Tattooing as Care and Wearing Stories on the Skin

Bianca Felicia Maria is a tattoo artist whose work blends technical skill, artistic vision, and storytelling. Besides her degree in Visual Communication and Design, she's been in the tattoo world since 2019. About her tattooing philosophy, she says, "Tattooing is more than ink and imagery; it's a way to connect, to heal, and to transform both myself and those who trust me with their stories." In this conversation, Bianca reflects on her early life, including how losing her father to suicide at 17 shaped her path as an artist. She remembers selling and trading her art pieces as a girl, as well as her first gigs photographing weddings as a teenager. We talk about her own first tattoo of a semicolon, and what that symbol means to her now as she continues her annual offering of free semicolon tattoos for those affected by suicide. She also goes into the thorough process of research, consultation, and design that goes into each tattoo, as well as the bond that is developed with each person in the tattoo chair. Support the project: patreon.com/TherapyfortheWorld Music credits: “Limit 70,” licensed by Kevin MacLeod “Meditation” by Jules Massenet, from the Library of Congress Jukebox

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
you always have to go into creating art with the idea and the, um, just the knowledge of knowing that you, you may not like what you do, you may fuck up, you may, uh, do a little oopsie and you have to know how to fix it.

(00:19):
Um, if it needs, if it's on a person, you know, not everybody's perfect.
Um, in a tattoo sense.
Like if you fuck up in a tattoo, the best, the best tattooers know how to fix their errors, you know? Um, so I think that's really important.
But in the sense of making art, you just have to go into making art.

(00:40):
The first step of making art is starting.
So you have to start with, uh, almost of a mentality of, I'm gonna finish this thing even if I ruin what I wanted to do. 8 00:01:01,688.447883484 --> 00:01:10,958.447883484 Welcome to Therapy for the World, an interview series exploring the personal stories of people working across the spectrum of self-care and world care. 9 00:01:11,693.447883484 --> 00:01:17,633.447883484 I am Dan Sikorsky, a writing teacher and therapist, and the other voice you hear is Bianca, Felicia. 10 00:01:17,693.447883484 --> 00:01:25,223.447883484 Maria Bianca is a tattoo artist whose work blends technical skill, artistic vision, and storytelling. 11 00:01:25,943.447883484 --> 00:01:34,313.447883484 Besides her degree in visual communication and design, she's been in the tattoo world since 2019 about her tattooing philosophy. 12 00:01:34,373.447883484 --> 00:01:38,63.447883484 She says tattooing is more than ink and imagery. 13 00:01:38,413.447883484 --> 00:01:45,138.44788348 It's a way to connect, to heal, and to transform both myself and those who trust me with their stories. 14 00:01:46,478.44788348 --> 00:01:56,138.44788348 In this conversation, Bianca reflects on her early life, including how losing her father to suicide at 17 shaped her path as an artist. 15 00:01:56,708.44788348 --> 00:02:04,538.44788348 She remembers selling and trading her art pieces as a girl, as well as her first gigs, photographing weddings as a teenager. 16 00:02:05,138.44788348 --> 00:02:16,388.44788348 We talk about her own first tattoo of a semicolon and what that symbol means to her now as she continues her annual offering of free semi tattoos for suicide awareness. 17 00:02:17,18.44788348 --> 00:02:27,638.44788348 She also goes into the thorough process of research, consultation, and design that goes into each tattoo as well as the bond that is developed with each person in the tattoo chair. 18 00:02:28,418.44788348 --> 00:02:33,908.44788348 We recorded this on Sunday, August 31st, 2025 at four in the afternoon. 19 00:02:34,358.44788348 --> 00:02:35,558.44788348 Here's our conversation. 20 00:02:46,732.44788348 --> 00:03:01,692.44788348 I'd love to start off by asking you about your early life and if there's anything there in those earliest years that you can point to important for shaping the person you've become. 21 00:03:04,197.44788348 --> 00:03:18,177.44788348 Uh, well, I would like to talk about my dad and, um, uh, I was 17 when he had passed. 22 00:03:18,507.44788348 --> 00:03:20,577.44788348 I know that's not like super early, but that was. 23 00:03:21,102.44788348 --> 00:03:27,882.44788348 Probably the most like, uh, defying part of my life. 24 00:03:28,632.44788348 --> 00:03:31,872.44788348 Uh, I lost my father to suicide. 25 00:03:32,592.44788348 --> 00:03:39,462.44788348 Um, and it, I, it rocked my world. 26 00:03:39,852.44788348 --> 00:03:46,92.44788348 Um, I, I'm sorry, I don't really talk about it often. 27 00:03:46,662.44788348 --> 00:03:47,202.44788348 Um. 28 00:03:47,982.44788348 --> 00:03:49,152.44788348 Take all the time you need. 29 00:03:49,407.44788348 --> 00:03:49,737.44788348 thank you. 30 00:03:49,812.44788348 --> 00:04:00,593.11365367 way to I really haven't talked about how this has shaped my life, like verbally talked about it. 31 00:04:00,623.11365367 --> 00:04:05,63.11365367 Um, I've only ever written stories about it or like typed it out. 32 00:04:05,693.11365367 --> 00:04:19,71.38856434 I've never really like talked about it I don't really remember a lot of growing up, um, because of this happening, which kind of sucks. 33 00:04:20,515.69906051 --> 00:04:42,975.69906051 I think my earliest memory of being an artist, uh, was when I was living in my dad's house on Mayfield Road and in the basement there was this desk and I painted it neon, green and black. 34 00:04:43,485.69906051 --> 00:04:49,545.69906051 And I remember taking, there was this book that I had, it was of. 35 00:04:50,565.69906051 --> 00:05:09,615.69906051 I believe it was a precious moments religious bible, like a child childlike bible that had, um, images of precious moments and I would trace them and I would sell them to my dad as like pieces of art. 36 00:05:10,35.69906051 --> 00:05:16,905.69906051 And I remember doing that a lot as a kid and really just making bracelets. 37 00:05:17,730.69906051 --> 00:05:29,400.69906051 And, um, yeah, making bracelets was one of those things, like the string bracelets that you tie and the camp, um, key chains. 38 00:05:29,790.69906051 --> 00:05:32,400.69906051 Those were a lot of fun to make too when I was a little kid. 39 00:05:32,970.69906051 --> 00:05:36,450.69906051 Um, yeah, that was, those are like my earliest memories of. 40 00:05:38,430.69906051 --> 00:05:42,720.69906051 Starting being an artist, there was really no rules to anything. 41 00:05:42,840.69906051 --> 00:05:57,805.69906051 Like when I painted my desk Neon Green and Jet Black, like I could just do what I wanted to do and I was able to make like a little art studio in the basement and I had posters of like Justin Bieber hanging up and like the Jonas Brothers and. 42 00:05:59,10.69906051 --> 00:06:00,480.69906051 That was, that was awesome. 43 00:06:00,480.69906051 --> 00:06:06,750.69906051 Like I was able to have a creative space for myself to be able to do the things that I want that didn't, it didn't matter. 44 00:06:06,750.69906051 --> 00:06:09,180.69906051 I could just create, it didn't have to look good. 45 00:06:09,180.69906051 --> 00:06:11,850.69906051 It could just be a thing. 46 00:06:12,660.69906051 --> 00:06:19,950.69906051 Um, and I feel like that was the start of where I, uh, found my creative. 47 00:06:20,790.69906051 --> 00:06:21,390.69906051 Outlet. 48 00:06:21,540.69906051 --> 00:06:39,300.69906051 Um, and that eventually transformed, uh, when we moved, uh, we ended up moving in with my grandparents, uh, when I was probably, I wanna say eight years old, maybe younger. 49 00:06:39,810.69906051 --> 00:06:44,850.69906051 And, uh, my brother had, uh, a flip phone. 50 00:06:45,930.69906051 --> 00:06:55,620.69906051 And, um, my brother would, my brother and I would be playing in the garage and we'd go around the garage at my grandparents' house and take pictures off of the flip phone. 51 00:06:56,70.69906051 --> 00:07:00,240.69906051 And, uh, I thought it was really cool that you could like, take pictures on a phone. 52 00:07:00,750.69906051 --> 00:07:06,210.69906051 Um, and then that ended up developing into, I became a photographer. 53 00:07:07,920.69906051 --> 00:07:13,980.69906051 And then, uh, when I was in eighth grade, I ended up getting my first paid wedding, which was awesome. 