Latest / This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast) / Episode 12: Co-Sode/ Tattooing and Healing

Transcript

Episode 12: Co-Sode/ Tattooing and Healing · This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast)

0:06
You can't stop me. You can't stop me. Can't stop
0:11
me from singing. Getting all spooky scary. Okay,
0:16
I'm ready for the intro of the show. Right on.
0:20
Right on. Our beautiful acapella. Thank you.
0:25
Free flow spoken word song by John Goodyear,
0:30
co -host. And we have... A lovely guest joining
0:35
with us, tattoo artist, artist, teacher, muralist,
0:41
muse, artist, many things. You wear many hats.
0:45
I dabble, yeah. You have the lovely co with us.
0:49
And then there's me, Linnea. Thanks for having
0:53
me. Sweet. We're so happy to have you. We're
0:55
going to be talking about tattooing today. Yes.
0:58
And connecting it back to healing. um probably
1:02
for our intro we'll be um talking about at least
1:05
one of our tattoos and then i'll go over the
1:07
art invitations and then we'll do the fun bit
1:09
uh who wants to go first uh i say uh ladies first
1:14
let's go coat okay yeah i guess so do i have
1:17
to talk about one of my tattoos or if you can
1:20
pick just one but okay if i could pick just one
1:23
which one would it be i mean i have such a fun
1:27
collection but i like the one that is the most
1:30
meaningful i guess is the one that the first
1:33
tattoo i ever did on skin was one that i did
1:37
on myself and it's just this mushroom it's quite
1:40
terribly done but It was the first tattoo that
1:44
I did on skin and it was on my birthday. So I
1:48
did it on my 30th birthday. Yeah, so there's
1:52
like a lot of big milestones for that one. And
1:55
so I think that's definitely my most meaningful
1:57
because yeah, it was a long time coming for me
2:00
to learn tattooing. I'm sure we'll get into that.
2:02
But yeah, it was a really big pivotal moment
2:05
for me on my 30th birthday to be able to like
2:08
tattoo actual skin and for it to be on myself
2:11
was just... crazy I was very sweaty I was so
2:15
nervous it took me forever to do it and it's
2:18
really fun to think back now on the kinds of
2:20
tattoos I can do now versus that first one like
2:24
I can really measure the uh the amount of progress
2:27
that I've that I've had so it's one I I'm always
2:31
gonna remember it fondly for sure that's awesome
2:34
you waited a little bit late to start getting
2:36
tattoos eh I mean I was I waited late to start
2:40
tattooing but I've been getting tattooed and
2:42
since I was 18 years old so this is the first
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tattoo that I tattooed on like actual skin which
2:49
was myself do you remember what your first tattoo
2:53
was oh my first tattoo ever of course I remember
2:56
it that was uh yes I think there's a question
2:59
in there but we can get into it yeah sure sure
3:03
I just want I don't know if there's like a like
3:05
a rhythm there's no order to our brains we just
3:07
pretend when we make an outline perfect okay
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cool because i can definitely talk about my first
3:13
tattoo ever because they were really special
3:15
i there's these quotes on my arms um and one
3:19
of them is which means one day at a time which
3:23
is what my grandpa would tell me growing up and
3:27
my grandpa was sick with cancer for over 10 years
3:29
so that was a big mantra for him and something
3:33
that he would tell us all the time growing up
3:36
and I would always I always told him I was going
3:39
to get it tattooed one day so I did it was my
3:42
first tattoo and the place I got it tattooed
3:46
was in so I grew up in Sarnia Ontario and there's
3:51
a tiny little village there called Grand Bend
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which is just a seasonal village everything is
3:57
closed during the winter it's a little beach
3:59
town and there's a strip and there's a walk -in
4:02
tattoo shop there and I remember going with my
4:05
mom because she got a couple tattoos there I
4:08
got my belly button pierced there and as soon
4:11
as I yeah I was 18 and I was like mom you're
4:14
taking me I'm getting this tattooed I was so
4:16
excited and the tattoo artist was like this beautiful
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just like hippie woman who would just like travel
4:23
from place to place She was a total nomad. She
4:25
didn't have like a shop per se. She would just
4:28
go from shop to shop, do guest spots for like
4:31
a few months at a time. And I just remember her
4:34
being so inspiring. And Dina Rose is her name.
4:38
I've never forgotten her name. I'm pretty sure
4:40
she's still out there. Sometimes I Google her
4:43
to figure out where she's at, but I haven't found
4:46
anything really substantial. But anyway, she
4:51
looked at me and she says, I know this is gonna
4:54
be the start of something big for you. and it
4:56
won't be your last one just because she could
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just tell how excited I was and like into it
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I was and then she's the one that was like you
5:04
can build around this like this is a good placement
5:06
like she really helped me with the placement
5:08
of it and like because she just knew I was going
5:11
to be in the industry somehow and I am 10 years
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later which is awesome that's awesome foreshadowing
5:17
I think like placement for tattoos is so important
5:21
yeah yeah my my first well my second tattoo was
5:25
actually my kneecap uh I did yeah I remember
5:29
that we were working together I think yeah yeah
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and uh that's I think that's my most meaningful
5:34
tattoo it was my second one and uh my grandmother's
5:37
from India so I got a tiger face across my kneecap
5:40
oh cool yeah yeah and uh that placement was really
5:43
nice because it helped me start up like my leg
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sleeve but that tattoo hurts so bad I basically
5:49
took like two years off of tattooing yeah yeah
5:52
I mean I don't blame you as soon as you said
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kneecap I was like oh yeah yeah it was like full
6:00
color three hours oh it was it was genuinely
6:03
the worst but it it meant a lot because my grandma
6:07
had just sort of passed recently and I was like
6:10
there's a nice little homage tour although my
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family doesn't really have a lot of tattoos I'd
6:15
say it's just kind of me and my dad so like I
6:18
think it's really special that we we go and sometimes
6:20
get tattoos together so that's so cute yeah and
6:25
you also do that too so it's like the family
6:27
fun tattoos yeah it's such a nice bonding experience
6:30
right yeah it truly is yeah right on my first
6:34
tattoo is a tree I can't show you a picture because
6:36
it's on my back but I'll send you another one
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and it never got we never colored it in because
6:41
I um kind of I tapped out oh god it hurts so
6:48
much yeah and I might I want it to be the first
6:52
tattoo and the last tattoo so like I'll finish
6:54
it as my like the cherry on the top nice okay
6:58
yeah I also sent a picture earlier of I have
7:02
a tattoo with a typo which I think is really
7:04
good yes that is a classic too that's my biggest
7:09
nightmare as a tattoo artist is to do a typo
7:11
and I'm dyslexic so it's like no we're all dyslexic
7:14
what everybody here is dyslexic triple read what
7:18
this says because I will not be able to tell
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Oh my gosh. I always find lettering. So like
7:23
when I draw, I do like little comics and stuff
7:25
and lettering is always really stressful for
7:27
me. And then when I put something out every once
7:29
in a while, someone would be like, that's not
7:31
how you spell that. And like, it's just, yeah,
7:34
it's fun and janky. All right. It's cool. It's
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unique to us. Yeah. That perfectly describes
7:40
you. We're all the dyslexic peas in a pod. This
7:43
is wicked. Dyslexic peas in a pod on a podcast.
7:47
It's perfect. We're using our voices for a reason.
7:52
Before we get too much into it, I'm going to
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go over the art invitations for those who want
7:56
to art along. We've got three. So one is to create
7:59
your own tattoo that you want either for yourself
8:01
or for someone else. And you can think of why
8:04
you would want to do this or maybe if there's
8:07
some symbolism in there. The second one is to
8:09
design another tattoo, I guess. I'm very original.
