We recently connected with Tehya Maxwell and have shared our conversation below.
Tehya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
My dad played a massive impact on my art and career. He was by far my biggest supporter, and I wouldn’t be where I am at today without him. I even stumbled into my apprenticeship because of him. My dad passed away when I was 12, this led me to lose my motivation for drawing without even realizing it. Looking back on it now, I think I understand it was because I couldn’t share my artwork with him anymore. Up until this time last year I hadn’t spent any time on my artwork. I went to my local career center for graphic design hoping that would lead me into an art career I had always hope of having when I got out of high school. During my first few weeks at the career center, I did a pencil rendering of Picasso. Two of my favorite things, realism and pencil drawing. What was special about this was it was my first time in 5 years doing any type of artwork outside of doodles in the corner of notebook paper. I truly believe trusting my gut and following what I thought would make my dad proud has led me into being able to actively live into my dreams every day. Around the same time, I completed my Picasso portrait I was looking to get a tattoo in honor of my dad. November 19, 2021 I turned 18 and the following day (November 20th) was my dad’s birthday. I had recently seen Chris Powell’s artwork and was nothing less than amazed with not only his artistic ability but also the way he carried himself as an artist. I knew that he was the artist that could pay the amount of respect to my dad’s handwriting that I felt it deserved. I sent Chris and Inquiry explaining that I knew the tattoo I was wanting wasn’t in his realm of expertise but went in depth to share the meaning it would carry to me and why I wanted him to do it. To my surprise his photographer/assistant emailed me back saying that Chris would be willing to tattoo me on my dad’s birthday which. Chris had also just recently had a baby girl and agreed to come out of paternity leave to tattoo me. I got I love you tattoo on top of my left shoulder in my dad’s handwriting because he always told my brothers and I, if we lived our lives like he was looking over our shoulder we would never have any problems. Ever since I got my tattoo it has been a consistent reminder that has gotten me to heights, I truly wouldn’t have been able to reach without it.
Tehya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Tehya Maxwell, soon to be resident artist at Thousand Oaks Tattoos and Cosmetics. My passion for drawing started at the ripe age of three, and similar to my mentor Chris Powell, I’ve garnered experience with Graphic Design through our local career center located in my hometown of Springfield, OH. I began my apprenticeship because I was seeking out a tattoo artist that would be a great fit for my first tattoo, a tattoo very close to my heart. While searching, I located Chris and knew that he would be able to make it something to really memorialize my father. In the process of obtaining my piece, I showed him some of my work and the rest is history. Throughout my apprenticeship I have been able to sit in on many of Chris’s sessions and learn the ins and outs of the tattoo process. I’ve not only studied the technical aspect of the trade, but also the personal side, such as building strong relationships with clients and my fellow members in the industry. I love connecting with new people and building lasting relationships. Some of my favorite conversations I have ever had have been with my clients, covering all sorts of topics like entrepreneurship, interests, or life in general. I want my clients to not just want to come back for the artwork but also just the experience of being in my chair. As for my artwork in particular, I specialize in black and grey with a passion for all things realism. I strive with every tattoo to create custom fine artwork for my clients that we can both be proud of for a lifetime. Closest to my heart I believe would be portraits, I love capturing the character in a person’s face and eyes with the amount of unique detail that goes into making the image come to life.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
While my apprenticeship itself is amazing and I couldn’t be more thankful for the work I get to do, the journey hasn’t necessarily been an easy one. I started my apprenticeship in my junior year of high school, and I am currently in my senior year. Juggling my apprenticeship, maintaining my high school and college academics, my trade school program, extra curriculars, school organizations, and personal life and relationships definitely has been quite the workload. I also was advised by my mentor to focus on my artwork outside of the shop so I could really effectively complete shop duties and absorb some pretty mindset shaping conversations. My past year has come with some pretty late nights and really early mornings. The most challenging part of my workload isn’t how “full my plate is” but the people who are supposed to be closest to me telling me “You’re doing too much”, “You can’t do it all at once”, “If you don’t pace yourself, you’re going to fail”, when the people you expect to support you the most, are more worried about bogging you down because of their own insecurities it can be really detrimental on your mental health and was definitely beginning to effect my mindset. So, in recent weeks I have decided to cut out the nay sayers and actually act on it, focusing on surrounding myself with the people I know believe in me most an letting them uplift me on my journey.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
An unconventional take on a “resource” that has impacted my thinking and has supported me along my path is my brother Travis. He has supported me from the very beginning and stood with me throughout my entire apprenticeship, sharing his knowledge on being a successful business owner, allowing me the room to grow independently but also being a consistent reinforcement in reaching my goals and setting new limits to push myself towards. Travis was my first client I ever tattooed. Unique to my apprenticeship, I never practiced on fake skin or grapefruits, in fact the only time I ever actually had the machine running in my hand was when it was time to touch the needle to Travis’s skin. Understandably, this was an unpredictable nerve-racking situation for both of us, but throughout the entire process leading up to, and during his 6-hour session he had unshaken confidence in me. I couldn’t me more thankful for him and the role he has had in my journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: tehyamaxwelltattoos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tehyamaxwell/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tehyamaxwell
Image Credits
Tim Saul