep the tradition and Apo’s legacy alive.

Are there any other experiences or stories that stand out?

Recently I was travelling with my brother in Fiji around the exotic islands. On each island I gave a tattoo to a local, some wanted American traditional flash, others wanted Polynesian designs or Fijian Tapa.

That allowed me to generate a deep connection with them, so after the tattoo they would take us to dinner with their families and teach us how to do spear fishing. That was definitely an experience that stood out to me. Also tattooing literally a few metres from the sea was a dream come true.

What’s been your proudest moment?

My proudest moment was probably the beginning, before I started my apprenticeship at The Gypsy Family. My world was really small and limited. Once I came into contact with this new world, guided by my mentor, my head exploded. I’ve learnt so much since then and not just about tattooing; about order, discipline, respect, music, underground stories and of course…some gypsy tricks. The feeling of becoming a tattoo artist was one of the best in my life and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

Make sure to follow Ignacio Freysselinard (@freysce) on Insta for more incredible tattoos.

We’re always talking to amazing tattoo artists, check out our latest interviews.

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Magic dimensions: Interview with Adriaan

Adriaan (@adriaan.machete) creates tattoo rituals in Berlin, Amsterdam and Hamburg. We chatted to the spiritual tattoo artist about his divine art and how tattooing allows him to tap into his higher self…

How long have you been a tattoo artist? I’ve been tattooing for around 15 years.

How have you seen the industry evolve since you began? It’s been such an incredible journey to witness. I love the way everything has evolved; from tattoo machines, to diverse color palettes, to the way tattooing has become an incredible art of expression and uniqueness.

Tattooing has evolved into a way of connecting all kinds of people with very different backgrounds.

How would you describe your work? I can describe it as my own expression of art, magick and energy on skin and canvas. It combines the aesthetics and exaltation of beauty, spirit and esotericism. I love tattooing contrasts and ornamental designs which decorate the anatomy of the human body.

Has your style changed? Yeah definitely. I feel that I have the same techniques and foundation of bold lines, strong colours and contrasted palettes. But what has definitely changed are the meanings and designs I create.

My style changed as my view of the world changed – I’m much more focused on the meaning of the designs now.

It feels as if the designs themselves want to be expressed into this world.

Sometimes I feel amazed at just what is wanting to be created and manifested. My works are similar to the beautiful mandalas Hindu and Buddhist monks create in the Himalayas by channeling these symbols directly from higher consciousness. I too can tap into and channel that energy to create beautiful art in this reality.

What inspires your tattoos and what do you like to create? I’m inspired by the beauty of this world. Beautiful paintings, beings, objects and nature are my favourite.

I’m also inspired by my personal journey and life story. I’m telling stories through my emotions, my learnings, my life, my personal growth and constant transformation. I feel that my tattoos also reflect exactly what I’m experiencing in that time of my life.

You introduced yourself to us as a spiritual tattooer, can you tell us more about this? In an intense part of my life I had a spiritual awakening triggered by a body and soul breakdown. In this hard time I had to go deeper into my inner world to find out what was happening to me. It was a beautiful transformation of my heart and soul.

I went in deep to find my conditionings, blockages and shadows and the more I found the more I changed my art.

At some point I questioned if tattooing was the right tool for me, but the answer from my heart and soul was yes. That it was always a tool for creating, healing and transformation. That I already choose this path at a soul level to help and expand consciousness in me and others.

Was there a turning point or experience that made you seek a more spiritual path? Yes, a series of very intense experiences in my life meant I reached the point where my personality came to its limit and broke. When it broke it felt like the whole world collapsed and I suddenly awakened to something completely new.

It was indeed painful in body and spirit, but something beautiful started to emerge. I started to feel more real; I explored who I really was without a personality and I started to learn and reparent myself with what I really wanted to know and be.

I changed my art and pushed my tattoos in a different direction. I started expressing my inner worlds in my art.

It was a full transformation which is still an ongoing process, it’s an eternal evolving of the soul.

How does your spirituality translate to your tattoos? It translates in form of shapes, symbols and energy. When I transformed, my art transformed as well, as I started drawing more elaborate designs.

I added new symbols and I used different colour palettes. When I did guest spots around the world my customers changed as well, they were more aware of themselves as if they were also mirroring how I felt inside.

Now when I’m tattooing I’m feeling the energy of the person and what needs to be open or changed. Tattooing helps open the energy system and the symbols used instantly transform consciousness.

It’s a beautiful thing to witness and how all of us, as human beings, are emotional, energetically and spiritual connected.

Do you see the act of tattooing and receiving a tattoo as a healing experience? Yes. At some point I started to reflect about tattooing itself and where it came from. It seems that ancient cultures used it as a form of ritual and they used symbolism in it. It was made by shamans or higher priests and priestesses, who had the purpose of healing and creating mágick.