8:12
That would help you heal a wound. So whether
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it's emotional, emotional. physical spiritual
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relational whatever um something that would be
8:21
healing and tattoo remix is to take an existing
8:25
tattoo design and turn it into your own like
8:29
how would you change a current tattoo or oh that's
8:32
someone else has one i this was inspired by i
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have a bunch of tattoos that aren't colored in
8:38
and i let my niece color them in every once in
8:41
a while loves to do that so yeah yeah and that's
8:45
big like that's a big part of tattoo culture
8:47
as well as to remix themes and things that already
8:51
exist right in your own style like there's all
8:53
these you know traditional tattoo themes that
8:57
get reinterpreted constantly um and i think that's
9:01
part of the fun is to like remix it in your own
9:04
style and see like how much your your personality
9:07
can come through a theme that's been done so
9:10
many times right yeah i love that how did you
9:13
get into tattooing tell us your story how did
9:15
i get into tattooing well i got into it when
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i was i mean i almost 30 so it took me a while
9:23
to actually get to the part where i hold a tattoo
9:27
machine uh that being said i started getting
9:30
tattooed since i was legally allowed so I've
9:34
always had a deep fascination for it. I've always
9:37
been a visual artist. But my thing in my 20s
9:42
was very much street art, muraling, festival
9:46
arts, and things like that. I mean, painting
9:50
still always has a very big place in my heart.
9:54
But I was always kind of drawing for tattoos.
10:01
the limited knowledge that i had i was you know
10:04
very drawn to ink very drawn to outlining things
10:07
in a very crisp kind of graphic style um you
10:12
know in my notebooks and stuff especially when
10:14
i was in college i was very much like drawing
10:16
tattoos because i was getting tattooed a lot
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um and eventually yeah i was 29 saturn return
10:25
for those who are into that i'm not surprised
10:29
that that happened to me in that timing But I
10:32
just kind of got fed up with muraling. I still
10:35
really enjoy it. I still, you know, really respect
10:38
the art form and everything. But I was like,
10:40
I've been doing this for, you know, at least
10:43
10 years now. I've been hustling this whole time.
10:47
It just doesn't give me the satisfaction in terms
10:52
of lifestyle that I want to live. Like if I really
10:55
think of how do I want to feel day to day, muraling
10:57
has a lot of logistical. things that I'm just
11:01
not great at you know like having to pack up
11:05
all your paints you know I don't have a car so
11:07
I would have to uber all my materials and things
11:10
like that and just be like traveling and bouncing
11:13
around a lot and I realized that I kind of really
11:16
thrive when I have a very quiet lifestyle so
11:22
Like, I wanted to kind of have my things all
11:24
in the same place. And also, muraling and painting,
11:27
I was always alone in my studio. So I felt quite
11:30
lonely, to be honest. And I'm someone, like,
11:35
I'm quite social. I mean, I definitely enjoy
11:37
my downtime and my time alone. But I love connecting
11:41
with other humans. And I feel like that's kind
11:43
of... been my driving force for my art in general
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even my street art projects was always kind of
11:49
to connect to other people yeah um and in parallel
11:53
people would ask me to draw tattoos for them
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a lot just because of my illustration style and
11:59
stuff like that so um eventually I was like I
12:03
think I need to just be honest with myself and
12:06
say like I've always wanted to do this but I've
12:08
always been too scared to ask um because the
12:12
tattoo space can be quite intimidating um and
12:16
I wanted to do it right you know I wanted to
12:17
get a mentor I didn't want to just teach myself
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I just yeah I wanted to be immersed in the art
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form of it and uh yeah so Saturn return I was
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like what are the two things or like what are
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the things that I've wanted to do my entire 20s
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but have had too much social anxiety or just
12:37
like non -belief in myself um and it was tattooing
12:41
and it was learning how to dj so i did both oh
12:45
you're crushing it you're crushing it yeah i
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did both and now i'm so happy that i did that
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you know i started djing when i was 28 and then
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uh tattooing when i was 29 almost 30 so it's
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like my saturn return happened and then i was
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like i need to make these changes and i did and
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i'm so happy i did because now i'm at a point
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where things are starting to become fun like
13:07
the learning curves are a little bit more balanced.
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Um, and I'm like, yes, this is the exact lifestyle
13:14
that I wanted where I can, you know, be one -on
13:16
-one with people. I can, uh, have all my things
13:19
in the same place. I can really create like kind
13:22
of a little oasis and a space that is confined
13:25
or contained, I guess. Um, yeah. And it's been
13:30
awesome. Nice. What do you, uh, do you remember
13:33
what the first person that you tattooed was and
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what was that kind of like? Yeah, the first person
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that I tattooed was my roommate, who's like my
13:42
sister. So it was really awesome. Yeah, roommate
13:47
sisters. She's like my chosen family. And she
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already has a lot of tattoos. And I did a like
13:54
a cheesy pizza slice on her. That's beautiful.
13:59
my best friend uh in the army used to do tattoos
14:02
and uh in our rooms which was really fun you
14:05
weren't supposed to do that but uh yeah we all
14:07
have one yeah exactly he got at first they were
14:11
really bad but he got really good because there's
14:13
so many guys by sheer volume and number he actually
14:16
sure a good artist yeah and that's the thing
14:18
with tattooing is unfortunately the volume really
14:21
matters like the more you do it the more you
14:23
understand how it feels when it's when it's a
14:27
good you know and how how it feels when the needle's
14:29
too deep or not deep enough. And, like, there's
14:32
so much to that. And the stressful part is very
14:34
much being like, hey, I'm going to suck at first.
14:37
Or, you know, I mean, suck to my standards. Like,
14:40
it's not going to be, like, the best tattoo you've
14:43
ever seen. But the trust. that's there is so
14:48
like special to me and important and like i have
14:52
a lot of shitty tattoos that i love you know
14:54
and it's not really about the technique of it
14:57
yeah um but it's hard for for the person doing
15:01
it like for me it was really hard because my
15:03
standards are very high huge perfectionist and
15:07
it was really difficult for me to accept the
15:10
fact that my work wasn't going to be like a hundred
15:13
percent right off the hop yeah I feel like that's
15:16
also a little bit on the uh the people getting
15:18
tattooed understanding like what the level of
15:21
your tattoo artist is and just kind of being
15:22
like able to go with it so like it takes a lot
15:25
of trust yeah it does it's a great relationship
15:28
Yeah, it's something that's really special to
15:30
me and that I really don't take for granted.
15:33
The people that came to me when I was brand new,
15:35
I'm like, wow, that's awesome. I've only got
15:40
two guys really that I go to. So one was Jesse
15:44
Germs in Ottawa and the other guy is Ian Preeper
15:46
back in Halifax in Recreo. And yeah, they actually
15:51
knew each other. So that's how our connection
15:53
happened when I first started getting tattoos,
15:56
right? So it's like... a really cool close -knit
15:59
community I found and yeah and that's another
16:02
special thing too I think like some people now
16:04
I get regular clients come back and they're like
16:07
my artist now and I'm like wow like the the honor
16:10
is high yeah because it's someone that is choosing
16:14
to work with you over and over again and it does
16:16
build a very special relationship for sure for
16:19
for certain people I found myself like I it's
16:22
getting to be able to tell your own story yeah
16:25
so like it's a big honor for people to kind of
16:28
just be like hey I trust you to tell my story
16:30
like you got this yeah yeah I mean even when
16:34
we do goofy little stuff when I get tattooed
16:36
now I'm more just like um just basically be like
16:40
go with it now like I totally trust you because
16:42
I'm kind of covered at this point yeah yeah yeah
16:44
yeah I like that piece about when you're tattooing
16:48
someone you're forming an intimate relationship
16:50
with them whether you know them from beforehand
16:52
but they're getting like you are I'm gonna say
16:56
you're causing them pain so that trust piece
16:58
is big but also it's that permanent piece and
17:02
you're also spending time with them you know
17:04
sometimes you might be having a conversation
17:05
sometimes you're choosing not to have a conversation
17:07
that's okay but like there's so much intimacy
17:10
in that I find it fascinating yeah yeah it's
17:14
huge and it's I mean not every tattoo artist
17:17
will approach it that way but I definitely do
17:20
it's an energy exchange to me So there is like
17:24
a very intimate component to it. And like you
17:27
said, I'm causing someone pain. And that was
17:30
also such a hard learning curve for me because
17:33
I'm someone that historically, like I will do
17:37
anything not to cause pain. Like to the point
17:41
where it's actually like not great either. I'm
17:45
a huge people pleaser because of it. You know,
17:47
there's things like that, that it's like not
17:49
wanting to cause pain is not always a positive
17:52
thing. It's like I've had to do a lot of reflection
17:55
around that just in general in my life. But tattooing,
17:59
it's kind of a metaphor for it all, right? So
18:02
I, you know, in not wanting to cause pain, my
18:06
tattoos would come out not as good and then I
18:09
would have to do them again and that would cause
18:11
more pain, you know? So it's like... the pulling
18:13
back of it and then not wanting to like assume
18:16
that this person and trust that this person signed
18:19
the waiver and they want to be here, even if
18:21
they are in pain, like there's consent there.