54 00:07:14,40.69906051 --> 00:07:21,180.69906051 Like, who on earth would allow an eighth grader to photograph a wedding? Like, that's such an important moment, an important day. 55 00:07:21,180.69906051 --> 00:07:25,20.69906051 Like that was a lot of pressure, but I still did it. 56 00:07:25,170.69906051 --> 00:07:31,860.69906051 Um, I think all of those things like really started the artist in me. 57 00:07:31,860.69906051 --> 00:07:35,340.69906051 Like I, I was able to, I. 58 00:07:36,570.69906051 --> 00:07:51,60.69906051 Find joy and happiness in creating and, uh, photographing moments and even making bracelets and drawing the precious moments, tracing the precious moments. 59 00:07:51,60.69906051 --> 00:08:02,250.69906051 'cause now, uh, fast forward in my life, it, it's still, all of those things are still present, um, now in my career, uh, tattooing. 60 00:08:03,210.69906051 --> 00:08:05,760.69906051 I still take pictures of my tattoos. 61 00:08:06,390.69906051 --> 00:08:16,260.69906051 Um, I make tattoos, I draw, I trace, I, um, take things from people's brains and I make it into something. 62 00:08:16,380.69906051 --> 00:08:24,240.69906051 And I feel like, uh, all those things that I did when I was a kid have really made me. 63 00:08:25,155.69906051 --> 00:08:29,595.69906051 Become, or I, I guess I've just always been an artist. 64 00:08:30,255.69906051 --> 00:08:47,175.69906051 I remember asking for, um, like those, those travel briefcases that had all of the crayons and all the markers and things like that for Christmas and like big drawing pads, like those were always my favorite kind of gifts to get when I was a little kid. 65 00:08:47,565.69906051 --> 00:08:53,800.69906051 Um, anything that I was able to like, express myself with was, you know, something that I felt. 66 00:08:54,855.69906051 --> 00:08:55,395.69906051 I need it. 67 00:08:55,395.69906051 --> 00:08:57,795.69906051 I wanted it, I wanted to scribble on paper. 68 00:08:57,795.69906051 --> 00:08:58,965.69906051 I wanted to ruin things. 69 00:08:58,965.69906051 --> 00:09:07,545.69906051 You know, I would, my brother and I would actually build, um, houses for our cats out of just like cardboard boxes. 70 00:09:07,545.69906051 --> 00:09:10,815.69906051 And it was Lola's Palace or Lucky's Home. 71 00:09:10,815.69906051 --> 00:09:14,955.69906051 You know, like I, I, I feel like I've always been an artist. 72 00:09:15,255.69906051 --> 00:09:19,995.69906051 Even when I was little, I was always, I always had a c creative endeavor. 73 00:09:21,845.69906051 --> 00:09:29,465.69906051 It sounds like a constant in all those projects, starting with your, with those that went on on your neon green desk, Yeah. 74 00:09:29,765.69906051 --> 00:09:32,705.69906051 was that you would give them away. 75 00:09:32,825.69906051 --> 00:09:36,605.69906051 It sounded like you said you traded them or you sold them. 76 00:09:37,345.69906051 --> 00:09:37,635.69906051 Yeah. 77 00:09:38,175.69906051 --> 00:09:47,865.69906051 I, I, I would give, I would give the bracelets away, but I, I definitely always had like an entrepreneurial, uh, bone in my body. 78 00:09:47,865.69906051 --> 00:09:51,465.69906051 So any way that I could figure out how to make money, I would do it. 79 00:09:52,65.69906051 --> 00:09:55,275.69906051 Um, so I would just sell my art. 80 00:09:55,805.69906051 --> 00:09:57,935.69906051 To my dad or to my friends. 81 00:09:57,935.69906051 --> 00:10:00,815.69906051 Like that's all I, all I've always wanted to do. 82 00:10:01,445.69906051 --> 00:10:04,745.69906051 Um, especially with like wedding photography or photography in general. 83 00:10:04,745.69906051 --> 00:10:23,495.69906051 Like, I always thought that was like a really creative outlet for me to be able to, uh, show like emotion and, um, honestly just like what I was thinking about, but not with like, saying it more like taking a picture. 84 00:10:24,270.69906051 --> 00:10:26,70.69906051 Of somebody doing something. 85 00:10:27,540.69906051 --> 00:11:01,800.69906051 Does that make sense? You know, like I could, I could put what I'm feeling thinking in here into a photo and then, and then that be that, does that I, does that make any sense? It does, and the part that I'm sort of sticking with is that you wouldn't keep it, you know, it seems like none of your art besides like pictures you might take of tattoos or memories of the bracelets, they all kind of remain later with the, with the client or with the friend or whoever, whoever it might be. 86 00:11:03,0.69906051 --> 00:11:04,200.69906051 you know, wedding pictures are. 87 00:11:05,370.69906051 --> 00:11:09,205.69906051 Never just the photographers, they become the families Mm-hmm. 88 00:11:09,720.69906051 --> 00:11:10,590.69906051 tattoos. 89 00:11:11,135.69906051 --> 00:11:15,285.69906051 Yeah, you just, you might not see, I'll never see it again. 90 00:11:15,515.69906051 --> 00:11:26,40.69906051 Yeah, and honestly that's kind of like, I'm okay with that because it, it, I feel like it's meant for that person. 91 00:11:26,550.69906051 --> 00:11:33,125.69906051 I'm just here to provide a service and to create the thing, but at the end of the day. 92 00:11:34,50.69906051 --> 00:11:35,460.69906051 Nobody belongs to me. 93 00:11:35,760.69906051 --> 00:11:43,560.69906051 I belong to me, and that's why I choose to decorate myself with what I want, but I give everybody what they want. 94 00:11:43,890.69906051 --> 00:11:48,0.69906051 Does that, does that, does that make sense? Absolutely. 95 00:11:48,750.69906051 --> 00:11:53,580.69906051 I want to take a step back, um, uh, while staying on the same, on the same path. 96 00:11:54,720.69906051 --> 00:12:09,0.69906051 Take a step back and, and, you know, remember when you choose, when you chose to, to dedicate yourself to tattoos, you had started studying pretty conventionally, you know, getting a four year degree and. 97 00:12:10,380.69906051 --> 00:12:15,750.69906051 Sort of, there was something in you that kept saying, uh, uh, I wanna do, I wanna do something, I wanna do, do tattoos. 98 00:12:16,170.69906051 --> 00:12:36,45.69906051 What, what were you studying? did this urge to, to create tattoos sort of overpower you? Well, in the beginning of everything, I had had originally started going to college for nonprofit administrations, and my whole goal was. 99 00:12:36,275.69906051 --> 00:12:39,905.69906051 To start a nonprofit for families who had been affected by suicide. 100 00:12:39,905.69906051 --> 00:12:45,605.69906051 And that was something that was really important that I were to figure out how I could do that. 101 00:12:46,55.69906051 --> 00:13:00,275.69906051 But while I was in school, I had, um, I was working for a nonprofit and while that was finding and great, it really wasn't fulfilling me in a way where. 102 00:13:00,705.69906051 --> 00:13:08,265.69906051 Um, I didn't feel like I was doing anything or earning anything. 103 00:13:08,355.69906051 --> 00:13:14,235.69906051 Um, I really felt like I was just going around asking people for money and then giving it to the nonprofit. 104 00:13:14,295.69906051 --> 00:13:18,165.69906051 I like, there was no, there was no soul in it. 105 00:13:18,825.69906051 --> 00:13:20,535.69906051 Um, so. 106 00:13:21,705.69906051 --> 00:13:26,535.69906051 After I had realized that, that, that this is not gonna work out for me. 107 00:13:26,535.69906051 --> 00:13:34,125.69906051 I ended up transferring schools, changing, um, programs, and I ended up getting a graphic design degree. 108 00:13:34,125.69906051 --> 00:13:38,145.69906051 So it's technically, um, a communications degree through Ken State. 109 00:13:38,625.69906051 --> 00:13:42,675.69906051 Um, but the whole time I did that, I was already working in my apprenticeship. 110 00:13:42,795.69906051 --> 00:13:48,650.69906051 Um, I think from like, really by the time that I, uh. 111 00:13:50,895.69906051 --> 00:13:54,75.69906051 Got accepted into the new college. 112 00:13:54,75.69906051 --> 00:14:07,830.69906051 So Kent, um, I had just gotten my apprenticeship, so I had to at least dedicate some time into my apprenticeship before I was even allowed to start tattooing. 113 00:14:08,175.69906051 --> 00:14:09,675.69906051 So I always like had this. 114 00:14:10,950.69906051 --> 00:14:17,70.69906051 Idea in the back of my head that I was gonna tattoo despite having to get a degree in something. 115 00:14:17,70.69906051 --> 00:14:19,770.69906051 I just knew that my degree, I wasn't gonna use my degree. 116 00:14:20,340.69906051 --> 00:14:24,450.69906051 Um, but I, I, uh, finished out my degree. 117 00:14:24,810.69906051 --> 00:14:29,940.69906051 I like to say that I did it for my mom, but I really did it for myself to prove that I could do it. 118 00:14:31,950.69906051 --> 00:14:32,460.69906051 But yeah. 119 00:14:33,85.69906051 --> 00:14:36,865.69906051 Why tattooing? Why did, where did that come from? That urge. 120 00:14:39,90.69906051 --> 00:14:42,0.69906051 When I was, this is so funny. 