We recently connected with Kali Farrell and have shared our conversation below.
Kali, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve ever worked on was for a woman who had underwent a double mastectomy due to breast cancer. She had beaten cancer, however cancer had taken away a personal piece of her. The scars that were left had been very large and had taken away both nipples and breast entirely. She had reconstructive surgery and but the scars still remained. She came to me wanting to cover the scars and bring some beauty back to her breasts. She and I had a detailed consultation one on one and came to a decision to cover the scars with some beautiful flowers. After several sessions of hard work on both our parts, we not only covered her scars beautifully, we brought back a light to her eyes it seemed! The second it was fully finished and she got her first glimpse of the new her, she lit up with both tears of joy and relief. She looked as so though she felt whole again. Not her old herself back, but a new her that is beautiful and strong. A true sense of pride, beauty, inner strength, and confidence. She was stunning before the tattoo in my eyes, however it was important that she herself felt beautiful too. Im so honored to be able to give such a radiant woman her light back. I can’t thank her enough for the experience to be honest. I thought I was helping her by doing this tattoo, however, there’s no amount of money that can pay for the feeling I got in my heart when I saw her looking in that mirror and feeling love again.
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?
Hi! My name is Kali Farrell and I am a 27 year old, born and raised in Saint Louis, tattoo artist! I’ve been in the industry since I was 18 and I’ve had my license for 5 years now. This industry is one of intense hard work before you ever see a tattoo machine. I had a total of 3 apprenticeships before I obtained my license. I had lost money, wasted time, and often was discouraged through out the 4 years of my apprenticeships. I had worked at 2 other jobs along with a full time apprenticeship for those years and that was physically so exhausting. Looking back I don’t know how I kept going other than sheer determination. People had put me down and told me I couldn’t do it, shouldn’t do it, and that I’m foolish for such a career choice. They were absolutely all wrong! Once I obtained my license, I knew I had proved them all wrong! I told myself that I wouldn’t stop just at getting my license! I told myself I will be the best that I can possibly be and to always continue learning more! My clients deserve the best tattoos that I can give them and the only way I can do that is to always stay humble and keep learning! I’m constantly learning from my peers and going to conferences to educate myself and grow. Hard work never fails. Sometimes that means I work for 8 hours at the shop and come home just to keep drawing for 5 more that night. Some pieces only take a few hours to put together and some take me 12 hours or more! I draw my tattoos all custom/one of a kind so that means I have to take extra time to make sure I get the best outcome for my clients. Someone once told me “There’s only one way to coast…and that’s down hill.”
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal that seems to drive me, is to give everyone the opportunity to be who they always wanted to be. NOBODY on this earth looks the way they want to look. People can’t choose the way they look when they’re born. We are born with a given a hair color, eye color, height, weight, or shape that most of us want to change. However, with tattoos, we can have some control over what we WANT to look like. Whether your tattoo expresses your silly side, reminds us of an important person that was once in your life, or just getting the tattoo simply because you like the image; tattoos are fantastic way to be who you want to be, and not what you’re forced to be.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an creative is helping people get their inside vibe, on the outside. The way they want to feel out loud but can’t express on their own! I get such a joy out of making someone feel fulfilled about who they are. Sometimes getting a tattoo is the best way they can express a feeling of their inner self!
Contact Info:
- Website: Tattootheloustudio.com
- Instagram: @kalifarrelltattoos