18:25
And it's like, I need to trust the consent and
18:28
I need to just go for it because when you do
18:31
go for it and you have the confidence, then the
18:33
result comes out amazing, even if it's uncomfortable
18:36
in the moment. so it definitely yeah the art
18:40
of tattooing really just like is a whole metaphor
18:42
for my life and like my own shadows and stuff
18:45
as well because you're you can't run from it
18:47
like it's it's yeah it's permanent no i i I completely
18:54
understand when it comes to like the levels of
18:56
pain my buddy Ian whenever he does it to me he's
18:58
like this is gonna suck and I'm like every single
19:01
time and we just kind of have this joke being
19:03
like you said this time it wouldn't hurt and
19:05
it's like our inside joke and like yeah it's
19:08
really fun when there's other people in the shop
19:10
who don't know our dynamic because like I'll
19:12
just be whining and like making big scenes and
19:15
he'll be like and he's like he'll just be like
19:16
shut up and like people get really kind of freaked
19:19
out but it's I think it's fun when you can just
19:21
sort of play with it like you're like yeah I
19:23
know as the guy who's getting tattooed, this
19:25
is gonna suck. But like Ian does such good work
19:29
with, he's heavy handed, but I'm like, this is
19:31
going to stick. It's going to look good. That's
19:33
the thing. And he's only going to do it once,
19:36
right? Because he's confident with it. Yeah,
19:38
I'm never going to let him redo one, you know?
19:41
I think that would double hurt. But yeah, no,
19:45
he's never had to go. I've never had to get him
19:47
to redo anything. Oh, exactly. And that's because
19:50
the technique is there. And yeah, it takes a
19:53
while to get used to that. And I'm also a very,
19:55
you know, or people's feelings very easily so
19:58
yeah uh when people are in pain it's like it's
20:01
very hard for me to ignore it you know and i
20:04
would even feel like afterwards like just so
20:07
drained and so just like um not triggered triggered
20:11
is not the word but it's like i would feel weird
20:14
what's that activated activated yes i would feel
20:17
activated afterwards and it's like i had never
20:20
lived that i never tattooed anyone before so
20:23
it's like how how would i know how that actually
20:25
feels like on my nervous system then when i start
20:28
actually doing it and the first year was just
20:30
a lot of learning how that works and now it's
20:34
like yeah it doesn't drain me at all anymore
20:36
it actually energizes me yeah and yeah it's cool
20:40
to be over that learning curve and it's it's
20:43
all stuff that i didn't really consider when
20:46
i started i was like oh the technique the technique
20:48
but i didn't really think energetically like
20:50
how is it gonna affect me you know I'm gonna
20:54
have to adjust to that and yeah so there's a
20:56
lot of growth that came from it for sure yeah
20:59
I wonder if that has anything to do with mirror
21:01
neurons oh I don't know can you explain that
21:04
what that means for the layman yeah yeah I'll
21:07
try to do my best okay so mirror neurons the
21:11
way I explain it say i had a glass in my hand
21:14
and i was taking a sip yeah your brain neurons
21:18
there's a pathway in your brain that would activate
21:20
similarly as if you were also taking a sip but
21:23
you're not so a better example might be if you're
21:27
watching some sort of sports thing and you see
21:28
someone get hurt you almost go like wince in
21:30
pain with them yeah yes has this natural ability
21:35
to empathetically connect with other human experiences.
21:39
So it fires as if it's also happening to you.
21:42
And I'm wondering if that's kind of what happening.
21:44
i mean i don't see why why not you know because
21:47
it is that is a fact it's a neuroscience we're
21:51
like we're meant to live in communities and be
21:54
empathetic and stuff like that and yeah if you're
21:56
inflicting pain it's any human being would be
21:59
kind of feeling weird about it in the moment
22:03
but yeah most good humans yeah yeah most good
22:06
humans but do you think that there's a stronger
22:09
link to that neural path if you've experienced
22:11
the thing as well like if i don't know from like
22:15
a neuroscience point of view because i know nothing
22:18
about that but at the same time I know a little
22:21
bit like I'm more of a feeler I know like the
22:23
what I feel and and how I am as a person is like
22:27
I wouldn't want to do something to somebody that
22:32
I haven't experienced so actually even as a tattoo
22:35
artist like I'm making sure like part of my learning
22:38
and my studying I guess is making sure that I'm
22:41
being tattooed in pretty much all the places
22:44
so that I know how it feels and that's But that's
22:48
me. That's my personal choice. But I do feel
22:51
like it helps me kind of have more empathy. Like
22:54
now I know what it's like to have my entire back
22:56
like blasted. And it sucks, you know, and I'm
23:00
like, now I know what the back feels like. So
23:02
I can somewhat like help guide somebody through
23:04
the pain or if someone's having a nervous system
23:08
reaction, I can help them because I felt it before
23:10
as well. Even if everybody is super unique and
23:14
we all feel pain very differently, which is another
23:17
thing that. really fascinates me as well like
23:20
yeah uh we carry things in our bodies and like
23:23
the pain can feel different depending on where
23:25
you carry certain things um but yeah in general
23:29
for sure i do think that um i'm connecting you
23:33
know energetically to the person what i love
23:36
about the tattoo pain experience is that it gives
23:40
it meaning and i think it takes the edge off
23:42
a little bit like when i recently got my palms
23:45
done i was warned three times times yeah be in
23:49
extreme pain I was almost annoyed yeah but I
23:53
think it was really helpful because it prepared
23:55
my body yeah know that it was going through pain
23:59
and I also was able to reframe this of like this
24:02
is a rite of passage for me like if I can do
24:04
this this is going to show that I have great
24:06
strength um and then I'm a tough guy yeah the
24:11
toughest guy I quick question uh do you what
24:17
hot button topic what do you think of like you
24:19
know like the numbing creams and stuff like that
24:22
people were doing that before i do you view that
24:25
as cheating or do you care at all like some people
24:29
do some people got strong feelings i don't have
24:31
strong feelings towards it i just have mostly
24:34
strong feelings towards safety and what is in
24:39
those numbing creams because they're not all
24:41
created equal some of them actually have like
24:43
lethal amounts of whatever product is in there
24:46
to numb so you do have to be careful with like
24:49
what brand you're using and like make sure you're
24:51
not just getting it from like a no -name kind
24:54
of amazon shop yeah um so i do think education
24:58
is really important when it comes to things like
25:00
that but personally i would rather feel my pain
25:04
in the moment with my artist and that's kind
25:07
of part of my own like tattooing practice is
25:10
like the pain is part of it the patience is part
25:13
of it like i think that it's not necessarily
25:15
about like needing to get like as much coverage
25:19
or like the biggest tattoo in one sitting as
25:21
possible i think the patience part of it and
25:24
the building of your art piece is really like
25:28
part of the process so I mean yeah like from
25:34
a personal perspective I don't use numbing cream
25:37
and I think I want to feel my pain but that being
25:41
said if you need it to get a tattoo then do you
25:44
you know just do your research and make sure
25:46
that it's safe yeah i mean the technology exists
25:52
for a reason right so it's like if it's an option
25:55
for people to you know and there's also accessibility