121 00:14:42,420.69906051 --> 00:15:00,510.69906051 When I was a little kid, I remember being in, oh my gosh, when I was a little kid, I remember being in the grocery cart with my mom and we were shopping around the store and we walked past. 122 00:15:01,875.69906051 --> 00:15:04,185.69906051 I don't even wanna say that they were heavily tattooed. 123 00:15:04,185.69906051 --> 00:15:05,895.69906051 They just had tattoos. 124 00:15:06,375.69906051 --> 00:15:15,495.69906051 Um, some people that had tattoos and uh, she would look at me and put her finger in my face and say, don't you ever think about it. 125 00:15:15,975.69906051 --> 00:15:23,175.69906051 And from that moment forward, I just thought about it every day and I was like, yeah, it's, that's gonna, okay. 126 00:15:23,175.69906051 --> 00:15:24,315.69906051 That's gonna happen. 127 00:15:24,645.69906051 --> 00:15:25,515.69906051 That'll be me. 128 00:15:25,770.69906051 --> 00:15:26,820.69906051 I know that's gonna be me. 129 00:15:26,820.69906051 --> 00:15:27,810.69906051 I wanna be that. 130 00:15:27,810.69906051 --> 00:15:29,70.69906051 I think that's cool. 131 00:15:29,370.69906051 --> 00:15:35,520.69906051 Um, because those people, in my opinion, were fully expressing themselves to their fullest potential. 132 00:15:35,520.69906051 --> 00:15:39,750.69906051 Like that's like a hundred percent commitment to yourself. 133 00:15:39,930.69906051 --> 00:15:46,715.69906051 Once you put something on your body, you are now reclaiming or claiming your own identity. 134 00:15:48,960.69906051 --> 00:15:54,660.69906051 Um, so that's why tattooing, because my mom told me no when I was little. 135 00:15:55,935.69906051 --> 00:15:57,435.69906051 I just always thought about it. 136 00:15:57,975.69906051 --> 00:15:58,935.69906051 I think it's beautiful. 137 00:15:58,935.69906051 --> 00:16:00,885.69906051 I think people that wear tattoos are beautiful. 138 00:16:00,885.69906051 --> 00:16:07,515.69906051 I think, um, being able to decorate yourself is something like, it's really powerful. 139 00:16:07,725.69906051 --> 00:16:13,995.69906051 And wearing really, honestly, any tattoo is, is a very powerful thing. 140 00:16:14,25.69906051 --> 00:16:24,675.69906051 'cause it could, it could mean a, it could mean something and it, it, or it couldn't, or it doesn't have to, you know, like you could just think it's cool, you know? It's, it's, it's a form of expression. 141 00:16:26,280.69906051 --> 00:16:31,860.69906051 Your desire to be heavily tattooed came earlier in time than your first tattoo, Yeah. 142 00:16:32,455.69906051 --> 00:16:35,995.69906051 and you chose as your first tattoo a semicolon. 143 00:16:37,245.69906051 --> 00:16:46,275.6990605 Where did that idea come from for you? Was it part of a, of a culture of semicolons, or how did you decide, okay, this is gonna be here? I'm, I'm starting off with this. 144 00:16:47,160.6990605 --> 00:16:47,580.6990605 Yeah. 145 00:16:48,330.6990605 --> 00:16:53,790.6990605 So, um, when I lost my dad, that was really difficult for me. 146 00:16:54,270.6990605 --> 00:16:54,750.6990605 Um. 147 00:16:56,970.6990605 --> 00:17:16,410.6990605 And it was right before my 18th birthday that he had passed, so I was like, I was feeling down and the only thing that I could think about doing for my birthday was going to get a tattoo for my dad and I. 148 00:17:23,85.6990605 --> 00:17:25,725.6990605 I decided to get, oh my goodness. 149 00:17:30,615.6990605 --> 00:17:48,810.6990605 I decided to get a semicolon tattoo as a promise to myself and to my dad and to my family that I wouldn't give up on myself and that. 150 00:17:50,910.6990605 --> 00:18:04,950.6990605 I would choose to help myself when things got rough or if I felt not okay, is that I would just seek help. 151 00:18:10,425.6990605 --> 00:18:18,270.6990605 But I knew for myself that it was really important that I got a semicolon as my first tattoo because it means that your story isn't over yet. 152 00:18:19,260.6990605 --> 00:18:30,150.6990605 And I was 17 when my dad had passed, and I felt like my whole world was over, but my, my world didn't even really start at that point. 153 00:18:30,150.6990605 --> 00:18:31,230.6990605 Like I was so young. 154 00:18:32,580.6990605 --> 00:18:34,560.6990605 So I just knew that I didn't wanna give up. 155 00:18:34,800.6990605 --> 00:18:37,320.6990605 So it was my promise that I wouldn't. 156 00:18:38,940.6990605 --> 00:18:44,205.6990605 What was your second tattoo? I actually got two in one day, so it was the same day. 157 00:18:44,715.6990605 --> 00:18:48,525.6990605 Um, I also got on my rib cage, it says, you are my dolly. 158 00:18:48,645.6990605 --> 00:18:54,675.6990605 And that was what my dad would call me and it has his little, like smiley face with a mustache that he drew. 159 00:18:55,455.6990605 --> 00:18:58,635.6990605 But yeah, my whole family calls me Dolly. 160 00:19:00,435.6990605 --> 00:19:03,75.6990605 Um, it's just a cute endearing thing that they would say to me. 161 00:19:03,75.6990605 --> 00:19:04,995.6990605 But my dad was the one that really started it. 162 00:19:06,135.6990605 --> 00:19:07,515.6990605 But yeah, that, that was it. 163 00:19:07,515.6990605 --> 00:19:08,25.6990605 And then. 164 00:19:08,415.6990605 --> 00:19:10,335.6990605 And then I just, I went crazy. 165 00:19:12,315.6990605 --> 00:19:19,245.6990605 How do you decide what, what tattoos to go crazy with? Well, I'm sure we'll talk about others that you tattoo, but I'm curious about you and your body as Canvas. 166 00:19:19,305.6990605 --> 00:19:23,445.6990605 Uh, first, you know, how do you decide what you, what you put on your body, how you express yourself. 167 00:19:23,955.6990605 --> 00:19:30,165.6990605 Well now since I'm so heavily tattooed, I just get what fits and what looks cool. 168 00:19:30,645.6990605 --> 00:19:36,285.6990605 Um, but before when I like first started getting tattooed, I would get tattoos that had meaning to me. 169 00:19:36,615.6990605 --> 00:19:42,45.6990605 I have a tattoo on my hip, um, that is a woman. 170 00:19:42,135.6990605 --> 00:19:42,495.6990605 Um. 171 00:19:43,185.6990605 --> 00:19:45,135.6990605 Taking a mask off of her face. 172 00:19:45,855.6990605 --> 00:19:47,115.6990605 I got that tattoo. 173 00:19:47,595.6990605 --> 00:19:50,625.6990605 Um, I, I wanna say I was also 18 when I got it. 174 00:19:51,525.6990605 --> 00:19:59,715.6990605 Uh, that was right around the time that I received a scholarship from a, uh, nonprofit called Quell. 175 00:20:00,285.6990605 --> 00:20:09,345.6990605 And the Quell Foundation is a nonprofit that helps families that have been affected by suicide or, or survivors of suicide rather. 176 00:20:10,665.6990605 --> 00:20:12,915.6990605 And they helped me with college stuff. 177 00:20:12,975.6990605 --> 00:20:24,375.6990605 So, uh, one of the things that they were talking about in their nonprofit is that we want to lift the mask of the stigma that surrounds mental health. 178 00:20:24,765.6990605 --> 00:20:30,705.6990605 So I got, um, a lady taking her mask off for that reason. 179 00:20:31,275.6990605 --> 00:20:35,595.6990605 Um, and then down the road I have my grandparents. 180 00:20:36,405.6990605 --> 00:20:37,395.6990605 Tattooed on me. 181 00:20:37,755.6990605 --> 00:20:38,565.6990605 It was my grandpa. 182 00:20:38,595.6990605 --> 00:20:39,495.6990605 Sorry, it's upside down. 183 00:20:41,145.6990605 --> 00:20:51,195.6990605 But my grandparents are, were, uh, such, such an amazing part of growing up and having them was just a blessing. 184 00:20:51,195.6990605 --> 00:20:55,485.6990605 I'm so thankful that I had them, um, when I did have them. 185 00:20:56,745.6990605 --> 00:21:00,345.6990605 Um, but now it's really just what looks cool and what fits. 186 00:21:00,525.6990605 --> 00:21:02,895.6990605 Uh, I like things that look cool. 187 00:21:02,925.6990605 --> 00:21:15,570.6990605 Dragons are cool, you know? Um, I have a lot of ladies tattooed on me, so I, I typically pick a lady, but it kind of just depends on what I'm feeling. 188 00:21:15,660.6990605 --> 00:21:17,550.6990605 I'm about to get my fingers tattooed. 189 00:21:18,420.6990605 --> 00:21:27,210.6990605 I don't know what they're gonna look like, um, but I know that they will be fully covered and black. 190 00:21:29,65.6990605 --> 00:21:34,260.6990605 And why do you know that you want to get your finger tattoo before you know what you want to put on them? Um. 191 00:21:36,675.6990605 --> 00:21:38,175.6990605 That's a really good question. 