People often ask me “what made you become a tattooist?”

I’ve been interested in art for as long as I can remember, as a child I was always drawing and making things, so I think it was a natural progression from that. I was about 12 years old when I first became aware of tattoos and the concept of wearing art on skin. I would experiment with temporary tattoos and painting my own designs on using make up.

At school I did art G.C.S.E and A’ level. It was then that I became intrigued by the idea of learning to tattoo. People would comment that my artwork would make good tattoo designs. Then friends asked me to design theirs. The end result was often frustrating because it was so different from my original design, so I thought the only way to overcome that was to do the actual tattoos myself.  

The more I thought about it, the more appealing it became. I found it fascinating to think you could permanently mark your skin with an artistic design. And as an artist, what bigger compliment is there, than that someone wants to wear your work for the rest of their life. 

This was a notion that lay dormant for some years while I went to college and then did various jobs (including mural painting) Until I stopped work to have my daughter. It was around the time of her first birthday that the hunger to learn something new and the urge to tattoo became too strong to ignore! 

I went to several tattoo studios trying to “get a foot in the door” and finally got an apprentiship. It was a challenge but I loved it. The more I did the more I wanted to do. One of the best things about tattooing is that everyday is different and there is always something new to learn. 

I spent the next 4½ years working in two studios. In the summer of 2001, sadly I felt I’d hit a dead end; it was time to move on!

TATTOO-UK was a newly opened studio so I went to check it out. I met Alan and showed him some photos of my work, and was very lucky to be offered a place there. It was the fresh start I needed to improve. That was two years ago, and I’ve never looked back. Alan has re-taught me a lot of what I thought I knew.

Being here has reminded me of all the reasons I wanted to tattoo in the first place. I’ve learnt so much and also been given the opportunity to express myself through my work, resulting in what I’d like to think is a significant improvement in my ability. 

As well as exploring all the styles of tattoos with “walk-in” customers, I enjoy working on more specialist areas and custom pieces. These include portraits, back pieces and the theme of “faeries” which is a particular favorite of mine (hence my nickname: “Tink”!).
 

View my work...!