25:58
uh considerations there as well for some people
26:01
you know they yeah they can't sit through the
26:04
pain and that's okay like i'm not here to shame
26:06
anybody um for it but yeah pain is a big part
26:10
of of uh the practice for me personally so i
26:14
i feel not that i enjoy pain but it's just like
26:16
it's a it helps you get over the grief sometimes
26:19
with depending on your tattoo I mean they're
26:21
not always terrible or super sad tattoos but
26:24
like you know when it comes to like certain ones
26:26
like for my grandmother I was like okay I'm gonna
26:29
feel this one and I really did and uh when it
26:33
was gone and done like I just love talking about
26:35
it to people because they would just basically
26:37
be like um they would basically just be like
26:40
hey like what's that about that's an extreme
26:43
tattoo to have and it would start a really good
26:45
conversation about somebody who meant a lot to
26:47
me yeah absolutely and um like Linnea said something
26:52
earlier but now I lost my train of thought we'll
26:55
get back to it but he said something that like
26:57
really kind of uh hit me but now I forget okay
27:01
we'll get back to it it's okay yeah that's all
27:03
good it's a long form podcast talking about such
27:06
cool stuff that it just like my neurons are firing
27:09
right now I'm glad yeah um what role do you think
27:14
story playing storytelling plays in tattooing
27:18
storytelling well I mean that kind of ties into
27:21
what we were just talking about you know having
27:22
tattoos that have meaning um although like I
27:26
definitely not every tattoo has a meaning for
27:29
sure nor do they need to have meaning but I think
27:32
that um storytelling in general i think it's
27:37
like it's a curation of your body right so it's
27:42
storytelling in that sense I mean for again from
27:45
personal experience like I am someone who experiences
27:48
a lot of body dysmorphia um so for me it's a
27:52
reclamation of my body and it tells my story
27:55
in that sense less so in the subject matter that
27:58
I have you know like I have a whole arm full
28:00
of squids and and tentacles and stuff and it's
28:04
people ask me all the time like what's the meaning
28:07
behind that and there is none I was just really
28:09
into watching planet earth at the time and i
28:11
thought the creatures were cool and i got them
28:14
on my body but it's also the transformation that
28:16
that gave me and the confidence that it gave
28:19
me yeah um because i got to control my body for
28:23
the first time which i've always felt very out
28:26
of control towards my body so like i think it
28:30
tells a story in terms of that for me personally
28:32
but for others i mean Only they can tell us what
28:36
the story means. But it's, yeah, it can come
28:38
through, you know, the subject matter of the
28:41
tattoos, the curation of your art, and the process
28:45
itself of getting tattoos and, you know, spending
28:49
time with your artists and all that. And I might
28:51
add, like, the continued narrative. Like, John
28:54
just mentioned how you get to experience or,
28:58
like, reshare that story of, like, oh, this one's
29:00
about my grandma. Like, you can keep sharing
29:03
that. narrative. And I think that's pretty cool.
29:06
It's like an ever evolving story. Yeah, for sure.
29:10
And I know we hate the word icebreaker, but it
29:12
can definitely be a little bit of a social icebreaker.
29:15
Like I am not somebody that dislikes when people
29:19
comment on my tattoos, obviously within the boundaries
29:22
of being respectful. But I do appreciate when
29:26
people come up to me and they say, oh, I like
29:27
this piece or like and then we start talking
29:30
about art and then all of a sudden I have a friend.
29:33
So I do I do enjoy that part of it as well. Just
29:37
like chatting about our art collections, because
29:40
it is an art collection at the end of the day.
29:42
It's just on your body. Yeah. Yeah, that's fun.
29:46
Cool. I was going to ask you how you connected
29:48
with your mentor. Oh, yeah. So my mentor, Byron,
29:51
I actually had been tattooed by them multiple
29:53
times. So it is. Yes. So it's somebody that actually
29:58
the story is really cute because it's my so one
30:02
of our mutual friends is a photographer. And
30:05
I it was during COVID. I had a studio above Gong
30:10
Fu Bao on Bank Street that I really loved. And
30:13
it just I couldn't keep it during COVID. um so
30:17
i had to let go of it and i me and my friend
30:21
who's a photographer they were like they were
30:24
looking for a studio too and byron was also looking
30:27
for a studio at that time so we toyed around
30:30
with the idea of like maybe all three of us getting
30:32
it like a multi -purpose studio together that's
30:35
so fun yeah and then like that's how i followed
30:38
them so i followed them on instagram because
30:40
my friend was like hey this cool artists also
30:43
is might be looking for a studio that did not
30:46
end up working out but I really loved uh Byron's
30:49
work and like I mean if if you don't know Byron
30:52
please go check them out I hope we can link them
30:55
okay yeah because their work is just so beautiful
30:58
and like the technique is just perfect and um
31:02
I was like I want to get tattoos by them so yeah
31:05
I actually uh reached out and I what does one
31:09
do during covid when they need to feel something
31:13
but get their entire butt tattooed right we've
31:18
all been there i was like do you want to tattoo
31:20
my entire butt so they did and then we just it
31:23
was like multiple multiple sessions so over the
31:27
course of maybe a year and a half two years we
31:29
got to know each other and I eventually was just
31:33
like hey would you teach me and in that moment
31:36
they couldn't do it because there was they had
31:39
just taken on an apprentice they had opened a
31:41
new shop they're like the timing is just off
31:43
but I would take you in a heartbeat um and they're
31:46
like reach out next year if you're still interested
31:48
and I was like you know what yeah like it did
31:52
I didn't even look for anyone else like it just
31:54
felt right and I was like well within that one
31:57
year like what can I do I can just get better
32:00
at drawing. You know, I can just work on my art
32:02
this whole time because that's kind of the point
32:04
of tattooing is to make art constantly. So I
32:08
was like, I already have that, like that base.
32:10
So I'm just going to work on my art for a year.
32:12
I'm just going to work on my personal, you know,
32:15
challenges and things like that. I was like doing
32:17
some pretty intense therapy at the time as well.
32:19
So I was like, you know what, timing wise, I
32:21
probably shouldn't be focusing on career so much
32:23
right now. I kind of want to just work on myself.
32:26
Yeah. And I, you know, that's when I. learn how
32:28
to dj also so it's not like i didn't have anything
32:31
to keep me busy um and because i wasn't in a
32:35
hurry i just really was like i need to trust
32:38
the timing of things like i need to just trust
32:40
that this is gonna happen and not be so impulsive
32:43
yeah I'd say, well, cause that was, I mean, that's
32:46
been my, my pattern in my early twenties is I'm
32:49
very impulsive. So I was like, for this one,
32:51
I'm just not going to be impulsive. And if it
32:53
doesn't work out in a year, like, you know, if
32:56
Byron says like at the end of the year, whatever,
32:58
I can't take you. Like there was no stress, you
33:02
know, it's not like I signed a contract and I
33:04
was like, you have to take me in a year. And
33:05
if you say no, it's going to be the end of the
33:07
world. I was just like, I'll check back in with
33:09
you. Like, do you, I'll do me. We'll see what
33:12
happens. And yeah, I really just made peace with
33:15
the fact that if it doesn't happen in a year,
33:18
I'll find something else. I'll redirect then.