192 00:21:41,745.6990605 --> 00:21:42,945.6990605 I see. 193 00:21:42,945.6990605 --> 00:21:59,60.6990605 Getting my hands tattooed as, um, when I, when I got my palms done, it, that was my way of, um, that was my way of like. 194 00:21:59,850.6990605 --> 00:22:07,440.6990605 Knowing that I'm gonna continue to create and learn and, uh, give my time to tattooing all the time that I have. 195 00:22:08,10.6990605 --> 00:22:10,595.6990605 Um, your palms have a spiral on yes. 196 00:22:10,890.6990605 --> 00:22:11,670.6990605 Yes. 197 00:22:12,90.6990605 --> 00:22:18,30.6990605 Um, so for my fingers, I want to wear the tattoo as armor. 198 00:22:18,870.6990605 --> 00:22:19,80.6990605 Um. 199 00:22:19,890.6990605 --> 00:22:24,0.6990605 I want my, my hands are what I use to create. 200 00:22:24,0.6990605 --> 00:22:26,250.6990605 So I want my hands to be strong. 201 00:22:26,250.6990605 --> 00:22:27,210.6990605 I want them to be bold. 202 00:22:27,210.6990605 --> 00:22:29,220.6990605 I want them to look tough. 203 00:22:29,550.6990605 --> 00:22:33,630.6990605 I want people to see that and be like, wow, she is, she's in it. 204 00:22:33,630.6990605 --> 00:22:34,800.6990605 She, she wants this. 205 00:22:34,800.6990605 --> 00:22:38,370.6990605 Like this is, this is something that she cares about. 206 00:22:38,730.6990605 --> 00:22:47,160.6990605 Um, I think it's a really bold statement to wear something so visible. 207 00:22:48,825.6990605 --> 00:22:50,655.6990605 Um, it's almost like a protector. 208 00:22:52,785.6990605 --> 00:23:13,215.6990605 Um, I would say that I, I know that, uh, I wanna get them because I know that they will protect me, protect me in a way that like, I don't wanna say like protect me from people, but just protect me from things. 209 00:23:14,325.6990605 --> 00:23:14,745.6990605 Uh. 210 00:23:15,585.6990605 --> 00:23:25,755.6990605 Maybe, maybe, maybe protect me from people, maybe keep people away that don't really, you know, jive with it, and that's okay. 211 00:23:26,625.6990605 --> 00:23:28,275.6990605 Armor's a really powerful word. 212 00:23:28,395.6990605 --> 00:23:29,50.6990605 I Okay. 213 00:23:29,85.6990605 --> 00:23:32,410.6990605 I understand you're thinking a lot more Mm-hmm. 214 00:23:32,415.6990605 --> 00:23:32,895.6990605 I hear that. 215 00:23:32,955.6990605 --> 00:23:35,880.6990605 When I hear that word armor protection Mm-hmm. 216 00:23:36,405.6990605 --> 00:23:36,975.6990605 you have said that. 217 00:23:38,505.6990605 --> 00:23:41,565.6990605 Get tattoos and tattooing saved your life. 218 00:23:42,80.6990605 --> 00:23:42,300.6990605 Yes. 219 00:23:42,375.6990605 --> 00:23:50,745.6990605 that's, that's, that's quoted, I, it's a really powerful way of expressing the influence that tattooing has had on you. 220 00:23:51,15.6990605 --> 00:23:58,560.6990605 Uh, how do you understand that phrase? do you say that it's saved your life? It. 221 00:24:00,615.6990605 --> 00:24:08,355.6990605 Tattooing saved my life because I, I, I wouldn't be here without it. 222 00:24:08,355.6990605 --> 00:24:12,405.6990605 I was able to find myself by getting heavily tattooed. 223 00:24:12,945.6990605 --> 00:24:19,455.6990605 I feel like I am my most confident self because I am so heavily tattooed. 224 00:24:19,455.6990605 --> 00:24:23,325.6990605 I, I want people to know how heavily tattooed I am. 225 00:24:23,325.6990605 --> 00:24:25,755.6990605 Like I, I, I want people to know how cool I am. 226 00:24:27,495.6990605 --> 00:24:28,5.6990605 Um. 227 00:24:28,605.6990605 --> 00:24:45,165.6990605 But yeah, it, it truly saved my life, not just because I was getting tattooed, but all of the people that it's brought me, tattooing has given me everything in my life and more, um, it's given me my relationship. 228 00:24:45,255.6990605 --> 00:24:48,255.6990605 It's given me the house I live in. 229 00:24:48,255.6990605 --> 00:24:53,595.6990605 It's given me literally everything, like everything that I could have asked for the car I drive. 230 00:24:54,165.6990605 --> 00:24:56,385.6990605 My skin, the place I work. 231 00:24:56,415.6990605 --> 00:25:01,365.6990605 Like without it, I, I really don't know where I would be. 232 00:25:01,365.6990605 --> 00:25:04,755.6990605 I've never pictured myself doing anything else. 233 00:25:05,235.6990605 --> 00:25:16,5.6990605 When I was a little kid, my mom, uh, would encourage me to become a masseuse or a doctor or just something, a therapist even. 234 00:25:16,485.6990605 --> 00:25:19,515.6990605 Um, but none of those things like felt like they were me. 235 00:25:20,235.6990605 --> 00:25:20,715.6990605 Um, but. 236 00:25:22,110.6990605 --> 00:25:29,760.6990605 Tattooing is, and I feel like I've been able to figure out who I am as a person. 237 00:25:30,390.6990605 --> 00:25:37,50.6990605 Um, and that helps me like care for other people because I've been able to take care of myself in this way. 238 00:25:38,265.6990605 --> 00:25:40,155.6990605 That's the word I wanted to talk about now. 239 00:25:40,345.6990605 --> 00:25:40,635.6990605 Yeah. 240 00:25:40,815.6990605 --> 00:25:45,465.6990605 air, you've, you've told me that, that tattooing is, is a form of caring. 241 00:25:45,945.6990605 --> 00:25:50,955.6990605 Um, you know, there was once a time where this, the series was actually gonna be called People Who Care. 242 00:25:52,90.6990605 --> 00:25:52,510.6990605 Oh yeah. 243 00:25:52,905.6990605 --> 00:25:56,715.6990605 which I think is, um, in opposition to people who don't care. 244 00:25:59,685.6990605 --> 00:26:04,785.6990605 It's a possible name for something in the future, but it, but I, in any case, the word care is really important. 245 00:26:05,145.6990605 --> 00:26:14,55.6990605 Um, people who give a damn is another way of saying that, right? Not just to who, who protect and who heal, but also who, who, who things matter to. 246 00:26:14,925.6990605 --> 00:26:17,745.6990605 Instead of existing in a, in a certain indifference. 247 00:26:18,75.6990605 --> 00:26:24,105.6990605 Um, I'd love to talk about how you see tattooing as care for the people you work with. 248 00:26:24,105.6990605 --> 00:26:26,910.6990605 I understand how it's been that for you, um, Mm-hmm. 249 00:26:26,955.6990605 --> 00:26:28,200.6990605 you seem to extend that also to others. 250 00:26:29,580.6990605 --> 00:26:30,30.6990605 Absolutely. 251 00:26:30,570.6990605 --> 00:26:33,420.6990605 Um, well, I mean, it, it really. 252 00:26:34,35.6990605 --> 00:26:44,655.6990605 Where do I even start with that? Every client that sits in my chair, I really try my best to care about what they're getting tattooed. 253 00:26:44,655.6990605 --> 00:26:47,505.6990605 I try to care about what's going on in their lives. 254 00:26:47,505.6990605 --> 00:26:48,525.6990605 I try to care. 255 00:26:49,365.6990605 --> 00:26:50,415.6990605 I'm sorry about the plane. 256 00:26:51,75.6990605 --> 00:26:51,795.6990605 The doors are open. 257 00:26:52,335.6990605 --> 00:26:53,655.6990605 It's a nice, beautiful day here. 258 00:26:56,655.6990605 --> 00:27:03,285.6990605 Um, I, I feel. 259 00:27:07,25.6990605 --> 00:27:19,815.6990605 Like, I put a lot of effort into the person that I'm working with, um, trying to give them obviously the best tattoo that I, I physically can. 260 00:27:19,905.6990605 --> 00:27:30,285.6990605 Um, and just being a friend at that too, because not everybody gets tattooed to look like me or. 261 00:27:31,125.6990605 --> 00:27:33,465.6990605 You know, to be heavily tattooed. 262 00:27:33,555.6990605 --> 00:27:59,25.6990605 Um, some people get tattooed to have a friend or to talk about what they're feeling inside, or, um, you know, some people just really do it for like a therapy, an emotional therapy session, you know, because people get tattooed for all different. 263 00:27:59,415.6990605 --> 00:28:02,235.6990605 Types of all different kinds of reasons. 264 00:28:02,265.6990605 --> 00:28:12,435.6990605 Like some people, there are people, people that will get tattooed because they had a miscarriage or they're celebrating a birthday or somebody had just passed away or. 265 00:28:13,740.6990605 --> 00:28:18,930.6990605 Um, their mom's not doing well, so everybody in the family's getting a tattoo together, like to match. 266 00:28:19,410.6990605 --> 00:28:36,85.6990605 It kind of just depends on the day and the person and, um, I think it's really important to care about people in that way because it's more than just putting a permanent image on somebody, because now since it is permanent, I am now with them for the rest of their lives. 267 00:28:37,20.6990605 --> 00:28:42,840.6990605 And I think it's really important that there is care involved it through the whole process. 