We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Megard. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Alright, Lauren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear a story from back when you were an intern or apprentice. What’s a memorable story you can share with us?
Tattoo apprenticeships and experiences with them range wildly from person to person. In general, I can’t say it’s something easy in the slightest to take on, but something you’ll be extremely proud of accomplishing in the end. When I was initially trying to break into the world of tattooing I was truly just beginning to grieve a huge loss and taking a huge leap in finding my identity. I wanted to do whatever it took just to get my foot in the door with my art. This meant sacrificing financial stability, any feeling of consistency and even my own health more than once. It took a couple different tries before finding my place and my family, but once I did I learned a few things about apprenticeships in general. You are there to learn and in exchange for that education you are to work your ass off with your progression and support of the shop. However, this doesn’t mean you don’t hold any value as a person. It’s important to have a fair and kind exchange between mentor and apprentice. Just because you’re an apprentice doesn’t mean it’s okay to be taken advantage of completely. Hours should be tracked, communication is a necessity and so is ensuring your progression in your skill and knowledge surrounding art and tattooing.
I would easily do everything I’ve had to do all over again in pursuit of finding my current shop. I’ve had the honor of apprenticing under Poohki (@poohkioner) who has been tattooing for 24 years. He has only ever taken on 2 apprentices throughout his career including me, so to me it has felt like the opportunity of a lifetime. Through Poohki and the other talented artists at Peregrine Tattoo, I’ve experienced firsthand what it’s like for a group of people to truly have each other’s backs. These people have and continue to help me grow exponentially and in turn I will always show up for them just as they have for me. They’re some of my favorite people in the world.
Tattooing has been a journey of tears, feeling broken hearted at times, second guessing myself but knowing at the same time it’s the only thing I could see myself doing forever. The tears turned into joy, outstanding people I would’ve never met if it weren’t for tattooing, confidence in myself and a passion that continues to grow.
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.
Like most artists, I’ve always had a passion for art since I was very young. Art was where my focus always was until nearly the end of high school when I lost my mom unexpectedly. 8 months after her passing I went to college knowing that was what would be the most comfortable thing for me at the time. I was in survival mode. My art and my identity wasn’t at the forefront of my mind until I was able to truly start healing. I did the scary things and dropped out of college to pick my pursuit of art back up and I’m so glad I did. I’m currently a Tattoo Artist at Peregrine Tattoo in Minneapolis after Poohki took a chance on me as his apprentice. Currently, I’m consistently putting out flash designs both on my website and social media and taking customs as well! I love tattooing in an illustrative or traditional style with either color or black and grey. Some subjects I love are cartoons, smileys, flowers, plants, hearts, rainbow things, household objects/clothes, or anything Y2K. I think one of the most beautiful things about tattooing is being able to meet so many lovely clients I would’ve never met otherwise. It’s so interesting to be able to sit down with someone you’ve never met before who puts this trust in you for hours at a time and be able to hear their stories, make each other laugh or just have that exchange in energy. That is something truly special to me.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Something I’ve had to unlearn is caring about what people who do not share similar experiences think. There has been quite a lot of outside pressure regarding my decision to tattoo either without truly knowing me or what it’s like on an inside perspective. But you know that saying, “those who know the least always have the most to say.” It has become essential for me to trust my own gut because as it turns out, I’m really confident in the choices I’ve made.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When you go through so many big things in a short period of time, it starts to go over your head until you realize how truly dark it was and it catches up with you. After initially grieving a traumatizing loss, going through 2 laparoscopies and 1 excision for endometriosis and working through a bipolar 2 and panic disorder diagnosis throughout my apprenticeship, just being in the moment where I am right now feels just a little sweeter than it could’ve I think.
Contact Info:
- Website: glumetattoo.com
- Instagram: gllumee
- Twitter: gllumee