We were lucky to catch up with Imani K Brown recently and have shared our conversation below.
Imani K, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
As tattoo becomes more saturated, it’s easy to go to Youtube and learn to tattoo. Though I wouldn’t advise this if you paid me a boat load of moolah ~
And as I walk in to 20 years a tattoo artist; transforming into a master tattoo artist I’m truly reflective on what it means to learn and master a craft like tattoo – where you can use human flesh as a diary page that lasts for all eternity. I think about what it actually costs to become a masterful and influential tattoo artist.
In my case … a tattoo ‘therapist’
To begin my journey, I unexpectedly, yet boastfully bragged on myself while in the chair getting my hand tattooed.
I had just received my first government contract for photography – and that was huge for my business at the time. I was the proud owner of Creative Purpose Photography. And my mentor at the time was helping me understand how to procure government contracts for my photography services.
Anywhoo, I’d gotten a contract. Whoohoo! And decided to celebrate by going to get a tattoo. And that’s different for me. Cuz with my history of self-harm I used to only get tattooed when I needed a release of pinned up negative emotion, felt I needed to be punished or was just in my (ab)normal darkly depressed emo state. Either way, I asked the man – a white man – who was tattooing me at the time if he’d teach me the craft. He said very blatant and clear that he wouldn’t teach a Black person let alone a woman. To which, I smiled, nodded and let him return to completing my tattoo. Though I knew this was gonna be my last rodeo with him.
So you guessed it, I’m Black and a woman (hi!) and the first things I learned that I would have to overcome in this industry to master it, wasn’t the craft … it’d be the racism and sexism that exists in this version of what I like to call the ‘wild west’ (or the deep South, depending on your mood). And that response was how I learned what I want to do.
Accepting his challenge … I didn’t want to just be a tattooer. I wanted to be a specialty artists who transforms lives. Cuz clearly he had no idea that I was sitting in his chair to transform my own. And being oblivious to that kind of powers just wild to me.
To learn I had to obtain an apprenticeship, which is what I was getting at when I boastfully bragged on myself. The artist I bragged to, Chris Mensah, would become my tattoo master. And I’d work by his side for 12 years learning tattoo, managing the shop, brand image and its artists. I also became the second noted Black female tattoo artist for the US. So, part of my journey included making history and paving the way for other Black women to thrive in this industry.
To do this, beyond learning the craft, I also had to learn me. So alongside studying how to make needles, how to build a machine, skin and blood borne pathogens, cross contamination and of course design + placement, I studied me as an artist – becoming. I learned my quirks, my response to clients, what energizes me, and what drains me. In short, I learned more about my own unmet emotional needs and how to serve myself while serving others through this modality. Hence the tattoo therapist title.
There’s not much that can be done to speed up any journey to mastery. Especially if it involves needles, blood and permanent ink. The only thing I can truly say is that a lot of times fighting the journey – fear, resistance and stubbornness – can prolong this. And that’s the case for me.
I played small trying to only manage a shop and its artists, not realizing that I am called to one day have my own shop with its own (healing) voice in tattoo. In fact, my own soft skills of emotional intelligence, as a highly sensitive empath would have done wonders on me the way it works for my clients. But we’re here now. Speaking of which, learning myself also meant learning how to use my ‘super powers’ to serve others. And those have become the most essential alongside my being ferociously OCD and having an eye for fine line and detail on dark skin.
This road has been amazing. And while tattoo still stands to be one of the highest segregated and racist industries, even in 2022, it’s a place where Black creative misfits can thrive. Then you can stand 10 toes down when things that are centered around racism and sexism come your way. You won’t even view them as obstacles or threats as myself and so many Black tattoo artists before me don’t.
You’ll see them as opportunities.
A healthy challenge to kick a$$!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Hi there! I am Imani K Brown, avant-garde tattoo and brand stylist. I got into tattoo as a cutter after having been told by an artist that he wouldn’t teach me because of my race and sex. I thought, cool! That means I MUST find someone who will. And when I found him, I did my best to put my best foot forward everyday as a creative PROfessional, not just a tattoo artist.
