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

Alright, Cheyenne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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 had a rough upbringing as a child, and truly thought my dreams were far too big to be achieved. I struggled for years with saving money and living paycheck to paycheck. I spent some time as a server and bartender, working somewhere around 60 hours a week just to keep my head afloat. I’ve always been a hard worker, no matter what the job title was. Testing a few different paths, and contemplating college many times, I just knew deep down I wanted to be a tattoo artist in the end. Fear got in the way for a few years, but by 2019 I started my tattooing journey and haven’t stopped since! It took a lot of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice to get where I am today. I spent a little over 2 years in the “apprentice” phase, but patience and dedication kept me going! With an art style as bold and peculiar as mine, it’s an honor to have turned my passion into a well paying career I can enjoy the rest of my life. I’ve had plenty of people discourage me and me “weird” art style, ensuring my art wouldn’t be appreciated. However, here I am tattooing all kinds of subject matter, especially the weird stuff! Specializing in glitter tattoos, I get to do a lot of fun and out there designs that make the job even more fulfilling. Being a tattoo artist opens a lot of opportunities to travel and meet other artists, which is great as I’m forever learning and growing. It is the biggest blessing to have pursued my childhood dream, as well as leaving my permanent mark on people’s bodies forever.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Cheyenne Challenger. I am 27 years old, and I was born and raised here in Northwest Indiana. I’ve been drawing and painting from the day I can remember. With many artists in the family, I always knew I wanted to grow up and be an artist of sorts. During my school years, I did whatever possible to be in the art room as often as I could be. My senior year five out of my seven classes were art classes. Art has always been my muse and keeps my running mind calm. Growing up obsessed with shows like LA and Miami ink, I knew at just the age of 10 that I wanted to be a tattoo artist. I didn’t personally know any tattooed people during my childhood. So I think the mystery made the idea that much more appealing. I really loved the individuality that tattoos bring to people and how expressive they can be. I started drawing flash sheets around 2016 and started building my portfolio from there. Knowing that I would have to dedicate a lot of time to an apprenticeship, I did take it slow. I will admit it was also a scary thought to pursue a career where I would permanently mark peoples bodies forever.
The day that I turned 18 I went to get my first tattoo. Everyone under the sun recommended I checkout Bluebird Tattoo in Portage, so I did just that. I remember walking out that day telling my mom “one day I’m going to work here. Fast forward a few years later and well, here I am.
I began my tattooing journey in late 2019. After what felt like forever, I officially graduated my apprenticeship and became a full-time artist in February of 2022.
Drawing inspiration from traditional tattooing, I combined this with my love for anything bright and trippy to create my unique style. I’ve always had a very peculiar art style. Best known for my glitter tattoos, I also love to use neon-like colors, varying line weights, heart and star details, and extra eyeballs wherever I can! If color isn’t your thing, I am also well versed in black and gray.
I began testing out the glitter technique as soon as I got a grasp on the fundamentals. My mentor Jordan would often use what he called “party dots“ in his mandala work. It was almost like a confetti technique that I really loved. So I started to experiment with using different sized dots to create different affects. In the beginning I was unsure of how people would feel about including the glitter technique in their pieces as it wasn’t a well known in the area. However, people seemed to really love the idea and as time went on more and more people were coming in and asking if I could include glitter in their tattoo. I would also suggest it or show new clients previous glitter tattoos I had done to see if they would let me included in their piece. Whether it be full glitter, or just some small details, I now do glitter tattoos several times a week. Common subject matters include horror, 90s/2000s cartoons, insects, botanicals, cats, anime, aliens, mushrooms, and much more!
It’s been such a fun experience to watch this new technique grow. I’ve seen a lot of artists experimenting with this technique, but hadn’t really notice anyone doing it quite like me in my area. It’s been great to draw inspiration from those other artists and to even see that I have inspired others around me to try it out as well.
Though color is my jam, I also love doing black and gray tattoos often as well. Typically when I’m doing black and gray it’s often floral work, skulls, skeletons, ghosts, or small and simple designs.
The best part of my job is sending people home in love with the new piece of art they get to wear on their body for the rest of their lives. These collaborations with clients are especially fulfilling when it comes to cover ups or re-works. Whether it’s an older tattoo that’s faded, or a tattoo that wasn’t executed well, I often take on these projects. It’s amazing to see my clients confidence restored when they leave with some thing they love to look at.
Tattoos are a lifelong commitment and an honor whenever someone chooses me for that task. And an even better honor when someone gives me full creative freedom, as that’s when I thrive best. I love getting to know my clients during our sessions. Whether they just need it vent or want to talk about life, it’s great to meet so many new people through this experience. I hope to one day take this experience to the road where I can meet even more people and continue my knowledge in my craft. So if I’m not close now, I might be one day and if you haven’t booked an appointment with me yet, better late than never!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think that so many people have this idea that in order to support me, or to support artists in general, that they have to come and get a tattoo or buy an expensive piece of artwork. It can be so much more simple than that. There are plenty of ways you can support artists and creatives for absolutely no cost to you. In this day and age, we have so much access to the world right in our fingertips. While back in the day, artists relied on word-of-mouth or walk in traffic, we also get the social media “bonus.” If you want to support your local artist It can be as simple as sharing their art. Whether that be through Instagram or Facebook, or tagging someone who may appreciate the art, or just throwing their name out there when you hear the subject of art. Though it’s convenient, social media is such a vast community. The more you share, the more the artists name gets out there. One sparked conversation could open a whole new door for the artist you love.
If tattoos aren’t for you or they aren’t in the cards, you can always buy some of our art work or commission for a personal drawing or painting. I personally make flash sheets often, but don’t typically print them out for sale unless someone reaches out and asks specifically. If my work schedule isn’t too crazy, I accept commissions. So don’t be afraid to reach out to an artist as well. They may be able to provide you with an art piece in other ways!

Have you ever had to pivot?

Though I learned everything I know from my mentors at Bluebird, it was not where I first began my journey. I did about 6 months of an apprenticeship at a different shop that left me questioning if tattooing was some thing I really wanted to do. I found myself in an extremely toxic workplace. There was daily fighting amongst shop members and just cruel and unusual behavior overall. I was rarely taught anything and was often told to “figure it out myself.” I had lost the excitement of being a tattoo apprentice, but I didn’t want to give up because of all that I had sacrificed to get where I was. When we went into lockdown during Covid, I really had the chance to be away, and to reflect on where I was at that point in my life. So, when life slowly started getting back to normal, I decided to wipe myself clean and start over. I saw an opportunity for an apprenticeship at Bluebird and pretty much just kept showing up to the shop until they gave me the job. It was the best risk I ever took, and I’m so happy I did. We are like one big goofy family at Bluebird and I’m proud to call it home.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rainstormtats.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/rainstormtats
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rainstormtats?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: Tiktok: @rainstormtats