leafytattoo

[leafytattoo]

Some of my art.

[leafytattoo]

Some of my Apprentice tattoos.

[leafytattoo]

Appy Daze

The year was 2011...It was not my most awe-inspiring year but it was the year I started down a road that turned out to be the absolute best thing for me. I had semi-completed my Art studies and was not entirely sure where my life was going....But I digress... I knew a guy (happened to be a friend of mines boyfriend) who was looking for a Tattoo Apprentice. Knowing little to nothing about the industry, its standards or anything relating to Tattooing I took the risk and dived right in. Turns out the guy was a heroin addict and not as into his business as I was initially made to believe. It lasted a grand total of 6 months before he closed his doors and I was left wondering WTF!!

Those six months, while not ideal, were my proverbial foot in the door so to speak. I learnt that it was in fact a very interesting industry, peppered with artists of every race,gender,age,skill level,sexual orientation....you get my point. I learnt alot about WHAT NOT TO DO during my time there ie: equipment needs to be properly sterilized and autoclaved and not just scrubbed with dettol like that chap had me do. yep...pretty gnarly actually. 

Fast forward to Apprenticeship number 2: I was by this stage still hell-bent on getting into the industry now that it had me hooked. By sheer luck I was offered a shop management position in the town I now live in (Knysna) with the possibility of an apprenticeship....so I sold what I could, packed what little I had and jumped on a bus to Knysna. I lived on my friends couch, got myself a night job and went at it guns blazing....Lucky for me it did turn into an apprenticeship...But (as with studio number 1) I was so intent on becoming a tattooist that once again I failed to see that the Artist was ALSO a substance abuser ( I know..I know...you are probably wondering how doff could I be) This is what passion and motivation does to one I've come to realize....It sometimes makes us blind to the realities we face. There I also learned a couple more “What not to do’s” such as re-using needles is a huge No-No! ( This lovely chap had me scrubbing and autoclaving the used ones) How I never picked up Hepatitis or Hiv is absolutely beyond me...I thank my lucky stars that I am still healthy!

I had been in Knysna a total of 7 months when this studio also closed its doors...for very much the same reasons as the first. And yet again I was left WTF-ing the world in general and beginning to question if I was in fact still sane. I almost gave up at this point....ready to resign myself to a boring “office job” type career and be done with the whole tattoo industry. I continued waitressing part time while I weighed up my options. During this time I decided to treat myself to a tattoo with a very well known Tattoo Artist called Moog. We got along immediately and two weeks later He offered me a position as a Desk Lady in his studio. I was over the moon...so much so that I refused payment and instead opted to get paid in tattoos...now I bet you are laughing your heads off at this...but Im still fairly convinced this is what got me in.

After 2 months of Desk-Ladying like a boss...the time came to chat to Moog about possibly being his Appy. Im not going to go into too much detail about the actual conversation itself...but the end result was this: I needed to work there (for free) for at least a year before an apprenticeship was even an option. I know now that this was in fact a test. Most people jump ship at even the mention of “NO Pay” but for some insane (and possibly retarded) reason...I didn’t balk at the idea. My part time waitressing job became a full time night job (6 evenings a week with a double shift on sundays) I had no social life, no free time...I literally ate, slept, shat and worked. But it paid off. After a year of working myself into almost a stand still...I bagged the apprenticeship.

It was officially the start of something real. I was living proof that perserverence pays off!

Chapter 2 to follow :)

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Thanks for looking:).....and reading:)