Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zabeth. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Zabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I grew up with an artist in the family, and have been doing art my whole life, but I didn’t get the push to pursue it as a career until after having my second daughter. After a 12 year stint in the health and fitness industry, I experienced a birth injury that shoved me out of that field and forced me to examine what I wanted to move forward with. I decided to follow my bliss and pursue art.

Zabeth, 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 Audrey, I am an artist who goes by the pseudonym Zabeth. Originally I started pursuit of artistic endeavors during the pandemic, after losing my artist mother as a way to process her passing, and honor her life. I started doing street art originally, but after getting injured having my second child, decided to go to tattoo school and become a licensed artist. I now work tattooing at Trillium Ink Studios in Tigard OR. Trillium is an academy so I also have hours working admin and helping with media for the school, which is amazing. I love interacting with the incoming artists and watching them learn and blossom in the craft.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I believe everyone is an artist and creative. It is a part of being human, life itself is a constant state of creation and destruction and art. Creating a thriving creative ecosystem to me is as simple as seeing this in others, letting go of judging how each person goes about expressing their art, and leaning into our communities. Supporting local small businesses, families and creatives over fast-products and online shopping. As well as funding the arts in school, and making time to introduce and foster art and creativity in our youth.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My social media started in 2020 as a secretive way to explore my creativity and self discovery, my audience was built because I was feeling unabashed and very free, disconnected from the identity people expected from me and able to explore fully what and how I wanted to express myself. Having a pseudonym and hiding my identity was liberating and really helped me find and foster my identity as an artist and individual. My advice based off this experience would be to leave concern of judgement to the wind in how you run your accounts. Authenticity shines and when you let all the weird, quirky bits of yourself show you naturally attract your “people” and thus your target audience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @zabeth.pdx