The longer story

I started like most people—just wanting a small tattoo on a budget, finding a cheap artist. I loved the experience though, and booked another one. I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas and working on designs before bringing them to the artist. That’s when I first started thinking, “maybe I want to do this.”

As I kept getting tattooed, I had some great experiences—and some not-so-great ones too. Examples of problems I had were healing issues as scarring, results I wasn’t fully happy with like designs with note enough contrast so it looks like a dark blob , communication problems or just in general bad customer service… but I learned a lot from all of it. How to explain what you want, how to choose the right artist, and what to avoid. That ended up being a big part of why I wanted to do this myself.

My first thought was “I could do this better.” Of course when I started I realized it’s way harder than it looks hah! However, the technical aspect of tattooing is just the tip of the iceberg of all the skills you need to be successful. Which is the same for many of the trades and skills I have learned. My past experience told me where to start my learning, at the bottom, no point rushing to failure... Some of my favourite quotes or mantras at the time and still are “the long path is the short path”, and “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

A lot of people get drawn to tattooing because it looks cool, but I don’t think that being cool, creative or whatever isn’t enough and parting and being cool type of lifestyle doesn’t match what it actually takes to be successful. To me, Tattooing is a highly nuanced and technical trade that requires focus, discipline, and consistency- not just part time stuff, it is more of a lifestyle. you

I wanted to be good. Really good. I knew I had potential because of my creative background in art and music, my adaptability and my work ethic.

At the time I was focused on music, and other forms of visual art like painting. Once I decided to go all in on tattooing, I sold everything, guitar, bass, PA system… all of it. Well except my acoustic cause who doesn’t need some joy in their life.

I spent years studying. Took multiple online courses, practiced constantly, and worked other jobs while building my skills. I reached out to shops and artists for feedback, tried to get apprenticeships, and just kept going even when things didn’t line up.

One course in particular changed everything—60 weeks of structured training with live zoom calls weekly, to get critiques on our homework from a world-class artists. Reinventing the tattoo - Evolution course. - That gave me a serious foundation in tattoo design , fit flow, contrast, colour theory, pos and neg relation ships , coverups, technical application and much more!

After that, I took another intensive course focused purely on technical application—about 6 months of practice on fake skin, everything from clean lines to portraits. I was still working through parts of it when I started tattooing, so actually still working thru this trying to get to the cool black and grey realism when I have time.

I waited about 3 years before tattooing real people. My first tattoos were on myself which felt like a rite of passage, I think they still look great! After that, I had some volunteers lined up, and one of my mentors actually sat in and guided me through those first sessions. Which was amazing cause I was like so nervous haha, even tho I make some really nice first tattoos that still look good today!

What I really took from all that training is how to design tattoos properly for the body. Not just something that looks good on paper, but something that flows, reads well from a distance, and holds up over time.

That’s what I think separates me from a lot of self-taught artists. I didn’t just pick up a machine and start—I invested a lot into learning properly. Plus my background in in laboratory work (mycology), commercial kitchens and made cross contamination and safety come to me naturally. Despite my previous experience I still go through Blood born Pathogen training on this every year to stay certified.

Eventually I was able to leave my full-time job and focus on tattooing. I still run a couple small businesses on the side, so you may have seen me at the farmers market before this haha but I’ve built a team to help with those so I can put more energy into this.

Now I’m fully in it, and I love every minute!

Background outside of tattooing

Before tattooing, I had a pretty mixed background:

• 5 years in leadership roles in the military starting at 17

• Landscape and hardscape work (stone design, etc.)

• 8 years in professional cooking, including kitchen manager roles and earning my Red Seal

• An engineering degree from UNB

Engineering especially shaped how I think about my work. You’re taught to take responsibility seriously—if you mess up, people can get hurt. That mindset stuck with me.

I approach tattooing the same way. I don’t rush things, and I don’t push people into decisions. I see myself as someone guiding you through the process, not just doing a tattoo.

Where I’m at now

Tattooing feels like a calling for me. It brings together everything—hands-on work, creativity, connection with people, and constant learning.

I’m still early in my career, but I’m growing fast and always pushing to improve. Every tattoo is a chance to get better.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and support what I’m building. It means a lot.

under construction, forgive me for typos and grammeeeerr

second paragraph