268 00:28:42,930.6990605 --> 00:28:58,410.6990605 Um, even booking the appointment, um, because people deserve it and they, I feel like a lot of the times people view tattooing as like this big tough guy. 269 00:28:59,40.6990605 --> 00:29:08,790.6990605 Thing when in some cases it can be, but in other cases, in your everyday cases, it's not normally like a tough guy situation. 270 00:29:08,790.6990605 --> 00:29:12,450.6990605 Like people, people need to feel like they're welcome. 271 00:29:12,450.6990605 --> 00:29:15,120.6990605 People need to feel like they belong. 272 00:29:15,510.6990605 --> 00:29:24,0.6990605 And that's always been something, um, that I wanted to help people, help people with, is to feel like they, they belong somewhere. 273 00:29:24,30.6990605 --> 00:29:26,520.6990605 That, that they matter, that, um. 274 00:29:27,750.6990605 --> 00:29:32,880.6990605 That their, their ideas are, are brilliant, even if they're not, but they are. 275 00:29:32,880.6990605 --> 00:29:35,520.6990605 You know, I try my best. 276 00:29:36,720.6990605 --> 00:29:41,970.6990605 You seem to get a lot of people in your chair who know what they want and where they want it. 277 00:29:42,900.6990605 --> 00:29:55,410.6990605 it like with the person who is a little bit more unsure about either the design or the location? What questions and what conversation occurs there to, to, to see what they want and need. 278 00:29:57,165.6990605 --> 00:30:06,255.6990605 Well, I always try to give people um, exactly what they want. 279 00:30:07,65.6990605 --> 00:30:09,435.6990605 Uh, when they don't know what they want. 280 00:30:09,555.6990605 --> 00:30:15,555.6990605 I try my best to provide options of what I think will look best or will look cool. 281 00:30:15,615.6990605 --> 00:30:24,375.6990605 Um, but at, uh, in the grand scheme of everything, it it, it starts with a connection. 282 00:30:24,375.6990605 --> 00:30:26,805.6990605 Like I, we have to have a connection. 283 00:30:26,805.6990605 --> 00:30:29,685.6990605 We have to be able to, to have a conversation with each other. 284 00:30:30,105.6990605 --> 00:30:30,495.6990605 Um. 285 00:30:32,115.6990605 --> 00:30:39,705.6990605 Before I make any permanent thing on your body, because you will be wearing it for the rest of your life. 286 00:30:40,215.6990605 --> 00:30:47,205.6990605 Um, and I don't want anybody going around years from now being like, ah, fuck Bianca, she ruined my body. 287 00:30:47,205.6990605 --> 00:30:48,705.6990605 I look like shit, blah, blah, blah. 288 00:30:48,705.6990605 --> 00:30:50,955.6990605 Like, I don't want anybody to feel like that. 289 00:30:50,955.6990605 --> 00:30:59,955.6990605 So I always try to take steps prior to the tattoo experience, um, that, uh, sometimes I'll ask. 290 00:31:01,380.6990605 --> 00:31:06,450.6990605 Well, the conversation will be led almost by the other person. 291 00:31:06,630.6990605 --> 00:31:13,470.6990605 Um, and I'm just kind of open arms, open ears to anyone and everyone. 292 00:31:13,980.6990605 --> 00:31:17,640.6990605 I, I really have not a, a judgment bone in my body. 293 00:31:18,840.6990605 --> 00:31:25,140.6990605 Um, so when they come in with an idea or lack thereof, I, I. 294 00:31:25,755.6990605 --> 00:31:29,595.6990605 Sometimes I'd even have to be like, I don't even think you know what you want yet. 295 00:31:29,655.6990605 --> 00:31:36,165.6990605 And you need to take some time to think about it because I can't make decisions for other people. 296 00:31:36,165.6990605 --> 00:31:38,115.6990605 Other people have to make them for themselves. 297 00:31:38,655.6990605 --> 00:31:43,335.6990605 So, uh, I don't want anybody making any quick decisions. 298 00:31:43,335.6990605 --> 00:31:50,115.6990605 Sometimes I even make people go home and like think about what exactly that they want because I'm not gonna ruin their skin today. 299 00:31:50,655.6990605 --> 00:31:51,255.6990605 Um. 300 00:31:54,45.6990605 --> 00:31:58,515.6990605 And that's, that's sometimes upsetting to people because they want to get tattooed. 301 00:31:58,995.6990605 --> 00:32:12,690.6990605 But I think from an artistic standpoint, like you can't, if, if vibes are off or the communication isn't there, like you can't jump into something super permanent like that with somebody that you don't trust. 302 00:32:13,805.6990605 --> 00:32:15,725.6990605 Or there isn't any guidance. 303 00:32:15,725.6990605 --> 00:32:24,665.6990605 So, um, sometimes I send people home with homework, like looking on Pinterest or doing some research and like finding what they like. 304 00:32:24,665.6990605 --> 00:32:31,265.6990605 And then I have them bring that stuff to me and then I draw what they like or draw what they want tattooed. 305 00:32:31,265.6990605 --> 00:32:32,435.6990605 And if they like it, cool. 306 00:32:32,435.6990605 --> 00:32:33,95.6990605 Tattoo it. 307 00:32:33,100.6990605 --> 00:32:33,450.6990605 We'll run it. 308 00:32:34,545.6990605 --> 00:32:56,985.6990605 And if they don't, we'll sit and we'll talk about what they want changed or how does this look? And typically, um, for every appointment, I try my best to have at least some sort of like color study or shading study of the full design ready to go for them so that they know like when it comes time to getting the tattoo, this is exactly what it's gonna look like. 309 00:32:57,15.6990605 --> 00:32:57,975.6990605 Kinda, sort of. 310 00:32:58,335.6990605 --> 00:33:01,875.6990605 They're a little rough sometimes, but it'll look better when I tattoo it, I promise. 311 00:33:01,875.6990605 --> 00:33:01,935.6990605 Um. 312 00:33:03,570.6990605 --> 00:33:07,920.6990605 But yeah, most of the time, uh, I have all the stuff ready to go. 313 00:33:07,920.6990605 --> 00:33:09,750.6990605 This I have your answers right here. 314 00:33:09,755.6990605 --> 00:33:11,640.6990605 I have, I have what colors I'm gonna use. 315 00:33:11,640.6990605 --> 00:33:12,120.6990605 I'll show you. 316 00:33:12,120.6990605 --> 00:33:14,970.6990605 If you don't like a color, I'll, I'll show you what your other options are. 317 00:33:14,970.6990605 --> 00:33:15,240.6990605 Like. 318 00:33:16,20.6990605 --> 00:33:24,240.6990605 It, it's, it's, it, it, the, the act of tattooing is, it, it definitely takes two to tango. 319 00:33:24,510.6990605 --> 00:33:29,370.6990605 If you can't work with one another, it's very difficult and probably shouldn't happen. 320 00:33:31,20.6990605 --> 00:33:37,950.6990605 It sounds like you do a lot of work besides or beyond on top of the work that goes on the chair itself. 321 00:33:37,950.6990605 --> 00:33:40,125.6990605 When the client's there with you, Yes. 322 00:33:40,590.6990605 --> 00:33:44,325.6990605 you, you do some research also behind the scenes, Yep. 323 00:33:44,820.6990605 --> 00:33:50,115.6990605 What does that process look like? Well, it depends on what I am tattooing. 324 00:33:50,505.6990605 --> 00:33:55,485.6990605 Uh, I actually have to tattoo in maybe two weeks, um, St. 325 00:33:55,485.6990605 --> 00:33:55,785.6990605 Michael. 326 00:33:56,745.6990605 --> 00:34:08,925.6990605 Who I believe is, I don't, I don't wanna, I don't wanna say this wrong, but I, I, I, I believe he is like a, a guardian angel. 327 00:34:08,925.6990605 --> 00:34:18,165.6990605 Like he's a protector, a guardian angel, typically like firemen and cops are more drawn to, um, religious imagery like that. 328 00:34:18,375.6990605 --> 00:34:21,765.6990605 Uh, and a, and an American flag white waving in the background. 329 00:34:21,855.6990605 --> 00:34:25,695.6990605 Um, but yeah, uh, I don't know. 330 00:34:26,355.6990605 --> 00:34:29,955.6990605 A lot of religious imagery, um, and what it means. 331 00:34:30,15.6990605 --> 00:34:32,625.6990605 And so like you have to draw it a certain way. 332 00:34:32,625.6990605 --> 00:34:37,725.6990605 So I always have to go into, like, do a little research before I start drawing. 333 00:34:37,725.6990605 --> 00:34:41,925.6990605 'cause if I draw it and it's wrong, then it's gonna be tattooed and correctly on the skin. 334 00:34:41,925.6990605 --> 00:34:52,815.6990605 And that then somebody walking down the street that actually knows about that is gonna be like, what the heck is this on your arm? Like, that looks not like how it should, like, oops. 335 00:34:53,760.6990605 --> 00:35:01,20.6990605 So I always try to avoid that or even if it's um, as simple as getting your birth flowers tattooed. 336 00:35:01,20.6990605 --> 00:35:04,560.6990605 Like moms like to get their kids' birth flowers tattooed on them. 337 00:35:04,560.6990605 --> 00:35:11,880.6990605 So that takes a lot of research too, is going on Google and finding what months equal what flower. 338 00:35:12,540.6990605 --> 00:35:17,640.6990605 Because there's always multiple different flowers, uh, for each month. 