I learned that when you’re getting new symbols of magick and power the physical pain and enduring this pain are part of the process to release energy. It’s also a tool to release karma and recycle ancestral energy.

These rituals were created not only to transform the energy of the person getting tattooed, but also for the person giving the tattoo. So, the shamans and higher priestesses were healing and expanding their consciousness as divinity channeled through them. When I understood this, my love for tattooing increased.

What’s been your proudest and happiest moment in your career so far? I remember when I started tattooing it was a very unknown and mysterious road. I felt that I needed to create my own art and truly believe in myself.

When I did I was surprised, that in a short time, I started tattooing at big conventions, winning awards and getting articles in magazines. This made me so proud and happy, I was grateful that I believed in myself and trusted my heart from the beginning.

Later in my career I felt I needed to change my art and I was nervous to show my spiritual side. As before I believed in myself and knew I needed to follow this path. Again I was surprised to feel so content and be successful.

I was travelling the world meeting amazing people, guesting in amazing shops and helping myself and others to heal and evolve our consciousness – this makes me feel so proud and happy.

How does tattooing align with yourself and the life you want to live? Years ago I went to India for a yoga teacher training and I started teaching yoga in Europe – it opened a new path for me and how I can manage energy.

I felt then that yoga and tattooing aligned in me and that they both complement each other. Tattooing ignites my creativity, outer expression, intuition and magick. Yoga ignites my concentration, balances my system, expands my breathing and my inner reflection.

It’s amazing to see how tattooing has been a powerful and healing path in my life. It has given me so much that I’m eternally grateful for.

Tattooing is a divine art which has shown me a beautiful way to some of the most magic dimensions.

Follow @adriaan.machete for more tattoos, travel dates and yoga.

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Interview with Sarah Terry

Tattoo artist Sarah Terry is currently on-the-road in the UK, here she tells us about her journey to becoming a nomad tattooer and the tattoos she creates along the way…

What inspired you to become a tattoo artist? I’ve always wanted to be a tattoo artist ever since I was little. I used to look at heavily tattooed people and want to be like them. I always loved art, and it seemed like the perfect career! I remember designing my first tattoo during my year 7 English exam (and getting it tattooed on my 18th birthday!)

How did you become an artist? Despite always wanting to be a tattooer, my art career was actually more textiles focused from school onwards. I studied embroidery at university, started running workshops in schools and eventually earned my teaching certificate. This led me to working in a youth offender institute teaching young prisoners.

It was during this time that Instagram launched and suddenly my eyes were opened to the possibilities of tattooing. I got excited about it again and started talking to prison officers about how I’d always wanted to tattoo. They were really encouraging so I started looking for an apprenticeship. I was teaching during the day, drawing and painting at night. It took me about one and a half years to finally find an apprenticeship and I haven’t looked back since. I sometimes have to pinch myself – I’m literally doing my dream job!

How would you describe your style?  I’d say colourful neotraditional florals (but I’m also willing and able to do dotwork too).

Can you tell us about the process behind your tattoos? I usually draw a week before my appointments. I used to do it as and when, but found it helped my anxiety to have a day dedicated to it instead. I’m lucky now that a lot of requests are for my style – I have a huge photo gallery of flowers and my latest obsession, mushrooms  – that I use as reference. That way I can ensure that my customers are getting truly original content, not just something from the first few pages of Google. I use an Ipad to draw, I usually draft my drawings several times before rendering the final design. 

What inspires you? What inspires your flash designs? Readers will probably not be surprised to learn that nature is my biggest inspiration. I’ve always loved drawing organic things- there’s just so many beautiful and incredible things out there. I’m particularly inspired by juxtapositions – light/dark, natural/man made, etc. I am also inspired by textile design, print, folk art and fashion. 

What do you like to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I love tattooing flowers and mushrooms, and honestly I just want to do more of that! I’d specifically like to explore more larger, freehand projects that work organically with the body. I’m prepared to do some great deals for any customers who’d like to collaborate with me on anything like this. Please do get in touch! 

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Are you a tattoo collector? I am HUGE tattoo geek! I am incredibly proud of my own collection which includes pieces by Claudia de Sabe, Sneaky Mitch, Wendy Pham, Stu Pagdin, Maverick Reeve, Danielle Rose and Gem Carter (who just finished my incredible back piece). I’m almost covered now but I’ve got plans to see Joe Frost soon to fill my last big space. I have a huge amount of bird tattoos, closely followed by tigers and cats. And of course, flowers! I don’t have any barbed wire or mushrooms yet, think I’ll need to remedy that! 

