We recently connected with Briar Mercier and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Briar, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Animated shows and movies have always been a huge inspiration for me. As a child in the early 2000’s, I loved watching “Avatar the Last Airbender” on Nickelodeon. Sometimes, there would be an animator offering to teach how to draw the characters after the commercial break. I always rushed to find a pencil and paper to learn how to draw Katara. To this day, I consider that my first drawing lesson. I knew then that I had an interest in art, but wasn’t sure where to go.

In high school, I attended a college-level figure drawing class for seniors. It was run by Otis, which was a great college for animators. At the time, animation was all that I could imagine myself doing. The class itself was challenging and eye-opening, and it allowed me to talk to people in artistic fields. On the last day of the course, they provided a presentation about art-related jobs. The list was full of opportunity, and extended over several pages. While glancing over all of the job descriptions, I tried envisioning myself in each creative environment. “Tattoo Artist” was on the list, which surprised me. At the time I didn’t really picture tattooing as an artistic career. However, having that person-to-person interaction seemed very appealing to me, along with being able to decorate someone’s body with my art.

After telling my parents about wanting to be a tattoo artist, they encouraged me to not pursue that path. They wanted me to do something else with art. After high school I went straight to a liberal arts college. I fought becoming an art major for years, out of fear of becoming a starving artist. Eventually, I rationalized that as long as I had a Concentration in Design, a Fine Arts Major was worth it. I became a Graphic Designer for a few years after graduation, specializing in creating logos and package design. Unfortunately, I got bored. Everything I did was through a screen, and it was purely corporate. I needed something real, something that allowed my mind to be fully tuned into creativity. Becoming a Tattoo Artist crossed my mind again, but I was too afraid to make that move.

During the start of the pandemic, the company I worked for went under. I tried finding another Graphic Designer job, but my heart wasn’t in it. I wanted a stable job away from computer screens, and became a mail carrier for USPS. I enjoyed my time with them. If I wasn’t an artist, I would’ve stayed with them longer. The day dream of being a tattoo artist lingered in the back of my mind. At USPS, I worked 6 days a week (at least). There was no time to start an apprenticeship, so I decided to quit. I had enough money saved up to support myself for a few months while I pursued a new creative venture. I cold-called tattoo shops immediately, and found an apprenticeship within a week of leaving my federal job. I finally felt like I was on the right creative path.

When I started my apprenticeship, I had felt like I had wasted time on my journey here. Looking back, I understand that all along the way, I was at the right place at the right time. I eventually accepted that my dream job was achievable, and I was able to pursue it with all of the lessons I had learned along the way. Fear was what was holding me back. I was able to tame it, allow myself to pursue happiness in my creative career.

Briar, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My journey into tattooing wasn’t the safest. There was an incident with my first mentor where he insisted that he needed to tattoo on my client, even though she didn’t want him to. I did not let him touch her, and that caused a riff in our mentor-apprentice relationship. He fired me shortly after that, and I gladly left to seek out a better learning environment. It is because of this experience that I ensure with clients that they feel safe in my studio.

Consent is very important to me, especially since tattooing requires so much contact. There is a transfer of energy between my client and me. It starts with the collaboration of art. I listen to my client about their creative vision, and gather information and references for the design. The river of inspiration keeps flowing as I create a calming atmosphere for my client, and show them the stencil. Once we love the placement, we begin the physical ritual of engraving the artwork onto their skin. In every step of the way, I always make sure that my client is comfortable with the actions I make.

As a queer pagan artist, I know what it’s like to be disrespected. At some point you have to stand up for yourself. I no longer fear taking up space. I create without limitations, and feel free in the community I have found. With this support, I was able to create a tarot deck exploring spirituality from an androgynous perspective. I am also able to pursue art, and go to pop-up events to share my vision through art prints and temporary tattoos of my flash. I have realized that if you find people who respect boundaries, you will find appreciative people.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

All art exists as a portal into the mind of the artist. As an adolescent, both teachers and parents were concerned with my darker pieces. It was during this time that I decided to keep these illustrations only to myself, and share only the bright artworks. This was the moment where I learned to make my art more digestible for the general public.

The darker pieces stayed collecting dust in my closet for years. I only started showing my forbidden artwork in college. It was then that I realized my peers preferred the canvases from the shadows. I was so confused, because I had been so afraid to show them to other people. I began accepting the darkness that comes with the light, and started delving into my Shadow Self. I noticed that Life and Death must be balanced out, and that is one of the main patterns of the Universe. This is an equilibrium that I want to portray in my artwork. My art is not for everyone, and that is a lesson I had to unlearn. I would rather stay true to myself than try and appeal to everyone.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I realized I had an alcohol problem in my late twenties. When my 29th birthday came around, I had a feeling that my thirties had to be sober. I came across the book “The Easy Way to Control Alcohol” by Allen Carr, and it really helped me solidify my decision to quit. At that point, I was drinking alcohol from 5pm to 1am, wasting eight hours a day by becoming inebriated. If you do the math, I was spending a third of my life poisoning my body. Now, I can spend those eight hours learning a new skill, working, or resting. Not to mention, I save a lot of money by not buying alcohol. My social life hasn’t really changed, either. I hang out with my friends at parties like I did before. I have lost nothing and only gained my life back.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: b.sting.tattoos