We were lucky to catch up with Gianna Cocciolillo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gianna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Most tattoo apprenticeships are not easy to come by. I was fortunate enough to know my mentor since I was a kid. I was in my last semester of art school, pursuing a degree in Art Education when my mentor, Gianna Caranfa (yes, we have the same first name) tattooed me and offered me an apprenticeship. We both related to feeling stuck in a limbo after graduating college, uncertain in our career choices. She guided me towards a tattoo apprenticeship and I believe it was the best decision I could have made. There is a negative connotation around tattoo apprenticeships and how they can be abusive and I believe this discourages a lot of artists. Luckily, mine was great. My mentor taught me a lot of valuable skills not only about the craft of tattooing but also about creating a safe and welcoming environment for everyone to be tattooed! Learning proper tattooing techniques and creating a sterile work space with basic blood-borne pathogen knowledge is essential to an apprenticeship. A lot of tattooing is hands-on experience. The medium itself is very different from drawing on paper or painting a canvas. It’s skin; it stretches, it moves and everyone’s body is different. In the beginning stages of tattooing it’s about hand strength and getting familiar with the medium. I think a big obstacle for me in the beginning was making sure I had the confidence in my ability to pull straight lines/my artwork being up to par. As artists, we are constantly critiquing ourselves. I still struggle with thinking my art is good enough sometimes but I think every artist feels this way – every human feels this way. This also helps me in bettering my artwork with each tattoo I do because I am constantly striving to be the best artist and person I can be.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

From drawing on the walls as a little kid to drawing on people’s skin as an adult, I’ve always loved art. I began feeling uncertain in my choice to be an art teacher my junior year of college. Once I began student teaching my senior year, I really started to think about how I was unhappy in my career. “I don’t want to look at my life thirty years from now and live in regret” I thought. I don’t want to dread going to work each day. I felt stuck, like most twenty-somethings feel. My mentor, Gianna Caranfa had tattooed me during my final semester of college. She also went to school for art education and felt the same way I felt when she graduated. She said, “we’re artists and we need to create.” Being an art teacher was not a creative outlet for me. She offered me a tattoo apprenticeship and from there on, I never looked back. There is a lot of taboo around typical ‘scary’ tattoo shops where clients are scared to speak up. At the end of the day, tattoos are permanent and you should feel safe and comfortable in how you express yourself! I work at Bee Inked, a female owned tattoo shop in Westchester, New York. The shop is very cozy and family-oriented and we strive to make everyone feel welcome. A lot of our clients say they have so much fun in our shop, like we’ve all been life long friends at a slumber party. This job is great because every day is different. A different client, a different project, different stories. We created a warm and welcoming environment at Bee Inked because tattoos can be a vulnerable and intimate thing for people and it means so much to me that people want my art tattooed on them. I love my co-workers and clients so much. They say when you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life and I firmly believe in that.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are a lot of rewarding things about being a tattoo artist. I get to create art every day and it goes out into the world, on another person forever. Tattoos can help people’s confidence and help them through hardships. A big reward for me is seeing the look on a client’s face when the tattoo is done. Tattoos can evoke a lot of emotions because they can mean many different things for people. I am so happy I get to be a part of a community of artists at Bee Inked Tattoo Parlor that create a safe space for everyone.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

It is very interesting to live in a world where my portfolio is my instagram. Tattooing used to be (and still is to an extent) picking from a booklet of flash designs and having a tangible photo portfolio. I’m still navigating how to curate my portfolio through social media but my biggest advice is to have fun with it and post the things you like. It’s easy to get caught up in the façade of social media. I love trends that showcase my art while also keeping people entertained with funny bits.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: parmogianna