339 00:35:17,640.6990605 --> 00:35:25,500.6990605 So then I would have to go and talk to my client, well, do you want this flower or that flower? What day were they born? Because it, it, um, is with the day. 340 00:35:25,500.6990605 --> 00:35:28,410.6990605 And, um, just stuff like that. 341 00:35:28,410.6990605 --> 00:35:28,770.6990605 So. 342 00:35:29,970.6990605 --> 00:35:39,330.6990605 Really taking the extra time to like, figure out all the nooks and crannies of every design that I draw or come up with for my clients. 343 00:35:39,420.6990605 --> 00:35:43,860.6990605 Uh, I wanna do it right And, uh, it all starts with the beginning of it. 344 00:35:44,130.6990605 --> 00:35:55,110.6990605 And then once I have all that information, I draw, uh, and do my color study and then they'll come in for their appointment and I'll show them the drawing and color study and um, we'll print the. 345 00:35:56,265.6990605 --> 00:36:02,205.6990605 The line drawing to size and get it ized up and see if they like it and then go from there. 346 00:36:02,985.6990605 --> 00:36:04,665.6990605 But it really takes a lot. 347 00:36:06,530.6990605 --> 00:36:09,645.6990605 I see that I, I have almost like an appreciation for how my. 348 00:36:09,735.6990605 --> 00:36:13,875.6990605 Much how seriously you take it, it sounds like to me. 349 00:36:14,460.6990605 --> 00:36:21,270.6990605 Even if somebody gets something tattooed in another language, I'm like, are you sure you want me to do this? I only speak English. 350 00:36:21,510.6990605 --> 00:36:24,900.6990605 I only know English, and they're just like, yeah, it's fine. 351 00:36:24,900.6990605 --> 00:36:25,260.6990605 It's fine. 352 00:36:25,260.6990605 --> 00:36:33,390.6990605 I'm like, okay, but just so you know, if this is wrong, it's on you, but I trust you enough that you're giving me the right information. 353 00:36:34,980.6990605 --> 00:36:40,320.6990605 Or even if they're getting like lettering in English, you know, like I make them double, triple, quadruple check. 354 00:36:40,350.6990605 --> 00:36:44,310.6990605 'cause God forbid if I saw something wrong, it's now forever on your body. 355 00:36:44,760.6990605 --> 00:36:47,610.6990605 I don't wanna do that, but I'm kind of silly with it. 356 00:36:49,310.6990605 --> 00:36:59,765.6990605 Is there ever a something you won't tattoo or something that you'll discourage? Um, any sort of hate symbols, um, like a, a swastika. 357 00:37:00,930.6990605 --> 00:37:02,850.6990605 Um, a Confederate flag. 358 00:37:03,630.6990605 --> 00:37:08,940.6990605 Uh, people don't really ask for that kind of stuff anymore though, which is Thank you. 359 00:37:09,0.6990605 --> 00:37:10,350.6990605 Thank, thank you, thank you. 360 00:37:10,685.6990605 --> 00:37:11,175.6990605 Like that. 361 00:37:12,450.6990605 --> 00:37:15,990.6990605 I do not wanna be tattooing any, any sort of hate speech. 362 00:37:16,380.6990605 --> 00:37:16,980.6990605 I am. 363 00:37:17,580.6990605 --> 00:37:18,690.6990605 I'm a girl's girl. 364 00:37:18,690.6990605 --> 00:37:19,950.6990605 I'm a people person. 365 00:37:19,950.6990605 --> 00:37:23,130.6990605 I want everybody to feel loved when they're in my presence. 366 00:37:23,130.6990605 --> 00:37:25,740.6990605 I'm never gonna be anti-people. 367 00:37:25,830.6990605 --> 00:37:30,660.6990605 I want everybody to feel welcome, but I definitely will not do any sort of like hate symbol. 368 00:37:33,405.6990605 --> 00:37:35,505.6990605 I'm thinking about a couple different things here. 369 00:37:37,895.6990605 --> 00:37:49,515.6990605 What is your pitch for getting a tattoo? should someone get one? Should everyone get one? I, I honestly don't believe everybody should get tattooed. 370 00:37:49,755.6990605 --> 00:37:50,445.6990605 Um. 371 00:37:51,900.6990605 --> 00:37:57,510.6990605 I, I believe everybody deserves a right to feel themselves in their bodies. 372 00:37:58,80.6990605 --> 00:38:08,130.6990605 Uh, but I don't believe that everybody should get a tattoo because not, not everybody is, um, equipped to have that lifetime commitment to something. 373 00:38:08,730.6990605 --> 00:38:11,790.6990605 Um, you'll, you see a lot of it happening now. 374 00:38:11,790.6990605 --> 00:38:19,200.6990605 Like Pete Davidson, for an example, he got all of his tattoos, laser removal, uh, removed, laser removed, um. 375 00:38:20,70.6990605 --> 00:38:30,480.6990605 Just recently, and he had almost like his full front and arms, I believe, covered and tattoos, and now he wants to have a clean aesthetic. 376 00:38:30,900.6990605 --> 00:38:34,170.6990605 Um, so now he went through a whole removal process. 377 00:38:34,380.6990605 --> 00:38:40,350.6990605 Um, and I, I think in, in one on one side of it that that's fine. 378 00:38:40,350.6990605 --> 00:38:40,920.6990605 Do what you want. 379 00:38:40,920.6990605 --> 00:38:41,610.6990605 I don't care. 380 00:38:42,60.6990605 --> 00:38:43,320.6990605 But, um. 381 00:38:43,740.6990605 --> 00:38:48,180.6990605 I also just, I don't think you should get tattooed if you're gonna get it removed. 382 00:38:48,180.6990605 --> 00:38:56,370.6990605 And like you, like you, when you make your wait, when you make up your mind to get a tattoo, it's, it's permanent. 383 00:38:56,580.6990605 --> 00:38:59,220.6990605 That should be in the front of your brain. 384 00:38:59,400.6990605 --> 00:39:04,230.6990605 Um, your artist should be, uh, telling you, Hey, this is, this is forever. 385 00:39:04,770.6990605 --> 00:39:05,130.6990605 Um. 386 00:39:06,900.6990605 --> 00:39:11,130.6990605 It is like when people wanna get like little scribbles tattooed on them or something. 387 00:39:11,130.6990605 --> 00:39:17,490.6990605 Like, I always wanna be like, are you sure this is forever? I don't want you to hate me in a couple years from now. 388 00:39:17,490.6990605 --> 00:39:19,20.6990605 Like that I ruined your body. 389 00:39:19,20.6990605 --> 00:39:20,310.6990605 Because that's what people say. 390 00:39:20,310.6990605 --> 00:39:21,750.6990605 They blame it on the tattoo artists. 391 00:39:21,750.6990605 --> 00:39:23,190.6990605 They don't blame it on themselves. 392 00:39:23,730.6990605 --> 00:39:33,450.6990605 So if you're not able to have that, um, I'm, I'm fully dedicated to this thing, I'm fully committed to this thing, then I wouldn't, um, and that's, that's okay. 393 00:39:35,100.6990605 --> 00:39:46,230.6990605 Um, when we were talking earlier about, um, your earliest artistic experiences, you said that other things, 1, 1, 1 thing you like to do was to ruin things. 394 00:39:46,230.6990605 --> 00:39:47,310.6990605 I dunno if you remember that. 395 00:39:47,790.6990605 --> 00:39:48,210.6990605 yeah. 396 00:39:48,360.6990605 --> 00:39:52,440.6990605 not sure what you were referring to, but you used the word ruin positively then. 397 00:39:52,920.6990605 --> 00:39:56,730.6990605 Um, and now it's coming up as a, as a something to avoid potentially. 398 00:39:56,820.6990605 --> 00:39:57,60.6990605 Yeah. 399 00:39:57,360.6990605 --> 00:39:57,810.6990605 Yes. 400 00:40:00,60.6990605 --> 00:40:24,720.6990605 how are both of those things coexisting? I would say that ruining something like you always have to go into creating art with the idea and the, um, just the knowledge of knowing that you, you may not like what you do, you may fuck up, you may, uh, do a little oopsie and you have to know how to fix it. 401 00:40:25,320.6990605 --> 00:40:30,270.6990605 Um, if it needs, if it's on a person, you know, not everybody's perfect. 402 00:40:30,780.6990605 --> 00:40:32,10.6990605 Um, in a tattoo sense. 403 00:40:32,10.6990605 --> 00:40:39,750.6990605 Like if you fuck up in a tattoo, the best, the best tattooers know how to fix their errors, you know? Um, so I think that's really important. 404 00:40:40,320.6990605 --> 00:40:46,290.6990605 But in the sense of making art, you just have to go into making art. 405 00:40:46,320.6990605 --> 00:40:49,170.6990605 The first step of making art is starting. 406 00:40:49,845.6990605 --> 00:40:58,575.6990605 So you have to start with, uh, almost of a mentality of, I'm gonna finish this thing even if I ruin what I wanted to do. 407 00:40:59,475.6990605 --> 00:41:03,585.6990605 Um, so that's what I mean in like the positive way of ruining something. 408 00:41:04,335.6990605 --> 00:41:11,925.6990605 Uh, because you can't, you can, I don't even think ruining things is necessarily a bad thing. 409 00:41:12,525.6990605 --> 00:41:17,835.6990605 Um, unless it's on somebody's body, then maybe. 410 00:41:18,645.6990605 --> 00:41:28,395.6990605 But, uh, just like an an artistic standpoint, like from a painter's perspective, I have, I have to make the painting to make the piece of art. 411 00:41:28,455.6990605 --> 00:41:31,95.6990605 I might ruin it along the way, and that's okay. 412 00:41:32,430.6990605 --> 00:41:35,160.6990605 Even when making a painting, you're ruining a white canvas. 