We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Moore. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.

Hi Erin, thanks for joining us today. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I’ve certainly found a way to make a living off of my art and being able to do it my way as opposed to what would be considered traditional to tattooing. If there’s one important thing I’ve learned to make that happen, it’s that people are looking to find some sort of personal autonomy in my work and tattooing as a whole. Being the unfiltered and most honest version of myself has helped me build an eclectic client base of people who not only enjoy my art but I enjoy their company. I’ve been working with several clients for years through connecting on a personal level and providing a sort of “get-away-from-life” space for them as we go through the tattooing process. I find myself incredibly lucky that I’ve found a career that has acted as a tool for me to connect with others and build a business from that. In that regard I can say it’s been that way since day one.

However, it’s an ever changing industry and I’ve had to stay on my toes with all the new platforms of connecting with new clients as time goes on. If I was more prophetic in nature I would have worked a bit harder on my internet presence in conjunction with my activity in the local community. It would have offered some more reach to people who were looking for the type of experience I have in my chair.

Lastly, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s been extremely important to continue being a confident and firmly declared queer artist. I have a lot of traveling queer clients who are looking to find an artist who helps them feel fundamentally understood in an industry that hasn’t really been this accessible up until now. The sooner I learned that tattooing is a ritual where people practice owning their bodies and the choices they make to express themselves, the sooner I learned that they were also looking for that confidence in the people providing that work. Freedom of expression is one of the most important and healing things we get to have in life and one of the only things we really have control over. When you allow people to have that platform you’re not only building up your client base, you’re building up and empowering your clients. It’s been an important asset to my growth in tattooing.

Erin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

To be completely honest I came across tattooing by accident. I was 24 years old and felt very disconnected from any sort of community. I wanted artists friends and didn’t know where to look. So I started hanging out at a local tattoo shop drawing with the guys who worked there. One day came the question: do you want to learn to tattoo? And I said “Drop out of college and have no college debt? Hell yes.”

That was it really, I wanted freedom. I had a very hard isolated childhood. I supported my family through most of it and in terms of my future I never could see the forest through the trees outside of surviving. I never felt like I got to choose myself growing up, and even in the early years of tattooing it always felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants. It took years before I realized that’s what taking control of my life looked like. Swallowing my pride, dealing with a lot of brutish male ego, being in an industry where if you were a woman you were only getting clients because of your looks, blah blah blah. Needless to say learning the craft took several arduous years of dedication and gritting my teeth through the tough times. It didnt help I didn’t realize I was grappling with my gender identity at the time as well as where I felt I belonged as a whole.

And now here I am, 7 years later. 1000 miles from the state I grew up in and everyone I knew, fully able to rebuild my client base and my place in the community. It took me moving to Tallahassee to figure out what it is I could provide as an artist that didn’t already exist in a very over saturated market. I already knew my greatest strength in my trade was having an inviting personality and endless space for conversation and connection. I love the people I get to meet through my career. I love playing therapist for a day, or trash talking and harping on life. But most importantly it took moving down south to realize that there’s an important role for me to play as a genderqueer person. There’s lgbtq+ young people out there already so brave being themselves at an age I remember feeling so vulnerable at. Sure they can get tattooed anywhere but I’ve noticed they drive hours to get tattooed in my chair. They see a piece of themselves in me and me in them. They feel safe, able to talk freely about their experiences and that if they come to me with deeply personal projects that I’m able to understand their needs on a fundamental level. It’s been incredibly healing on my end as well and I’ve only seen it expand the reach of my services.

Artistically I have always been a pointilism artist but have taken the years of tattooing to have an expansive skill set to meet my clients needs. Illustrative, dark and macabre. Nerdy, video game and comic book based designs. Manga panels, neotraditional inspired illustration. Anything with expressive and dark undertones I’m happy to do. But I’m just as happy doing that cute little tattoo you saw on Pinterest. My job is to make sure my clients are happy and to use my skill set to make sure their ideas are executed well and proper.

