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

Hi Cassie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve gotten the pleasure of working on was for a mother affected by the Waukesha parade tragedy of 2021. Sheri first reached out to me in March of 2022 telling me that she wanted to work on a quarter-sleeve honoring her lost children. Initially she told me that she had sent a few other artists emails, and no one else responded with sympathy or human emotion in the email and thus I was chosen for the project. She came into the tattoo shop I was working at, at the time with sketches and all these ideas in tow. Over the course of several sessions, for a one-quarter sleeve, I got to know her on a deeper level. Got to hear how strong of a woman and mother she is, the tragedies that has struck her family and how much we both love reading and Red Bull (our favorite flavor is Pomegranate- Red Bull, if you’re reading this, please bring it back, haha). She continues to do things in her everyday life to honor her child lost that day, November 21st, 2021 like opening the Jackson Sparks Foundation. It was super important and meaningful to be picked for this project because tattoos take a lot of time, they are intimate experiences and with all of that comes a lot of trust from client to artist. Trust to properly honor those lost, trust to deliver quality work and trust in sharing our stories and experiences together that make us who we are.

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 back background and context?

I got into tattooing in high school because I watched my father get a tattoo on my 16th birthday and saw it as a viable option to do art for a living, while also putting food on the table. I think tattooing is probably the coolest job anyone could ask for- to get to make permanent art on folks, to express myself and help them express themselves… I’m just so lucky.

Everything I use in my tattooing from start to finish is all vegan friendly. When folks talk about vegan friendly tattoos, often times it’s only the inks being looked at. It’s so much bigger than that, from the razorblades you use (the comfort strips often have lanolin in them), to the stencil material and stencil applicant, to the inks and ointments used during the procedure. I specialize in illustrative glitter tattoos (anything super kawaii/ cute and bright, bold color really makes my heart sing).

I’m also queer and a huge mental health advocate. I love to put my money where my mouth is and do several flash benefits a year (Mental Health Awareness May, My Body My Choice, Giving Tuesday, etc).

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Stop supporting AI art. AI art is inherently theft. Bad, poorly done art is better than AI art.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I absolutely love that I get to create a safe space for those who come into my space. I love that people feel comfortable enough to open up to me about their lives and can get their feelings out without worrying about judgement. I also really love when folks come in to put a tattoo on a spot on their body they maybe don’t like, get that tattoo and then all of a sudden, they can wear shorts again in public… or feel overall better about themselves. That gives me life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cassielikesassy.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/cassielikesassy
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/cassielikesassy
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/alderaan-ink-greenfield-2
• Other: www.alderaanink.com
  instagram.com/alderaanink

Image Credits

Meg McKenzie for the photo of me, photos of my work are photographed by me.