33:21
And it ended up working out. And so I'm glad
33:25
I was patient, but it was hard in the moment
33:27
sometimes for sure. But I just felt it in my
33:31
bones. I was like, this is my mentor. This is
33:32
what I want. Like their approach to tattooing
33:35
is very exactly what I wanted, like how I wanted
33:40
to approach tattooing. And like I said, by that
33:43
time I was 29. I wasn't looking to like clean
33:47
bathrooms for two years straight before I touched
33:50
a machine. Like, I think, you know, like obviously
33:53
we all share chores and stuff. Like I'm not above
33:55
cleaning bathrooms. I clean the bathroom all
33:57
the time, but like, I just didn't want to waste
34:00
time in terms of doing free labor, if that makes
34:03
sense. Cause that does happen. It sounds like
34:06
you didn't waste your time at all. And if anything,
34:09
it sounds like you came out better for it. Like
34:11
you had a year to sort of practice on your own,
34:13
build your skills. And you were, you know, waiting
34:16
and taking that time for your just shows a real
34:18
dedication that you're like, I'm ready and committed
34:21
to do this. So then when you got your time and
34:23
it was your shot, it sounds like you're just
34:25
like, I'm all in, which is just such a cool way
34:28
to do things, you know? Yeah, exactly. I'm really
34:30
proud of myself for doing that because I really
34:33
just wanted to take my ego out of it. Yeah. And,
34:36
you know, like there's the excitement to just
34:38
hold, you know, to tattoo and hold the machine
34:40
and people want to like start doing the actual
34:43
tattooing thing. like right away and I think
34:46
what they don't understand is like tattooing
34:49
is so much more than just applying ink to skin
34:52
like it's again like the whole energetic part
34:54
of it is really important to me so I was like
34:56
I need to get myself to a place where I can hold
34:59
space for other people And yeah, I'm glad I did.
35:04
Yeah, I'm sure your clients are very thankful
35:06
as well that you got that extra time. Well, from
35:10
the work we've seen, it looks great. Thank you.
35:12
Appreciate it. How do you come up with your tattoo
35:15
designs? Well, how do I come up with my tattoo
35:18
design? That is a good question. I, so when I
35:22
first started tattooing, which was, I guess it's,
35:26
we're going on a couple years now. So it's still
35:29
kind of fresh, but I had to really simplify my
35:32
style. Like I had really had to learn how to
35:34
draw for a tattoo needle. And you really don't
35:38
know that until you start using the tattoo needle.
35:40
And you know, you have a mentor to be like, you
35:43
need enough line between the spaces. There's
35:45
a lot of considerations or enough spaces between
35:48
the lines there's a lot of like technical considerations
35:52
to drawing up a tattoo and that I didn't even
35:57
think about when you know you don't really know
36:00
that until you start so I had to simplify my
36:03
work like crazy like I have a very if you've
36:06
seen my work there's a lot of lines there's a
36:08
lot of layering going on there's a lot of chaos
36:13
it's whimsy I don't know I wouldn't chaos might
36:15
be the right word but I think of it as whimsy
36:17
but yeah it's whimsy but there's you know it's
36:20
like the pen moves you know it's it's on the
36:22
page um and I yeah I had to simplify a lot of
36:27
that because when that heals if the spaces are
36:30
too small between them it's just gonna look like
36:32
a blob so I had and also because i'm new to using
36:36
a tattoo machine at the time i can only do like
36:40
a small little piece so i had to just simplify
36:44
strip down and it just really bothered me like
36:48
i just it was hard for me to do that just to
36:51
scale it back i guess yeah for sure like i i
36:54
was i had again like an advantage to a certain
36:57
degree of having like 10 years of drawing experience
37:00
before but also the cons of that is that your
37:04
muscle memory and you're kind of like stuck in
37:06
your ways right so yeah it just took me a while
37:10
to get comfortable with it um but now the way
37:14
that i get inspiration and stuff i can do a little
37:17
bit more so now i'm excited this year especially
37:20
to be able to kind of bring out my you know pre
37:25
-tattooing style and like put it back in because
37:27
I have more technical knowledge yeah um and but
37:31
like in terms of overall inspiration I would
37:34
say like nature for sure anything uh involving
37:38
nature but I like to give it kind of a psychedelic
37:40
twist um I like to say that I live in kind of
37:44
like an alternate dimension in my mind where
37:46
I take things that exist like plants and animals
37:49
and things like that and then I just just like
37:51
give it a little bit of a weird. drippy psychedelic
37:56
whimsy kind of vibe so i like being outdoors
37:59
i like witnessing other people doing their arts
38:02
um and i like having conversations like this
38:05
i find it's not necessarily like a like i'm not
38:08
gonna scroll pinterest per se to find inspiration
38:11
but i find i get inspiration by connecting to
38:13
other humans so it just like makes me want to
38:16
make art if that makes sense finding the right
38:19
tattoo for the right person and like taking like
38:22
you were saying before the old traditional ways
38:25
and then putting your own spin or taste on it.
38:27
Right. So I love doing that. Yeah. Like learning
38:30
how to properly just move into like the same
38:34
old spaces and just do it in your own way. Yeah.
38:36
And I love a custom, you know, I love custom
38:39
tattoos because I like when people have a little
38:41
backstory or like they send me a mood board or
38:44
something and I can. take their universe and
38:47
kind of turn it into like the way that i see
38:50
it yeah um and people give me a lot of creative
38:53
liberty with the custom stuff too but i like
38:55
having a story behind it yeah like me and my
38:59
dad we have some of the same tattoos yeah through
39:01
through the military and uh even though they're
39:04
the same tattoos i we i put my own little edge
39:06
on it so like we have we both have two swallows
39:09
which just means a certain amount of nautical
39:11
sea days for sure and uh or sorry miles at sea
39:15
and uh so for mine I blacked it out and put like
39:18
like the skeleton of the bird inside oh that's
39:20
fun whereas my dad went all color and uh yeah
39:24
I used to do color but now I'm more into like
39:26
I guess the black yeah yeah I find find it sticks
39:30
really well totally I only have black and gray
39:32
tattoos on me okay um and I tend I'm I mean I'm
39:37
doing color as well because I want to be like
39:39
a well -rounded artist but my love is definitely
39:42
black and gray when it comes to designing tattoos
39:45
yeah but it's very weird because when it came
39:47
to doing murals and things like that like my
39:50
work was very colorful you know like big pastel
39:53
colors like bright things like that and when
39:56
it came to changing over my medium I'm like I
40:00
just want to go super bare bones like only black
40:03
and gray and like really just work on like the
40:06
structure of my illustration yeah if that makes
40:09
sense like the skeleton you know like the just
40:12
have that be really really strong and it's so
40:15
satisfying to just do that in black and gray
40:17
and yeah and I'm covered in black and gray tattoos
40:20
so I have no color on me oh yeah yeah that's
40:25
fine yeah I find the simpler when you go into
40:27
like placement of the body it just goes so well
40:29
like as simple as it goes but sometimes it can
40:32
get clouded when you're doing like big big pieces
40:34
you know so yeah yeah there's you have to have
40:37
a lot of contrast I think contrast is like the
40:40
the biggest thing and that's really fun for my
40:43
brain to play with when I'm designing is just
40:46
like making sure there's like I'm you know when
40:48
I'm mentioning like the bones of the illustration
40:50
it's just like the that's the part i nerd out
40:53
the most about is just like actually like building
40:56
the character or building the thing yeah making
40:58
like the shapes my own and giving it yeah like
41:01
that that extra style um and when that's really
41:05
strong you don't really need much else you know
41:07
yeah very cool it's fun um question do you have
41:13
a tattoo bucket list or like tattoo tattoo goal
41:18
I mean I I love a goal so I definitely have tattoo
41:21
goals tattoo bucket list like in terms of tattoos
41:25
I would do on other people yeah like because
41:28
I imagine it's you know tattoo apprenticeship
41:31
I'm kind of guessing is like this and it might
41:34
I could be totally wrong of like oh once you
41:36
can do all of these things you're no longer an
41:39
apprentice or yeah so I'm like technically not
41:42
an apprentice anymore so I finished after a year
41:45
um and that's mostly just like I know all the
41:49
basics like you said like I know how to put ink
41:51
and skin I know my sanitation like the back of
41:54
my hand I you know can handle uh my clients alone
41:59
and like when I I can troubleshoot everything
42:02
basically um so that made It's so that I was
42:06
like technically done my apprenticeship. That
42:09
being said, like nothing has really changed other
42:11
than like the fact that I can do more things
42:14
now. And but it's a constant learning curve,
42:18
you know, like I'm going to be learning for years
42:20
and probably my entire life, which is why I love
42:23
the medium so much. It's going to keep me interested
42:26
for that long. So my like the biggest things
42:30
that like if I picture myself in 10 years. what
42:35
I picture in my portfolio is definitely like
42:37
large scale stuff because I'm already so comfortable
42:42
with large scale and I love you know I love murals
42:45
because they're so part of a space and you can
42:49
make them kind of move around and that's exactly
42:51
how I feel about tattoos like I also was the
42:54
type to start like when i started being like
42:57
i'm gonna be a tattoo person i was like i'm gonna
43:00
have big pieces you know like i didn't start
43:03
with like the small stuff i started with a whole
43:05
sleeve like i just was like i like things that
43:08
travel on the body um so like my bucket list
43:12
items are definitely um just large scale florals
43:17
and things that move with the body. I actually
43:20
just started a project that is definitely a bucket
43:22
list item for me where we did lilies that start
43:25
like at the thigh and then they go all the way
43:28
down past the knee. And when the client moves
43:31
their leg, like it bends with it, you know, so
43:34
it looks like the flowers are bending. I love
43:36
doing that. And yeah, so like coverage is definitely.
