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 each and every day. I feel passion and love for what I am creating. I am inspired by the people around me, others I see on the internet, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without any one else.

Becoming a tattoo artist is not an easy task for some. For the first time in my life something just clicked into place and I didn’t have to do too much or try to hard. It just felt like a miracle sent from heaven, and 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, got good grades and didn’t take “fun“ art 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, and so I didn’t. I drew for assignments or extra curricular events maybe 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 that burger place becoming Crew Trainer. I worked in the kitchen dropping fries, topping burgers and sending order 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 different mental abilities. Something had been building inside me, my drive to be creative, 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 that time hoping that could be me decorating cakes instead of doing my clerk job. 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 where I wanted to be. Soon enough that was what I ended up doing. I have some of the dessert art I made and will insert the photos I do have from that time here.

It’s what I did after having to taking a step back from tattooing.

When I went stepped back from tattooing, I stepped back into 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. That job made sense for me at the time. I was able to use my creativity and was able to work with my hands. There’s nothing more fulfilling by creating in real life. which 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 confident with were I was going. Life has a way of showing you exactly what you need to know, just at the right time. I fall into the deep-end and just find my way to where “I“ (CAPITAL I) am. Just enjoy your life and allow the world to work in it’s own way. I think this world would be greater if people lost focus of the world outside and look at their own world inside.