What is your artistic training or education?
 

In Portugal, before high school you have to decide between three major courses: Sciences, Humanities or Arts. The choice was super obvious to me since I was an impulsive sketcher. I enrolled myself on the arts program and fell in love with picture books the same year. Later, I started making clothes as a means of income. Soon I would be working at the Theatre as a Costume Designer and slacking in school.

I failed two years by lack of attendance and later enrolled to study Fashion Design. I had tried a Costumes degree but didn’t enjoy it. The reason why I was able to finish Fashion was because I had really good teachers that made me love some subjects. My housemate at the time also helped a lot getting through it; I think if it wasn’t for her I would have quit because I mostly hated it. Sometimes I wonder if I draw so many naked people because of that.

I have considered taking a bachelor’s degree in painting and cinema but I don’t think I would be able to go through it all again.

As an autistic person who just discovered this life-changing information, most of my struggles and obsessions make sense now and I don’t think the regular schooling system was built to accommodate non-neurotypical people so I always prefer to do small workshops and read and learn what really interests me at on my own pace.

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What materials do you use? 

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What are you working on now?

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How long have you been doing tattoos?

I started on 2016, so that will be 5 years in November 2021.

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How did you get started with tattoos?

When I was 16 I tried to get an apprenticeship in a traditional tattoo shop in my hometown but they told me I didn’t know how to shade and that it would be very hard considering I am a woman. I completely forgot about it for a few years and started reconsidering it when I was finishing my degree with no intents of pursuing it. A friend of mine (@agataris), who had almost the same background as me, started tattooing and I began a month or two after her. We have shared a work space, skin, guest spot travels and a tight friendship ever since.

Luckily I started when there was already a lot of useful information on the internet. I read everyday before going to school, I binged watched resource videos and spoke to a lot of tattoo artists who had experience. So you could say I am self-motivated-community-taught.