43:42
something that really inspires me and that I
43:44
just think is so beautiful when I see it on other
43:47
people. And that's kind of the thing that I lean
43:49
towards from my own body as well. So I love kind
43:53
of an abstract, drippy situation. And yeah, I
43:58
like it when it moves with the body, when it's
44:00
not just a sticker. Yeah, so I want to do more
44:03
of that. I love freehanding and yeah, all of
44:07
it. What is freehanding exactly? A freehand thing
44:11
is when you're not using a stencil, so you just
44:13
draw it directly on the body part. With a gun
44:18
or do you draw it with a forehand? With a sharpie
44:22
before. Okay, okay. I mean, like, some people
44:26
definitely go with the gun right off the bat,
44:29
but, like, no, I need to have a sketch first.
44:34
it just gives it more personal style. Like that
44:37
I would feel like is definitely the most similar
44:40
to my muraling because I free handed all my murals
44:44
too, which means no projector. I would just draw
44:47
it on the wall. And so when I get to free hand
44:50
on someone's body, like it feels the most similar
44:53
to what I'm used to. And that's where I feel
44:56
like a lot of the style comes through because
44:58
there is room to kind of the muscle memory, you
45:00
know, and to like have movement in the moment
45:03
rather than. and like applying a stencil you
45:05
never know exactly where it's gonna land with
45:08
freehanding you can really just tailor it to
45:11
like okay your knee curves like this I'm gonna
45:13
make this leaf kind of go around that and yeah
45:16
I love that part like it's the groove of the
45:19
body versus exactly yeah yeah that would be so
45:23
fun to witness It is. And honestly, that is I
45:28
this artist who did my entire arm here. His name's
45:31
Julian Gardner. Five cent tattoos. Probably he's
45:35
very well known in Ottawa and he's like a huge
45:38
inspiration for sure. And I remember I was like
45:40
19 years old and he free handed it on my body.
45:43
And I was like, this is like it just sparked
45:47
something in me. And I was like, that is what
45:49
I want to do. You know, and he was just using
45:51
pens. And he definitely has like a style to him
45:55
as well. Have you noticed any trends in tattooing?
46:00
Yes. Yes. So right now, actually, what I'm noticing
46:05
the most is kind of the early 2000s tribal Y2K
46:11
kind of designs are coming back. I've noticed
46:14
that. Yeah, yeah. For sure. The lower back tattoos
46:17
are phenomenal. Yeah. um but you see it more
46:23
like apps done more abstract so um not as you
46:27
know um bold and how would i say like appropriately
46:32
tribal as you did see in the early 2000s you
46:37
know like people were kind of appropriating a
46:39
lot of tribal stuff a lot of guys from dartmouth
46:42
have have tribal tattoos right yeah we're not
46:45
very close to the islands yeah there's a bit
46:47
more social awareness around that so people are
46:49
kind of putting their own you hear the term cyber
46:52
sigilism a lot which is i haven't but good to
46:57
know okay google it it's kind of cool it's like
46:59
a futuristic tribal kind of alien so it's like
47:02
you imagine um like alien marks and stuff like
47:06
that so it's more thin and more abstract uh there's
47:10
a lot of that there's a lot of abstract like
47:12
you see my arm here i have you know just yeah
47:15
flowing kind of vibes um i think that's very
47:20
popular these days as well as the smaller tattoos
47:24
so i think That's also like a reflection of our
47:27
economic state right now where people can't really
47:29
afford to get a full limb. So especially the
47:33
younger people are getting, you know, the little
47:35
hundred dollar tattoos and the, but they have
47:39
multiples, you know, so they'll have like an
47:41
arm full of little stickers or something like
47:43
that, which I think is really cool too. I have
47:46
the sticker tattoos. I feel like also has a little
47:48
bit of stickery, but you have some pieces as
47:51
well. I imagine. yeah i i definitely like the
47:54
little just like on from the uh comic book basically
47:58
to be like yo okay this one small yeah and that's
48:00
that's definitely a style and i think that's
48:02
super cool like i have that all over my legs
48:04
so i have like i call them my fun legs where
48:07
i put all my fun stuff okay and then i save certain
48:10
limbs and certain things for like yeah more intricate
48:13
pieces and stuff like that yeah um have you ever
48:16
felt judged for having tattoos No, not really.
48:23
I mean, OK, I've definitely had moments in passing
48:26
with strangers, but I just don't care about that.
48:31
Like, I mean, recently I went to the shawarma
48:34
shop and this guy is like, you have so many tattoos,
48:37
like you must have spent so much money on them,
48:40
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was just
48:41
like, OK, whatever, dude. Like and that felt
48:44
a little bit like a judgment to me because I'm
48:46
like, it's none of your business how much money
48:48
I spent on them first. of all and like second
48:51
of all you're not really telling me you like
48:52
them you're just like worried about how much
48:54
I spent on them like that felt weird to me but
48:56
in terms of being discriminated against or anything
48:59
like that not at all like my parents are very
49:02
open -minded I don't think they were surprised
49:04
that I started getting a lot of tattoos at a
49:08
young age I think they've always expected that
49:10
of me I feel very lucky for that um and even
49:14
like I mean I'm a college teacher I got hired
49:17
No problem. And I did a lot of, you know, facilitation
49:21
in elementary schools and high schools when I
49:24
was doing the mural thing. And I never had a
49:27
comment. And, you know, I went to Catholic schools.
49:29
I did all that. And, you know, most people are
49:32
just like, they look so nice on you. But, I mean,
49:36
again, I'm privileged to live in a generation
49:38
where it is more accepted. Like, I think if I
49:41
was maybe 10 years older, it would be a different
49:43
story. Yeah. Also in Canada. Yes. Oh, yeah. For
49:50
sure. I'm sure if I traveled, you know, and I
49:52
always like am mindful of that if I'm traveling
49:56
somewhere like the Middle East or Asia where
49:59
places or other places that is culturally less
50:02
welcome, then I would definitely just cover up.
50:06
Like I'm not opposed to doing that. Like it doesn't
50:10
feel like a threat to me to cover up, to respect
50:13
someone else's culture. But it just hasn't come
50:17
up yet. in the middle east i well i i did cover
50:21
up because i found it it was just it was a negative
50:24
conversation almost every time uh when i was
50:27
there yeah and it's like if we're if i'm gonna
50:30
go somewhere it's it's your culture i'm i'm the
50:33
one that's yeah you're you're a guest in this
50:35
country so you kind of just got to play by the
50:37
rules and uh yeah yeah but it was it was a bit
50:40
of a shock for me too because like you know coming
50:42
from canada i was like oh yeah i got a bunch
50:44
of tattoos and i was on a plane with this this
50:46
young guy and i was wearing a long sleeve uh
50:48
at the time because i just had a backpack so
50:50
i was like it didn't fit in my bag so i was like
50:52
i had the long sleeve on but then um he saw i
50:55
was drawing on the plane and he was like oh cool
50:58
and i was like and then he saw i had this little
51:00
tattoo on my wrist and he's like oh no not haram
51:02
and like it really it changed our dynamic on
51:05
the on the flight and i was just like oh crap
51:07
i was like if i take this shirt off right or
51:10
this long sleeve off it's you're gonna see way
51:13
way more and you're not gonna be stoked on it
51:16
like my my family from uh my east indian family
51:19
really really dislike tattoos so that's fair
51:23
yeah when i first started getting them like i
51:25
was like okay places if i'm just wearing jeans
51:27
and a t -shirt I can kind of get away with it,
51:29
right? But now not so much, but they've come
51:33
to just realize they're like, you have a full
51:34
-time job. You're a regular part of society.
