We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andy Revenant a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

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

When I was in middle school and I took my first art class I realized how much I enjoyed the creative field. I started drawing more at that point, and in high school my love for painting began. I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in art, but the question for me when I was young was in what medium and profession. My dad was pushing me to do graphic design, but because I love painting I knew I wanted to create something more with my hands. When I was 15 I went to visit my mom in Seattle and got my first tattoo. (Admittedly I used my older sisters ID) I got a very nice tattoo, in a very nice shop, I observed everything around me with the music playing and people coming in and out and fell in love with the environment, and I knew then this is what I wanted to do. After that trip I focused all my artwork and paintings in school on different styles of tattoo art. When I was 17 and still a senior in high school I got an apprenticeship and was juggling school and being at the tattoo shop learning as much as possible.

I apprenticed for a year and a half and got hired into a shop shortly after graduating high school. I am so happy to have figured out what I wanted to do at a young age and so grateful for the job/experiences/coworkers/clients I have met along the way. I have now been tattooing for 17 years and partnered with my old boss three years ago to open our new shop Deep Seas Tattoo, and couldn’t be happier now being an owner and loving creating the space I’m currently in. I don’t know where I would be without tattooing and all the wonderful opportunities and family support with my coworkers over the years. No matter what is happening in my life, work has always been a positive, safe place in my life to focus on that has given me purpose and happiness.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I have been tattooing for 17 years, I specialized in color for 10 years. Starting with American traditional and then my clientele started becoming dominantly female based as my colors got brighter and I started doing a lot more flowers, color mandalas, plant life subjects. The past 6 years I have moved more into more detailed black work, dot work, still lots of plant life, mandalas, henna work, and lots of anatomical hearts. I think my clients also like coming to me because I’m very personable with them, I love my clients and usually end up tattooing them for years and consider them friends. My coworker and I were always very big on customer service and making people feel welcome, even years ago when it wasn’t a very popular thing for tattoo shops to be kind and welcoming. Some shops can seem “too cool” or intimidating and we wanted to have a different atmosphere that customers enjoyed being in and kept them coming back. Which made a big difference and brought us and our shop a lot of returning clientele.
What I am most proud of is how much I’ve grown now not only artistically but as a person, finding my own voice throughout the years, and most of all the space I’ve created now at the new shop, Deep Seas Tattoo.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of my particular job being a creative or artist would be, meeting and helping lots of new people that I spend hours with in a creative space. The connections and conversations I have with them are very rewarding to make an impact in lots of people lives and vice versa . Its rewarding to be able to work in other states and countries, and to make your own schedule. And also its rewarding and rare to be able to make money doing what you truly love doing and enjoy coming to work everyday.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @andrearevenant