My brand though, has been to express compassion and joy through every avenue I can possibly manage that in. I have a wealth of it to provide for everyone and it’s especially important I give it back to the people who I know need it most right now. I want my brand of tattooing to be one that creates community. The people who come to Carbon Ink to get tattooed end up being tattooed by every artist there eventually. We’ve built and continue to build a place where our clients are excited to visit and talk to the whole gang. As a collection of misfits ourselves, it took us finding this space to be able to feel like we belong somewhere. I really feel like that giving that back is the purpose of not only my career but my life as a whole.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Something my mentor taught me early on I don’t think I really understood until recently. He said “make sure you know where you want to grow your roots and really focus on building there”. It felt pretty obvious what that ment, especially in a field where we grow our business person by person. But I overlooked how active I’d been in the art and music community back home in New Jersey. I had painted murals for a local project out of Atlantic City. Played in a band for years at tons of spaces and met many people that way. I worked in food and bev, life modeled at the art college, participated in recovery groups, worked in science as a research assistant at a Rutgers farm. I had met and known A LOT of people.

Then I moved to Tallahassee, Florida. Oops.

BOY was the first year absolutely a reality check for me. I have a resilient and boisterous personality and an ability to quickly make friends but I wasn’t ready to feel like I was back to earning my stripes again. I’ve had to make sure I do the work and make my presence known.

Boots on the ground, I’ve gone out putting fliers up all around town. Paid attention to the economic situation making sure I offer flash that makes my clients feel prioritized over money. I run questionnaires online asking what my clients want to see from me. Photo shoots to show off some personality. TikTok videos to remind my clients that when it comes down to it I’m actually 12 years old. Going to local shows, supporting local businesses, talking to other small business owners, befriending other tattooers. It’s a full time job inside and outside of the shop.

We’re in a dire state as far as things go when it comes to people having the money for luxury spending on things like tattoos. No one has $300 for a tattoo of fat pikachu on a surfboard. But I don’t intend to ever stop doing what I love, so if you need me you’ll see me out canvassing and galavanting around with my silly little drawings and my friends from work.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Carbon Ink Tallahassee is where I’ve planted my roots. It was a total accident how I found them. I was just unhappy at my previous shop and needed a change of pace. Tattooing just wasn’t working for me anymore. I was miserable, felt like I was unable to connect with my clients, and like the money wasn’t worth the soul sucking dread I was having based around my future. I was starting to have some deep self doubt.

I went to do an interview on a whim and ended up sitting there for three hours chatting so incredibly hard with our incredible manager (and now tattoo apprentice) Ben and the shop owner (and also incredible tattooer) Emillio, that I forgot to even tour the shop. I knew I wanted to be there.

There’s just something almost impossible to describe about meeting the right people. But I get to now work in a shop full of some of the most compassionate, hard working, and giving people I’ve ever met. Emillio is a full time fire fighter, paramedic, and tattooer. I’ve never seen a man be so overworked and still care about his employees emotional and financial wealth. It makes me want to work harder just to see his business succeed because I really believe he deserves it.

My coworkers are all talented and so full of personality. It’s completely breathed new life into my career and reignited my love for tattooing. I could make not a single cent and still have a great week. My creative gears are firing on all cylinders. I’m more productive and have been successfully active on social media in a way I’ve never been able to.

I swear it’s like the road to tattooing was always ment to take me here. You know when you find where you’re ment to be. It’s a feeling. But everything just works right. It’s been worth the tremendous struggles I’ve endured over the many years of my career and just in my personal day to day life.

I found a place that makes me feel accepted as I am. Gay, loud, and absolutely weird. And in doing that I’m able to give my clients the same courtesy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://erinmorbidtattoo.com/booking
• Instagram: ErinMorbidTattoo
• Other: https://carboninktattoo.com/

Image Credits

2000s television ad inspired photos taken by @MattisonFire on Instagram