What inspired you to be an on-the-road artist? During 2020 I got divorced and sold my house. The first thing I wanted to do was explore my new found freedom. I literally had the chance to start again – but I didn’t know where. This journey is about seeing places in the UK I’ve never seen before, in the hopes that I’ll find my next spot to settle. Part of it is about meeting new people and creating new friendships with other artists and customers all over this country, and part of it is about enjoying my life for myself after living for a long time for someone else.

How does guesting compare to tattooing in one studio? Well I basically tattoo out of a plastic bag these days! (if it’s good enough for Claudia it’s good enough for me!) It can be a bit stressful packing up and moving on so much, but it’s worth it as I get to see so many new places and meet new people. Life is for living and I’m all about the experiences! 

Where can people get tattooed by you? I have regular monthly guest spots at Tooth and Talon in Manchester and The Gold Room in Leeds. I’ve got guest spots elsewhere in the UK being confirmed as we speak. I’m planning to visit Brighton, Birmingham, London, Wales, Norwich, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee as well as a few others. I’ll be updating these on my social media and my website so if anyone wants to get tattooed by me, please check those out!

How have you been affected by the pandemic? I definitely feel like I’ve seen an affect. Having such a huge global event happen in our lifetime is bound to have an impact on everything! I think the pandemic, paired with my nomadic lifestyle, has made it harder to get bookings. Like anything – it’s all about balance. I understand I’ve traded the opportunity to build a client base by moving around, but I hope in the end it will be worth it when I find my place and can settle there with all the amazing memories I’ve made. And hopefully I will have built a beautiful network of gorgeous clients all over the UK! 

Make sure to follow Sarah on Instagram for more tattoos and travel updates. Check out her available flash designs here.

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Tattooed Travel Photographer Kym Ellis

We chat to 29-year-old Kym Ellis, a technical marketing lead and travel photographer, about her tattoos and work. At the moment Kym has no fixed address and instead chooses to slow travel around the world – right now she’s in Chiang Mai in Thailand…

Kym Ellis

When did you get your first tattoo and what was it? It was on my eighteenth birthday and it’s a small pisces star sign symbol at the bottom of my nape. I wanted it when I was 16, but my dad who has very old tattoos which he hates, told me to wait until I was old enough. It’s not a very good tattoo but I still kept it as part of my back-piece.

What inspired you to start getting tattooed? Music mostly, I grew up in my late teens with MSN and MySpace and getting into punk and metal was the first time I felt like I had my own identity. I actually kept my music tastes a secret from my school friends for quite a while because I knew they were not into that scene.

Then when I turned 16 I decided enough was enough and changed my style overnight. I never looked back, it was extremely freeing to express myself in the way that I wanted to rather than trying to please others.

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Have tattoos changed how you see yourself and your body? Absolutely – getting tattoos gives me agency over my body and I definitely became more confident as I started to get more big pieces. Whenever I get a new tattoo, it only takes a few days for it to become a part of me. I often forget I have so many, and when I see old photos of a less-tattooed version of me I find it very strange to look at.

I still have some big gaps on my arms and legs that I want to fill up, but I am just taking it steady and enjoying the proces.

Stomach Piece By Romain Labordille

Do you think your tattoos affect how others see you?  Yeah, in both good and bad ways. To be honest I don’t get too much negativity about my tattoos these days, but it can happen occasionally because I travel so much and different places have a different perception of tattoos as a whole.

What sorts of reactions do your tattoos get? For the most part I get a lot of compliments about my tattoos and people often ask me where I got them done, how many I have, or how long they took. Sometimes people want to touch them, that’s kinda weird!

There are still certain places that I visit where tattoos are less accepted and I definitely notice people staring at me. But it really isn’t the majority of people, and my way of dealing with it is to be proud and confident.

If people ask me what the meaning behind my tattoos are, I show them the tribute portrait of my cat that I grew up with. I carry her memory around with me everywhere and yes I am aware that this puts me firmly in the crazy cat lady category.

Cat tattoo by Sam Stokes

My cat Tess, by my friend Sam Stokes

How do you find your work and tattoos mix? Can you show them freely at work? In the earlier days of my career when I worked for companies in the UK, I mostly had to cover my tattoos up. It’s not the worst problem in the world to have, but I never felt like I could take my full self to work and it did wear me down eventually. In hindsight I should have just had them on show. It probably wouldn’t have done me any favours in the workplace but I also don’t think it would have got me fired.

Ever since I started working remotely for technology companies, it’s been the complete opposite. I’ve always been accepted for who I am by all of my colleagues. I wouldn’t take a job where I have to hide my skin again.

Is your photography a creative outlet that allows you to share the real you? It used to be, when I started out with photography about eight years ago I did a lot of portraiture and used myself as a subject when there was no one else around to photograph. Alongside building my tattoo collection, this was a means of expression.

Travel photography is my main focus now, because that’s such a big part of my life. I share a lot of my photos for free on Unsplash.

