We recently connected with Gabrielle (Gabie) Walberg and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Gabrielle (Gabie), thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I am very fortunate to be in my second year of working full-time as a tattoo artist. When I first started my apprenticeship, I was also a stay-at-home mom/nanny during the day. My schedule started at 7am with anywhere from 2-5 kids, until 5pm. Then, I would head to the tattoo shop to clean, observe, and learn. Sometimes there until 10, 11pm. Then I’d come home, clean up the house and prep for the next day. It was some really long days while I established clientele and improved my skills. I lived, ate, and breathed tattooing/drawing in every spare second I had. Exactly one year after I started my apprenticeship, I began my journey as a full time tattoo artist. It still feels unreal sometimes that I’m actually here.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve wanted to be an artist since I was about 6 years old and a tattoo artist since I was about 13. It took me a little while to finally take the leap into actively seeking out an apprenticeship. I went to school for my Bachelor’s in Visual Arts, but I never really wanted to be a studio artist. I definitely think that my degree has helped me a lot in cultivating my own style in tattooing and gave me a little leg up in creating my own designs.
I think my favorite part of my job is the collaboration that happens between my clients and I. They have all these awesome ideas and visions for their body and I get to help facilitate that. The confidence in themselves after and excitement that they have about my work is what makes me love what I do. I love creating unique pieces for each client, tailored to them, exactly how they invisioned it. The more I get to know my clients, the more I’m able to sneak little bits of their personality into their designs. It’s so fun watching it all come to life on their body.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I feel like a lot of people worried about me making a living/living a fulfilling life as an artist. I got a lot of concerns “are you going to be able to find a job?” Or even downright disapproving “you’ll never make money being an artist” kind of comments from friends and family. It felt like everyone was telling me no, doubting me. And in turn, made me doubt myself.
At some point, I realized I had given up a lot of my dreams. My advice: Don’t let them tell you what you can and can’t do. I put 110% into it and got where I wanted to be. I just had to trust and believe in myself a little bit first, to do it.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think my biggest struggle as an artist is the pressure put on me to create things constantly. I think that everybody gets a little caught up in all of the productivity nonsense of the world. I have a hard time on the days that I’m not creating/pumping out art because I feel like I “didn’t do enough”. Remembering where art and creativity comes from is super important for me and I often have to remind myself to slow down and experience life first, knowing that the inspiration for art will come naturally. However, having a schedule and timelines, can make that a struggle.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabie.tattoos?igsh=eDE3eDhlZDN2aGgx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabie.tattoos?mibextid=ZbWKwL