I was fresh out of college and after being fired from my only paying job as an adult over a register short by $20 that had absolutely nothing to do with me as a lab technician (flips the bird to Ritz Camera) I stumbled upon an opportunity to thrive in a degenerate sport (that’s what I call tattoo LOLz).
It hasn’t been the easiest road, by far, but I surrendered to the craft and allowed myself to become a vessel that has left me in awe of both the human experience and the work I am blessed to contribute within it. Through tattoo, I haven’t just become more grateful, I’ve learned to live and not wait die, developed discipline and a love for the art of business that deepens with every happy client we help transform.
Given how I come to tattoo, the name of our game at Little INKPLAY Shop is happy clients, authentic self-expression and body positivity … for long term wellness. We help each client tell their unique story on skin in a bespoke process. Think of us as tailors and when you come in we take all the information you give us to make something truly unique and one-of-a-kind to only YOU. We understand that there is nothing new under the sun, so we offer tattoo experiences – kawaii, therapeutic and/ or rites of passage – personalized to your emotional needs to guide you through the tattoo journey.
As kids who weren’t always emotionally supported in our lives, we find it important to identify the unmet emotional needs of our clients and speak directly to those first. Most of the time with tattoo it’s information, security, attention, privacy or sense of self of the nine basic needs. So we tailor our experiences to helping our clients feel a sense of relief, support and ultimately remind them that there are people out here cheering them on … even if they’re just your tattoo artist.
We’re really proud of our studio and services that we provide. As the CEO, I’m even more proud of the artists and their pride in their work. I’m proud of our clientele and what they’ve overcome in life. I’m most proud of their vulnerability and openness to receive the healing tattoo experience they deserve.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
This may sound surface level to a lot of folks, but my main mission driving my creativity is happiness. Simple and plain. I’m a little Black girl from the hood, born into less than desirable circumstances. They weren’t horrid or as bad as a lot of people, but it’s a far cry from the classic ‘American Dream’.
I don’t want a boss, or to check in and ask for permission to stay home when I’m sick. I don’t want to be a supporting character building someone else’s dreams … I want to build my own! I want to build my own universe, define my own freedoms, handle and spend my own money, and figure this life out on my own terms and time. A career where I’m not the main character isn’t suited for me. And I knew this before I even left high school.
So we’re out here figuring it out, being diligent and already prepared with champagne for hitting our first million, all off of art.
Doing these things for myself, is my happiness. That’s what motivates and drives me.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
“A jack of all trades is a master of none …”
And it wouldn’t be until my adult life that I realized I been bamboozled! First of all, the quote is shortened and triggers the worst anxiety, panic and fear of failure in anyone. That includes my overachieving arse. And secondly, it reminds me of how robbed we are of self-exploration and dream chasing.
I’m a dream chaser no lie, but as we approached high school graduation – I went to an arts high school, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in DC. You may know it cuz Dave Chappelle went there. Anyway, I used to be extremely envious of all of my peers who could focus on one art style, subject matter, process, etc. And I mean obsession type focus – that ADHD hyper focus. I remember thinking I’m never gonna make it cuz I can’t focus like them. I was interested in all sorts of art from graffiti and hand styles to my B.A. degree concentrations – photography, painting, and printmaking.
It was drilled in us that we must choose a focus or we’d not be successful artists. But how could I choose if I have limited time to learn something to even know if I like it. And these are life decisions …
Well, fast forward to college where I fought to have 3 concentrations, not just one. But what I didn’t understand is that I wasn’t fighting just to have those, I was fighting for my right to self-exploration. I wanted to give myself permission to explore these facets of art that interested me. You know … do due diligence and then make an educated decision.
Fast forward on 4x to now, I realize that I was rebelling against the shortened quote and embracing the full breadth of it. Because I wanted to understand me. And well that’s a lot of facets. And unlearning that I must focus on ONE minute singular thing through my life has led me to focusing on one cosmic organism and choosing to master it by unapologetically exploring the facets it’s attracted to while navigating this human experience.
because ” … oftentimes it’s better than being a master of one”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ipukekawaii.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ipukekawaii
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ipukekawaii
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imanikbrown/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ipukekawaii
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/ipukekawaiiTV
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/little-inkplay-shop-hyattsville
Image Credits
Images by Blu Vision Productions and Imani K Brown