Arctic

What future career plans do you have? I have made some big career leaps in the past couple of years, from finding my first remote job to becoming more of a technical marketer and improving my coding skills. I’m really happy with my career at the moment and in the future I’d like to move into senior leadership or marketing operations.

I’m going to keep travelling too – being able to work from anywhere is such an incredible opportunity. My next project is to learn how to sail a boat. Then my nautical tattoos will really come into their own!

How do you find travelling and getting tattooed?  It’s really hard to get tattoos when you travel a lot. From living in places where there aren’t many artists who do the style you’re after, to trying to get a booking when you’re only going to be around for a few weeks. I have a full back-piece that is still missing it’s colour because I need to get back to the UK so Ben Stone can finish it up for me.

Back Piece by Ben Stone

That said I’ve managed to get some really great tattoos during my travels. I got a mountain range on my arm when I was in the Arctic Circle, a beautifully gothic traditional tattoo at a convention in Cape Town by @jarretcrosson, a gorgeous snake and florals from @mooreahum.tattoo in Vancouver, and my stomach piece was by @romain_labordille in Bali.

tattoos by jarret crosson and moorea hum

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Interview with Anna Mimink

Tattoo artist Anna Mimink, works as a guest artist in several shops, and she can often be found at Artoria Tatouage in Paris, we caught up with her to find out more about her travels and tattoos…

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How long have you been tattooing? What inspired you to become a tattooer? I have been working as a tattoo artist for five years now. I’ve always had a strong bond with drawing; when I was a child, I started to talk quite late on and drawing was my first way of expressing myself. But, I never fitted in when it came to art lessons and education, so I just kept drawing alongside my studies.

I was working in Paris in a luxury hotel and I felt burnt-out, and fed up with my career, so I went to see a friend who owned a tattoo studio. I ended up coming to the shop everyday, just to draw at first. But I really liked the carefree atmosphere and the positive impact that the tattoo had on the clients. So when he proposed that he would teach me, I was more than happy, even if it wasn’t my vocation at first.

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What is it about tattoos that you love so much? What especially do you love about black and line work? For some people, it’s very hard to truly express themselves. I love it when a client comes to me with a project is, that is a true expression of their inner feelings. The human contact is so important to my job. We are talking about people not just art! I am still very moved when people I don’t know trust me enough to mark their skin for life.

I regards to the art, I have always loved art that is clean and well defined. I am quite manic in real life, and I think it comes through in my art. I also like the simplicity, or the efficiency of the blackwork. It gets straight to the point, no flourish. That’s how I like to express myself. Two other things that are important to me in a tattoo piece, and can be found within blackwork are; there is a good contrast and the tattoo will last very well with time.

What do you love to tattoo? What would you like to do more of? I really love to tattoo manga pieces. I am quite a geek, especially towards the Japanese culture. So these subjects are so much fun for me to work on. Especially, when I can rework them. It’s very intimidating but also rewarding to follow the steps of great mangaka (manga authors) that I love and admire. So of course, I would like to do more of manga pieces, especially some lesser known ones. I like doing some Naruto or Dragon Ball but it’s also great to work on other titles.

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You have travelled and worked in so many countries, which was your favourite? Good question! I will split your question in two, my favourite country for travel and my favorite country for work. China was my favorite country to travel. It’s so big and so diverse! It gave me the feeling that you could spend your whole life trying to know more about it. And it’s the origin of so many Asian cultural streams. For the work, I would say Australia, the clients are very open-minded and they easily trust your work even if you are a foreigner.

What country/experience has inspired you the most? Where would you like to go back to? The Taiwan Tattoo Convention was my best memory of working in another country. I only spent a few days there, but the customers were so nice, they were very interested in my work. The local artists are so good and so open-minded and welcoming. Taiwan was like a perfect mix of China and Japan, and last but not least, the food was great! I really want to go back there one day !

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Who has been the most influential person you have met? Or the one that has taught you something new about tattooing? Lately, I traveled around California with my family and I met an amazing artist in San Francisco, Brucius Xylander, owner of Black Serum tattoo studio. His sense of detail is just amazing, and it really gave me the will to work in a different way and develop new techniques to bring more details and more precision to my work.

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Has becoming a mother changed your outlook towards your career? Or your style? It hasn’t change my ambition to become one of the best tattooers one day. But it really changes the way I look at my own work. I always considered myself as a dark person, and my drawings were a reflection of that. But after becoming a mother, I just wanted to spread more joy around me. And that’s where I started to specialise in manga. I wanted to tattoo more positive and innocent pieces. Even when it’s a sad or trash manga, it’s only  fiction, it’s less sad than a crow skull or dead flowers to me. So yeah it definitely changed my style. And I am very happy about that change, I don’t have to carry the weight of my clients bad feelings like I had to sometimes, now I just share a common passion with them. It’s just perfect!