51:36
It's not just for, you know, prisoners or crazy
51:39
people anymore, right? No, for sure. And I kind
51:41
of like being that person to kind of change someone's
51:45
mind on something. Not necessarily like change
51:47
your values because, you know, to each their
51:49
own. If that's not for you, it's fine. But I
51:52
definitely have had a lot of Uber drivers. Yeah.
51:56
Just being curious and chatting with me. Uber
51:59
drivers from all kinds of cultures. We end up
52:02
having such a fun discussion. I can tell at first
52:06
they're judgmental. getting to know me and after
52:09
talking to me and maybe that's just because like
52:11
i'm a soft -spoken female or whatever but like
52:15
i do feel like they kind of switch on me after
52:18
and they're like they're interested and they're
52:21
they're happy that we connected and they're like
52:23
oh you're actually like a really nice person
52:25
and stuff like i get to you know be the the person
52:29
who it's like yeah really nice people have tattoos
52:32
too you know like i can i can prove to you that
52:35
we can connect and even if you don't necessarily
52:37
agree with my lifestyle but like we can still
52:40
have a nice connection in that moment and i've
52:43
had a lot of moments like that actually yeah
52:45
you're an ambassador you're an ambassador the
52:47
way i said that was you're an ambassador i mean
52:51
i try to be because i i you know it's like just
52:54
because i yeah i dabble in those kind of tough
52:57
tough guy uh rituals or whatever like i'm still
53:01
i'm yeah i'm i'm soft also i'm tough i'm both
53:05
two things can be true yeah it's cool it's cool
53:09
to have to be that person for people sometimes
53:11
um has becoming a tattoo artist you know have
53:15
have has that community been very welcoming what's
53:18
that what was that process like for you yeah
53:20
I mean as far as I know I know everybody kind
53:22
of has a different uh journey in the tattoo industry
53:26
and even as an apprentice but I feel so privileged
53:29
and lucky to just have had it so easy like not
53:34
easy in the sense that like learning was easy
53:36
I have had a lot of yeah learning is hard and
53:39
you know your ego hurts and all of that but in
53:43
terms of my people and the community that is
53:46
around me it's been phenomenal I think I'm approaching
53:51
it with a lot of respect also um you know like
53:55
you have to respect your elders in the space
53:58
and like the artists that have been around for
54:00
longer than you it's like i understand like i
54:03
take their you know i take their um their criticism
54:06
and their comments really seriously yeah um so
54:10
i think that that kind of has made it so people
54:13
see that i'm here to learn and i really am teachable
54:16
and i just want to respect the art you know and
54:20
so I haven't really had any bad experiences in
54:23
terms of that yeah which is great yeah if you
54:27
love what you do you're gonna just do it forever
54:29
so exactly that's just such a blessing yeah and
54:32
like I have you know kind of a a privilege in
54:36
a sense as well that I'm you know in a shop with
54:39
two other artists like two very amazing artists
54:43
Nats Tats is the other my other co -worker yeah
54:46
um she's also super chill super nice uh very
54:50
welcoming and I haven't really experienced any
54:53
other shops you know it's still kind of fresh
54:55
so I did some tattoo conventions but as far as
54:59
I'm seeing like everybody's been really nice
55:02
and I honestly feel like I have found my people
55:05
you know it's like my fellow creatures exciting
55:10
yeah um do you have any advice for anyone who's
55:14
thinking of becoming a tattoo artist or is thinking
55:16
of getting a tattoo maybe yeah I mean becoming
55:19
a tattoo artist um it's my advice is work on
55:23
your drawing as much as possible because that
55:26
is really what it's all about like it's about
55:30
the art develop a style draw as much as possible
55:33
and don't be in a hurry to get your hands on
55:37
the machine um I think a lot of people like I
55:42
said earlier they want to get their hands on
55:44
the machine they want to start tattooing because
55:45
it feels good and it's cool and all that stuff
55:49
but it's like if you want to be taken seriously
55:51
you have to be an artist you have to live the
55:54
artist's lifestyle and you have to be dedicated
55:56
whether you're holding a machine or not like
55:58
for me it's like Even if I wasn't holding a machine,
56:02
if I didn't have access to a tattoo machine,
56:04
I would still be drawing, you know, and you have
56:06
to really get real with yourself and be like,
56:08
would do I love drawing that much that if I don't
56:12
get the chance to even tattoo, am I still going
56:14
to draw? you know yeah so yeah i think don't
56:18
get into it because of clout or because it's
56:20
cool because that fades really fast once you
56:23
actually start um doing it because it's really
56:27
really hard it's seriously the hardest thing
56:29
i've ever learned but wow okay yeah yeah i mean
56:33
in terms of technique but also energetically
56:35
like i said there's so much more to it than just
56:38
getting ink in the skin so Yeah, be patient as
56:41
well and work on your art. And for people that
56:44
want to get a tattoo, I think my biggest thing,
56:47
especially for people that don't have a lot of
56:50
tattoos and let's just say, I don't know what
56:52
to get. And I tell them, choose an artist whose
56:55
style you like. So it's less about subject, but
56:57
more about like, do you like the way that they
56:59
draw? Because like I said, I have a lot of things
57:02
like on my body that I'm like, I just thought
57:04
it was cool at the time. But I love this artist's
57:08
style, and I'm never going to get tired of the
57:10
way that they draw. So you're never going to
57:12
get tired of it if you like the way that it's
57:14
drawn, if that makes sense. Yeah, that makes
57:17
total sense. I find for myself, when I got all
57:20
of mine, I just wanted them kind of to match.
57:22
So that Sailor Jerry style was big for me. exactly
57:27
and like I'm sure there's a lot of artists that
57:29
could draw a rose or a swallow for example yeah
57:32
but you want it done in that style so you look
57:35
for an artist that does that style and yeah you're
57:38
always gonna like it yeah do you have any rules
57:41
when it comes to tattooing any rules like some
57:43
guys are like no hands no neck no face until
57:46
like you're kind of covered up yeah yeah I think
57:49
there's like ethics to that for sure I mean if
57:52
I you know and I've been denied by artists before
57:55
as well yeah like before I was covered I've had
57:58
you know there's a lot of I wanted so many finger
58:01
tattoos when I was 17 or 18 or whatever and uh
58:05
the artist said come back when you have two sleeves
58:08
you know what I mean like yeah especially at
58:11
the time maybe less so now because I think it's
58:13
more accepted and they're more dainty and stuff
58:15
but yeah what I wanted they're like you need
58:18
to be more dedicated you know and like same with
58:21
the neck i definitely wouldn't do a neck unless
58:23
you have like a lot of visible tattoos i wouldn't
58:27
do a face at all personally right now with where
58:30
i'm at um but that's just that's just me um maybe
58:34
eventually but not right now no minors obviously
58:38
yeah no I find like that's such that's an important
58:42
kind of sort of rules to have I don't know like
58:44
I guess everybody kind of can just do whatever
58:46
they want nowadays but I I find it's it is strange
58:50
when you see somebody with no tattoos and just
58:52
a one hand or one neck yeah you're just like
58:55
it's it's a big big commitment right yeah exactly
58:58
and you want to make sure I don't know that they're
59:00
part of they want to live that lifestyle before
59:03
yeah they just saw something cool on the internet
59:06
you know yeah yeah i really yeah i'm more careful
59:09
with people that are younger for sure yeah i've
59:12
definitely been talked out of like the first
59:14
finger tattoo i got the person did not want to
59:17
do it and i refused to leave the shop and i would
59:21
be really stubborn and i could be very stubborn
59:24
yeah and eventually did it and okay for context
59:30
the tattoo says let go And he was like, oh, it's
59:33
going to fade. I'm like, dude, that's the whole
59:35
point of letting go. He is going to leave. And
59:38
I tried to explain that to him. Yeah. You just
59:43
wanted a meta tattoo. Yeah. He didn't get meta.
