No longer a dream, I am a tattoo artist!

My questions and fears about what I wanted to be or what I wanted to do…out the door. I can’t believe I’ve found what I want to do. I feel passion and love for what I am creating. I feel inspired by the people around me, others I see on the internet, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you, and more importantly myself.

Becoming a tattoo artist is not an easy task. For the first time in my life, something just clicked into place and I didn’t have to do too much or try too hard. Now I have a career I could only have dreamed of 4 years ago, I’m not going to lie…some days are hard, but I don’t think I could ever give up on this. It’s just too fulfilling…

Throughout my childhood I had never thought that I wanted to be a tattoo artist. I had drawn and created some, but my visions sat elsewhere. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was I wanted to “be” as a child…I think I was more focused on other things. My American education system praised me for getting good grades so I studied, I got good grades and didn’t take “fun“ classes. I regret this sooooo much. America’s school system taught me that I would not succeed if I took classes that didn’t contribute to my resume for college, so I didn’t. I drew for assignments or extra curricular events 1 or 2 times within four years. I don’t know how I got through it. I am an artist. I have always and will always be an artist. I regret all the time I spent being something other than that.

“Sleeping Bulldog” painted with cheap watercolor on wood.

Since 14 yrs old, I was working regular jobs just to make money for fun. I wanted to work and so I got my work permit from the school and started with fast a food chain. Until the age of 16, I worked at a burger place becoming Crew Trainer. I worked in the kitchen dropping fries, topping burgers and sending orders out. After I worked at one of those pizza places **COUGH COUGH** I’m looking at you PAPA. Anyways… there I had pulled and shaped and spun pizzas working both inside the shop and as a delivery driver for some years. I went to college, dropped out of college. Then worked at a new place which was a day program for adults with mental disabilities. Something had been building inside me, my drive to be creative and my drive to create art. When I was working at the day program I would work on painting fish and dogs that I gifted to my family.

Work your way up!

Before I knew it, I was applying to be a bakery clerk at one of my local supermarkets. I knew I wanted a change and that I wanted to be a cake decorator so I worked at that bakery learning from the cake decorator at the time hoping I could be one of the ones decorating cakes. I was slicing bread, baking cookies, packaging sweets, doing dishes and closing at the night shift. Things went well and I worked my way to to cake decorator. Soon enough, that was what I ended up doing full time!

While decorating cakes I decided I was going to work to become a tattoo artist. I don’t know exactly what made me go this direction, but after researching and watching many videos of artists, looking up setting up videos about sanitation, technical stuff with machines, I knew that was the direction I wanted to head in. I went through a few names from “Aleecha’s Tattoos” to “Tattoo and Tarot” then to “Eagle Healing Art”. Below you can see my “Tattoo and Tarot“ branding as well as one of my flash sheets “Robot Love“ before I got into my apprenticeship this is what I was doing!

All roads to become a tattoo artist look different since there is no one way to become a tattoo artist. I found tattooing…and found out I could learn to become one on my own, so I found a machine and started getting to work. I practiced (on myself) on fake skin, and drew designs as if I was an artist, dreaming of what it would be like if I was a tattoo artist. Thankfully one of my friends at the time knew a tattoo artist and through that connection I was hired as an apprentice in 2021 based off my portfolio.

Me with my first flash sheet as an apprentice.

OFFICIAL FIRST TATTOO

On the spot I was asked to create a cyber-firebird and this is what I did! Solid lines, iffy packing. Not too bad for a first tattoo!

Above on the left was my apprentice graduation and the photo on the right was my one year anniversary of artist!

When I needed to take a step back from tattooing, I stepped back into cake decorating. My second time working as a decorator was for a small business cake and dessert boutique. I worked on many wedding cakes, birthday cakes and anniversary cakes. I was able to use my creativity and was able to work with my hands. There’s nothing more fulfilling than creating in real life, something that was once just inside… I appreciate that job for allowing me to see things differently. That I could work hard (also working a second job ) and that I was also confident with were I was going when I couldn’t tattoo for personal reasons. Life has a way of showing you exactly what you need to know, just at the right time when you need it. Just enjoy your life and allow the world to work in it’s own way.