We caught up with the brilliant and insightful La diabla Female Tattoer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
La diabla , appreciate you joining us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?
I will never forget the first time I tattooed my first client. I was an apprentice and had been in the industry for about 2 1/2-3 years, it was Friday the 13th and my manager pulled me aside and had given me the opportunity to tattoo. She had recognized how hard I been working the past few months, continuously bringing in my own clients to practice on , made her comfortable enough for me to take on one of the pieces that walked in. It was a small smiley face on the inside of the arm, about an inch big. I remember being so nervous, five minutes into the tattoo my client turned pale and fainted.
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?
Yo soy una Chicana de Chicago. I am a Latina Female Tattoo Artist based in a Chicago IL. I have been in this industry for 5 years, 2 years for an apprenticeship, 2 years on the floor taking walk in clients and currently working at a custom studio for a year and a half. I am pretty open to all styles, but prefer Mexican, Chicano, black and grey style tattoos. I got into this industry because my uncle is a tattoo artist, I’ve been surrounded by art my entire life. Knowing this was what I wanted to do was tricky, i never took art seriously until my last two years of high school. I began creating and never stopped, I started noticing the beauty in everything. It started at my grandmas house she lived near a famous bridge (606) that was covered in graffiti. Then in my grandmas kitchen she had these ceramic suns and moons that were painted with such detail, and the most beautiful garden with so much colors. I knew right than and there my love and passion for la cultura.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Seeing my clients eyes light up than break into the biggest smile saying “omg I love It.” I love being able to free my client from shame because we covered it up with an amazing piece of art, or we are just simply adding to make the skin more beautiful.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Deciding to leave the comfort of my shop I apprenticed at to advance to the next stage of my career. By working in a custom studio that is appointment only. It was very difficult to leave but knew it was better in the long run. Having to manage my own social media, book my own appointments, deal with waivers and paperwork was so difficult to figure out when I had no direction. Thankfully at my new shop I had a lot of help from the people I worked with, they steered me into the right direction.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: La.dbla