59:47
I mean, context is everything, right? For sure.
59:51
Um, Ko, do you want to talk about where people
59:54
can find you? Do you have a waitlist right now?
59:57
I think summer's pretty chill. Yeah, summer's
1:00:00
chill. I don't have a waitlist. I usually, um,
1:00:03
I book usually about a month. a month and a half
1:00:06
before. So I'm really, really chill with my bookings.
1:00:10
I just tell people to send me an email. It's
1:00:13
the easiest for my brain. I don't have a booking
1:00:15
form or anything like that. I don't do the books
1:00:18
closed, books open. I just, yeah, send me an
1:00:20
email and I'll get back to you. My email is coblue
1:00:24
.tattoo at gmail .com. It's on my Instagram bio
1:00:28
also. And we'll include that in our notes and
1:00:31
whatnot. Yeah, they can find me there. And then...
1:00:35
If you want to find me in real life, I'm usually
1:00:37
DJing or dancing at the club. So I do that too.
1:00:43
Do you have any DJ gigs coming up? Is that something
1:00:45
I can ask you? I know DJ episodes not for a while.
1:00:49
Yeah, no DJ episode. But I do have DJ stuff coming
1:00:53
up. I have a festival coming up. called Midnight
1:00:56
Forever on August 23rd. Okay, cool. Coming up
1:01:01
soon. That is about two hours outside of Ottawa.
1:01:05
I don't know exactly where. I think it's in Quebec
1:01:07
somewhere. You've got a month to figure that
1:01:10
out. Yeah, we'll plug it. We'll definitely plug
1:01:13
it. I think those were all my questions that
1:01:18
I can think of. Does anyone want to share a song
1:01:21
that they're adding to the playlist if they know
1:01:23
it now? I do. And this is my first time picking
1:01:26
a song based on the theme. Cool, let's go. And
1:01:30
it's not by the singer's tattoo, which I was
1:01:32
contemplating. Yeah, that would be good. The
1:01:36
song's Woman with the Tattoo Hands by Atmosphere.
1:01:40
Oh, I love Atmosphere so much. I actually play
1:01:43
Atmosphere a lot when I'm tattooing. It's like
1:01:47
my go -to. I, uh, I, my one, I think is something
1:01:52
we missed last time when we had Trevor on our
1:01:54
episode. I just want to promote the whole album
1:01:56
of, uh, the rambling river band. I was listening
1:01:59
to it while I was fishing last weekend and it
1:02:01
just went along with a theme so nicely. And,
1:02:04
uh, yeah, we'll plug one song for you guys to
1:02:07
sample and then just go follow their, uh, their
1:02:09
account on Spotify. Yeah. That's awesome. I can't
1:02:11
wait to hear that. That was seven episodes late.
1:02:14
Sorry. i'm gonna put i mean i'm such a music
1:02:21
lover obviously but i'm gonna put leave in parentheses
1:02:26
get out by jojo the reason is that i play a lot
1:02:33
of uh like early 2000s and 90s pop music r &b
1:02:39
when i'm tattooing because i like i like the
1:02:41
upbeatness of it and i like having kind of familiar
1:02:44
music for people And I'm a huge fan of that era
1:02:47
of music. And recently I was tattooing a client
1:02:51
that I tattoo quite often. And obviously that
1:02:54
song came on and she was like, I was wondering
1:02:57
on my way here if Ko is going to play Jojo today
1:03:00
because apparently I play her a lot. I love that.
1:03:05
Yeah. Very cool. Any other final remarks? Oh,
1:03:09
I got one little thing. What are you on Spotify
1:03:12
with your DJ mix, with your DJ stuff? I have
1:03:16
a Spotify, but I am going to get rid of it. Oh,
1:03:19
no. Yeah, I'm going to switch over. What's that?
1:03:23
A lot of artists are doing that now. I know.
1:03:26
I'm going to start boycotting Spotify, unfortunately.
1:03:30
But I have a SoundCloud for my DJ stuff. Okay.
1:03:34
Yeah, we want to plug one of those. That would
1:03:36
be awesome. You can share that. That's where
1:03:38
I put my mixes if you want to hear stuff. Love
1:03:41
to. I can send you some links. Yeah, that would
1:03:43
be great. it in the transcripts or wherever i
1:03:46
put these things that's a saturday when they
1:03:50
show notes show notes there we go yeah sweet
1:03:54
sweet well thanks co for coming yeah no that
1:03:58
was awesome i really loved your questions and
1:04:00
i love being able to nerd out about that stuff
1:04:02
and yeah it was a really good conversation it's
1:04:05
great we loved having you we should have you
1:04:06
on to talk about murals sometimes like yeah i
1:04:09
mean i definitely can for sure okay cool i got
1:04:12
to see music i got to see ko in the flesh that
1:04:16
sounds weird um situation there we go a few weeks
1:04:22
ago that was really yeah yeah for secret walls
1:04:25
it's fun it's so weird because i got like a glimpse
1:04:28
of you but i was such in the chaos of like painting
1:04:31
that i was like i think that was linea but i'm
1:04:33
not sure And then I just got back to it, but
1:04:36
I'm glad you were there. It was cool to witness
1:04:39
that process because for art battle, it's such
1:04:42
a unique experience because it's three versus
1:04:44
three. So it's collaborative and competitive.
1:04:47
It was cool. And like interesting to watch people
1:04:49
figure out what to do together in that moment.
1:04:52
I wanted to ask so many therapy questions, but
1:04:55
I obviously couldn't because they're in the zone.
1:04:59
And that was like a career highlight for me because
1:05:02
that secret walls is the organization. They're
1:05:05
big. They've been around forever. And I remember
1:05:08
being 1920, looking at them and being like, I
1:05:11
hope that's me one day. I want to like work with
1:05:14
them so bad. And then so bad. And then like,
1:05:17
I don't know. I like it. this year I was like,
1:05:20
I really just want to focus on tattooing. Maybe
1:05:22
I'll never paint a mural again. You know, I was
1:05:24
like very dramatic about it. And then they DM'd
1:05:28
me. They just came into my DMs and were like,
1:05:30
Hey, we're going to be in Ottawa. Do you want
1:05:32
to do this? And I was like, are you kidding me?
1:05:35
What do you mean? Like you would think from them,
1:05:38
it would be like a formal email or something,
1:05:40
but no, it was just, it was a DM. It was like,
1:05:42
come on out. Let's do this. Yeah. It was really
1:05:45
fun. Never start. Stop arting. No, never stop.
1:05:49
Doesn't matter what the medium is. Very cool.
1:05:52
Right on. All right. Thanks for coming. Of course.
1:05:56
Thank you both. I had a great time. And yeah,
1:05:59
so I'll get you this artwork because I assume
1:06:02
I'm doing the art invitations as well, right?
1:06:04
If you want to do one, you can do none of them.
1:06:06
You can just show pictures of your tattoos too,
1:06:08
because that's totally okay. Or you don't have
1:06:10
to share anything. whatever happens some stuff
1:06:14
yeah because i like the idea of our invitation
1:06:17
that's it's really cute um yeah so i'll send
1:06:20
that before monday and then whatever saturday
1:06:24
saturday yeah yeah i can do it this week i'll
1:06:29
do it this week and um yeah let me know if you
1:06:32
need anything else from me i probably will already
1:06:35
bye everyone thanks for listening thank you bye
1:06:39
John, are you going to do the consistent? Oh,
1:06:41
you want your forehead kisses or a stone cold
1:06:43
stoner? You can get them anytime. Bye. Bye.