413 00:41:35,250.6990605 --> 00:41:39,120.6990605 Right? I see the, I see the sense in which you're using it. 414 00:41:39,150.6990605 --> 00:41:42,750.6990605 It's almost like taking a creative risk on something that has a form already. 415 00:41:42,780.6990605 --> 00:41:48,810.6990605 Whether it's a white canvas or a piece, a cardboard box that is a cardboard box already, but you want to create something new from it. 416 00:41:49,20.6990605 --> 00:41:49,860.6990605 You, you're ruining it. 417 00:41:49,860.6990605 --> 00:41:51,870.6990605 It's it's current form, Yes. 418 00:41:52,110.6990605 --> 00:41:52,500.6990605 right. 419 00:41:52,980.6990605 --> 00:41:53,310.6990605 Yeah. 420 00:41:53,310.6990605 --> 00:41:56,10.6990605 And that, that, that also goes with like people's bodies too. 421 00:41:56,10.6990605 --> 00:42:03,240.6990605 I feel like a lot of the older generation thinks, uh, people who do put tattoos on their body ruin their body and. 422 00:42:04,200.6990605 --> 00:42:05,160.6990605 Okay, cool. 423 00:42:05,160.6990605 --> 00:42:06,30.6990605 That's fine. 424 00:42:06,360.6990605 --> 00:42:12,510.6990605 You don't, it's, I feel like that's a, that's, that's just you claiming who you are. 425 00:42:14,375.6990605 --> 00:42:19,365.6990605 You were talking about those people in the, in the supermarket who you felt, um. 426 00:42:20,100.6990605 --> 00:42:25,110.6990605 You felt in awe of them because they had, they were expressing themselves. 427 00:42:25,560.6990605 --> 00:42:34,490.6990605 Another thing that's often said about tattoos is the question of whether this expression today will be the same expression tomorrow. 428 00:42:35,257.7490605 --> 00:42:38,137.7490605 When, when people want to express something today. 429 00:42:38,512.7490605 --> 00:42:38,962.7490605 Yeah. 430 00:42:40,327.7490605 --> 00:42:57,412.7490605 How, how are they to be sure that that's the thing they're gonna wanna express 10 years from now, 20 years from now? Um, well, the fun thing about life is that you, you don't know and you kind of have to be okay with the unknown. 431 00:42:57,982.7490605 --> 00:43:06,682.7490605 And, um, I mean, I, I personally have grown and changed a lot since I first started getting tattoos. 432 00:43:06,682.7490605 --> 00:43:18,592.7490605 Like I have a whole second layer started on my arm now, uh, and my leg as well from, uh, tattoos that I decided to get when I was in my early teens. 433 00:43:18,682.7490605 --> 00:43:21,517.7490605 Um, and then now as I'm. 434 00:43:22,552.7490605 --> 00:43:26,902.7490605 Slowly approaching my thirties, I am like, oh, I don't really wanna wear that stuff anymore. 435 00:43:26,902.7490605 --> 00:43:35,902.7490605 And what can I do to change? Um, and one of the ways that I found for myself is to do blast overs. 436 00:43:36,292.7490605 --> 00:43:40,972.7490605 Uh, and I think now, like now I'm sure this is, this is what I want. 437 00:43:40,972.7490605 --> 00:43:44,692.7490605 And now, now I have an idea of what I want to look like. 438 00:43:45,157.7490605 --> 00:43:51,217.7490605 When I'm 40 or when I'm 50 and when I'm 60, like I know exactly how I want to look. 439 00:43:51,217.7490605 --> 00:43:57,847.7490605 So I try to encourage all of my clients that I do tattoo to think about those things because it's important. 440 00:43:58,447.7490605 --> 00:44:03,397.7490605 Um, I, I, I, I always give them the, okay, close your eyes. 441 00:44:03,667.7490605 --> 00:44:06,127.7490605 Think about this tattoo on your body. 442 00:44:06,127.7490605 --> 00:44:12,967.7490605 Where do you see it? And then think about 40 years from now, how else do you look? Because I wanna plan for the future. 443 00:44:13,537.7490605 --> 00:44:28,567.7490605 And those are things that you, like, you have to have those conversations with your tattoo artist because if you don't, then you might put yourself in a really terrible situation where you do end up getting a tattoo that you don't like or that you're not gonna resonate with, um, down the road. 444 00:44:29,107.7490605 --> 00:44:47,977.7490605 Or, I mean, even like asking your artists like, what are my options down the road? Like, what, how can I make this? What, what can we do to this to make it a sleeve or make it, um, look really cool or how can we add to it even? So knowing those things and having those conversations are incredibly important. 445 00:44:49,597.7490605 --> 00:44:56,617.7490605 I feel like tattoos, uh, over time and, and in like, in different places in the world, they mean they've meant different things. 446 00:44:56,617.7490605 --> 00:44:58,327.7490605 They mean different things to every person. 447 00:44:58,657.7490605 --> 00:44:59,677.7490605 Um, you know, they, they've. 448 00:45:00,157.7490605 --> 00:45:07,57.7490605 They can mean, or they've meant, um, protection is one, one word that you were using earlier often they can also be used for seduction. 449 00:45:07,357.7490605 --> 00:45:12,157.7490605 Um, they can be rites of passage, they can be so many different things. 450 00:45:12,487.7490605 --> 00:45:21,937.7490605 Do you, what, what's your sense of what tattoos are for, for your clientele right now in 2025? I feel like my clientele is. 451 00:45:22,27.7490605 --> 00:45:29,827.7490605 Is very into honestly, everything that I've been, um, putting out, which is a lot of, uh, traditional tattoos. 452 00:45:30,517.7490605 --> 00:45:38,407.7490605 Um, I would say like the color palette is, uh, we can go a couple different ways. 453 00:45:38,497.7490605 --> 00:45:43,597.7490605 Bright, bold, beautiful, strong, or a little bit more muted. 454 00:45:43,687.7490605 --> 00:45:48,127.7490605 Um, a little bit more like shy, reserved, lover. 455 00:45:48,217.7490605 --> 00:45:48,697.7490605 Um. 456 00:45:50,887.7490605 --> 00:45:54,697.7490605 But yeah, that's, that's kind of like where, um, people are at. 457 00:45:55,462.7490605 --> 00:46:02,272.7490605 Is, and I still get like, you know, the everyday people that don't get traditional tattoos. 458 00:46:02,272.7490605 --> 00:46:10,912.7490605 I get a lot of people that want just birth flowers or like fine line little moons of the star pattern of a specific day. 459 00:46:10,912.7490605 --> 00:46:16,672.7490605 Or, um, even like names, dates, things that are important to people. 460 00:46:16,732.7490605 --> 00:46:21,982.7490605 Um, I feel like my clientele honestly, uh, pretty. 461 00:46:22,412.7490605 --> 00:46:25,532.7490605 It is a good array of all different kinds of people. 462 00:46:25,532.7490605 --> 00:46:41,582.7490605 I have old people that are going through, um, weird changes in their lives that like wanna find themselves again, or I have like the young, um, fresh college student that's ready to get their first tattoo. 463 00:46:41,582.7490605 --> 00:46:43,562.7490605 That's really exciting to be tattooed. 464 00:46:44,467.7490605 --> 00:46:56,857.7490605 Um, I can get a 75-year-old grandma in getting her first tattoo, uh, or even like a, the same age as me, 26, uh, year old trying to get tattooed. 465 00:46:56,857.7490605 --> 00:47:00,37.7490605 And they wanna just, they want a cool tattoo that I think is cool. 466 00:47:00,397.7490605 --> 00:47:03,157.7490605 Um, so it really depends. 467 00:47:03,187.7490605 --> 00:47:05,47.7490605 It, it varies every day. 468 00:47:05,47.7490605 --> 00:47:06,997.7490605 I, I don't really turn away anybody. 469 00:47:07,477.7490605 --> 00:47:10,57.7490605 Um, and nobody's really asked me for anything. 470 00:47:10,837.7490605 --> 00:47:11,707.7490605 Like bad. 471 00:47:11,707.7490605 --> 00:47:16,507.7490605 So if, if I have to turn somebody away, it's because I don't feel like I'm the tattooer for you. 472 00:47:16,627.7490605 --> 00:47:31,627.7490605 I feel like there's somebody better out there, but You said that you like each of your tattoos to be better than the last, what goes on behind the scenes for for that to happen? a lot, um, I'm constantly drawing. 473 00:47:31,717.7490605 --> 00:47:36,37.7490605 I have to get my tattoos critiqued, um, by other tattooers who I. 474 00:47:36,652.7490605 --> 00:47:38,482.7490605 Who are better than me, obviously. 475 00:47:38,962.7490605 --> 00:47:42,952.7490605 Uh, 'cause I, I, I, I'm not the best tattooer out there. 476 00:47:43,162.7490605 --> 00:47:51,532.7490605 There are people who are better at this craft than I am, and I need to be able to, um, see what I can improve on in my tattoos. 