Amy- artist / tattoo artist

Amy

Amy is an 21 year old artist / tattoo artist from Michigan in the United States. Amongst her favourite bands are Social Distortion, Tiger Army, Rage Against the Machine, Horrorpops, and Refused. She is a subcultural girl, and proud of it! To her, being a subcultural girl means 'A girl with attitude and who is strong about her beliefs, a girl who is true to herself inside and out, a girl dedicated to her talents that she has, no matter what that talent may be.' Amy is definitely true to her own definition.



Having started her tattoo apprenticeship 9 months ago at the age of 17, Amy's drive is impressive. The story about how she went about getting this position illustrates her determination. She says, 'I went about getting the position by bugging the hell out of the guy who had done my tattoos as well as my dads. I started that when I was 16. I would bring in my paintings, sketches, or just about any piece of artwork I had that I thought would impress Don (her teacher at her apprenticeship). And finally he took me under his wing and began teaching me the art of tattooing. He later told me that I got in not only for my amazing artwork but for my drive, attitude, and just the fact I wasn't afraid to be me.' This conveys a message to girls that you don't necessarily have to change yourself if you are determined enough to get something.


Practicing on a grape fruit

Currently, Amy would love to own her own tattoo parlour. She also thinks that many more girls need to enter the male dominated tattoo industry. On the topic, she had the following to say: 'There is not a lot of female tattoo artists, it has basically been this male oriented thing for the longest time. And no I'm not saying anything bad about male tattoo artists, some are completely amazing and I hope that I will eventually end up half as good as them. All I am saying is that there are not a lot females tattoo artists and we need more!' For you girls out there who ponder over a career in the tattoo industry, Amy has this message: 'Don't be afraid!'


Working

Amy says that everyone is supportive of her apprentice position, 'yes just about everyone truly is but the person that is the most supportive is my boyfriend, and I give a lot of credit to him for it. He's had to deal with some of my break downs and stressful days. Don and Becky (apprentice teacher and the manager of Beyond Reality- tattoo shop) are definitely supportive, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be in their shop learning how to tattoo. My mother doesn't really like it because she's against tattoos and piercings but she's slowly coming along to it.' Such support would definitely encourage Amy in her position.


Amy's work



Besides being a tattoo apprentice, Amy is also a more traditional artist. On the topic of inspiration, Amy says 'Just about everything and anything inspires me. I could be walking down the street and see a garbage can or a certain person who just randomly sticks out to me and I say to myself "man I wanna create art." A lot of other artwork inspires me as well, like some of the greats such as Andy Warhol.' A career in art education is something that Amy would love to pursue, however, she wouldn't mind if she was still a tattoo artist in 20 years time. She loves all art mediums, as she likes to mix it up.




Amy looks up to her father because she feels that she owes a lot to him. She feels that he has contributed to the person she is today. She says, 'He's been there for everything. When both he and my mom lost their jobs about 4 years ago he kept our family going and put food on the table. He got a job within a month and got right back to it. We lost our house and he got a new one so we wouldn't live on the street. We may argue about racism, sexism, etc but he supports me for me and I love him.' Due to this statement, it is no surprise that Amy has the determination that she has.



You can check out Amy's art at a myspace page she has designated to showcasing it here: http://www.myspace.com/125031050


Article written by Sally Kingsley