477 00:47:52,102.7490605 --> 00:47:59,632.7490605 So I, I try to study the tattoos that I do, even if I don't like them, um, because that does happen every now and then. 478 00:47:59,632.7490605 --> 00:48:04,822.7490605 I'm never gonna tell somebody I don't like their tattoo, but, you know, I'm, I'm an artist. 479 00:48:04,822.7490605 --> 00:48:09,502.7490605 I'm not gonna like everything I put out, which is, you know, that, that, that sucks. 480 00:48:09,562.7490605 --> 00:48:11,782.7490605 But as an artist, you have to be okay with that. 481 00:48:11,782.7490605 --> 00:48:15,832.7490605 Sometimes that's, that's, some people just want what they want, and that's that, you know. 482 00:48:16,897.7490605 --> 00:48:21,397.7490605 I can't convince people to do what I want because it's not my choice. 483 00:48:21,397.7490605 --> 00:48:23,257.7490605 It's at the end of the day, it's their choice. 484 00:48:23,887.7490605 --> 00:48:40,444.4157272 So, uh, yeah every year you host a, an event where you offer people some free semicolon tattoos to, I imagine, to honor your first tattoo. 485 00:48:40,624.4157272 --> 00:48:56,429.4157272 That experience that was so uplifting for you, how did you create this event and what has it become over time? I always knew that I wanted to give free semicolon tattoos. 486 00:48:56,519.4157272 --> 00:48:56,909.4157272 Um. 487 00:48:58,84.4157272 --> 00:49:05,914.4157272 Just because I know what getting my first tattoo felt like for me, and it, it probably isn't somebody's first tattoo. 488 00:49:05,914.4157272 --> 00:49:13,234.4157272 Maybe it is, but most of the time, most of the time it's not their first tattoo when they, they do end up getting a semicolon. 489 00:49:14,44.4157272 --> 00:49:23,194.4157272 But I just, I remember when I got mine and how I felt and how powerful it was, I wanted to be able to have people feel that same kind of power. 490 00:49:23,584.4157272 --> 00:49:26,509.4157272 And it was, it was honestly a chance to share my story. 491 00:49:27,634.4157272 --> 00:49:33,484.4157272 Um, with other people, not necessarily in a way that was like, Hey, everybody, look at me. 492 00:49:33,484.4157272 --> 00:49:34,24.4157272 Look at me. 493 00:49:34,24.4157272 --> 00:49:40,954.4157272 I'm, I'm, I need you to know that this happened to me and now I'm so, so much better now that that happened and my life is great and blah, blah, blah. 494 00:49:41,554.4157272 --> 00:49:43,504.4157272 Because I don't, I don't want that. 495 00:49:43,564.4157272 --> 00:49:53,974.4157272 I, I want it to be more of an intimate thing that I can share with people who have felt how I had once felt. 496 00:49:53,979.4157272 --> 00:49:54,189.4157272 Um. 497 00:49:55,264.4157272 --> 00:49:59,914.4157272 Because the, the, the person that's coming to get a semicolon, they typically know what it means. 498 00:49:59,959.4157272 --> 00:50:06,214.4157272 I, I feel like I do my best to educate people on what it means before it happens, um, before the event happens. 499 00:50:06,334.4157272 --> 00:50:11,74.4157272 Uh, rather, but it started when I first learned how to tattoo. 500 00:50:11,74.4157272 --> 00:50:15,574.4157272 It was, I wasn't even tattooing, well, maybe I was tattooing for one year. 501 00:50:16,279.4157272 --> 00:50:19,339.4157272 Yes, it was my, my, my one year tattoo anniversary. 502 00:50:19,339.4157272 --> 00:50:27,949.4157272 And I had asked my mentors at the time, Hey, um, I really wanna raise money for a nonprofit. 503 00:50:28,489.4157272 --> 00:50:31,189.4157272 Uh, can I do this thing? And they both were like, yeah, sure. 504 00:50:31,189.4157272 --> 00:50:31,519.4157272 Whatever. 505 00:50:31,519.4157272 --> 00:50:32,89.4157272 We don't care. 506 00:50:32,239.4157272 --> 00:50:37,584.4157272 Um, and we had done as a shop, um, other non, uh, other. 507 00:50:38,374.4157272 --> 00:50:41,524.4157272 Events raising money for nonprofits. 508 00:50:41,614.4157272 --> 00:50:58,789.4157272 Um, like we raised money for Isabella's Closet, which is a nonprofit in Akron that, um, I believe gives back to people that have just gotten out of jail and that are starting their life over again. 509 00:50:59,169.4157272 --> 00:50:59,389.4157272 Um. 510 00:51:00,559.4157272 --> 00:51:01,819.4157272 Which was really awesome. 511 00:51:01,819.4157272 --> 00:51:12,499.4157272 We were able to raise a lot of, uh, you would have to donate like clothes and toys and food and stuff, uh, for, to get a tattoo in order for that, but. 512 00:51:13,534.4157272 --> 00:51:21,514.4157272 Yeah, so it started very, very early on in my career and I just continued it every year this past year. 513 00:51:21,544.4157272 --> 00:51:31,269.4157272 So for my three year anniversary, I did, um, this, that was like my best year yet for the semicolons. 514 00:51:31,274.4157272 --> 00:51:34,714.4157272 I think I raised, uh, I think it was maybe, uh. 515 00:51:35,569.4157272 --> 00:51:40,69.4157272 $1,500 with just myself, which was awesome. 516 00:51:40,639.4157272 --> 00:51:46,69.4157272 Um, but I had little goodie bags and inside the goodie bags were just like some candy. 517 00:51:46,69.4157272 --> 00:51:51,194.4157272 And then I wrote everybody a note that got tattooed, just explaining why I'm doing this. 518 00:51:51,809.4157272 --> 00:51:53,519.4157272 And why it's important to me. 519 00:51:53,609.4157272 --> 00:52:01,679.4157272 And, um, I really feel like I've had a lot of returning clients because they read my story and they were like, oh my God, I had no idea this happened to you. 520 00:52:01,679.4157272 --> 00:52:13,349.4157272 I just thought you were doing like something nice and, and like, I don't, not everybody needs to know that, that what happened to me, happened to me because it's really neither here nor there. 521 00:52:13,409.4157272 --> 00:52:13,739.4157272 Um. 522 00:52:15,34.4157272 --> 00:52:29,194.4157272 But I just want everybody to feel that that does come into my presence, that they are welcome and that they do belong, and that I want them there, and that they, they, their lives are worth living because I'm proof of it. 523 00:52:31,324.4157272 --> 00:52:32,584.4157272 They don't need to know. 524 00:52:32,614.4157272 --> 00:52:33,184.4157272 You're right. 525 00:52:33,334.4157272 --> 00:52:47,44.4157272 But knowing something about the artists that we connect with, whether we're buying a ring from them or a painting, or getting a tattoo from them, right that they, they carry you with them for the rest of their lives. 526 00:52:47,74.4157272 --> 00:52:56,434.4157272 And I speak for myself and saying that I, I Gen, I generally will acquire or bring into my life artwork that. 527 00:52:57,334.4157272 --> 00:53:00,569.4157272 With who's with whose artists I connect, right? Mm-hmm. 528 00:53:00,724.4157272 --> 00:53:04,624.4157272 knowing their story, or at least knowing their vibe, their energy is important. 529 00:53:04,624.4157272 --> 00:53:14,74.4157272 You don't need to know everything about them, but you, you do need, get, need to get a sense of like, who they are, um, what they stand for, what, what sort of aura they carry around them. 530 00:53:14,194.4157272 --> 00:53:14,824.4157272 Sarah. 531 00:53:15,244.4157272 --> 00:53:21,754.4157272 Yours is so, is so It's, uh, it's, it cares. 532 00:53:22,324.4157272 --> 00:53:25,534.4157272 It things seriously, but also with love. 533 00:53:25,714.4157272 --> 00:53:27,544.4157272 It's my sense of your aura. 534 00:53:27,934.4157272 --> 00:53:37,234.4157272 Um, I was telling you earlier that I've been nerding out on, on, on tattoo history and, and we don't have to talk about it, but I loved the etymology of tattoo. 535 00:53:37,574.4157272 --> 00:53:46,504.4157272 The word means to carry your spirit on your skin which would love to just leave there as we close out the conversation. 536 00:53:46,564.4157272 --> 00:53:54,484.4157272 Um, I love the spirit you carry on your skin and I'm certain that the people you work with also love the spirit that you help them carry on their skin. 537 00:53:54,544.4157272 --> 00:53:56,314.4157272 So thank you for the work you do. 538 00:53:56,384.4157272 --> 00:54:00,434.4157272 I think it's a blossoming career, a blooming one for, for the years to come. 539 00:54:00,434.4157272 --> 00:54:00,944.4157272 I'm excited. 540 00:54:00,974.4157272 --> 00:54:02,264.4157272 Where, where, where you'll take it. 541 00:54:02,964.4157272 --> 00:54:03,804.4157272 Thank you. 542 00:54:04,338.0887838 --> 00:54:05,268.0887838 Thanks, Dan. 543 00:54:10,295.9706323 --> 00:54:11,345.9706323 Thanks for being here. 544 00:54:11,915.9706323 --> 00:54:19,445.9706323 If this conversation resonated with you, consider reviewing therapy for the world or sharing the link with someone who might appreciate it. 545 00:54:20,105.9706323 --> 00:54:23,555.9706323 Until next time, speak with care and listen deeply.