Since I’ve decided to go ahead and get all the way real and live about me and my life, I think I’ll begin with a series of articles to introduce myself in the main areas of focus here in Thorne’s World. I’ve given a lot of thought on whether or not I should separate the main areas of interest or “niches” into separate blogs, and after much consideration I’ve decided that trying to write a blog (or several blogs) in a “niche” is too boring, too limited, and too much like pandering to a particular market or target demographic, which I feel might then put too much pressure on me to write for that demographic, instead of writing my truth.

More Than You Prolly Wanna Know About Thorne – Tattoo Edition

I’ve always been an artist. I’ve been in n out of the business of pushin’ Ink for over 25 years (30 if you count those teenaged days of wrapping a sewing needle with thread, dipping it in India Ink and poke-poke-poking away; but I don’t count those years…not really).

I do have to start this lil “about me” with those days however, because it was the beginning of a lifelong fascination with body art. From the first time I dipped a needle and pushed it into my own skin to create a tiny design of my initial “T” with a little baroque curlicue below it, (on the inside of my ankle) at 13 years old, I was hooked.

When I was 17 a friend of a friend of a friend taught me how to make a “joint-rig” out of a ball point pen, a sharpened guitar string and a tape deck motor. I was off! Yep. I admit it. I started out as what we now refer to in the industry as a “Scratcher”. Of course, as a scratcher, I tattooed friends and family for fun and for free, and didn’t know near enough about clean and sterile procedures back thenm but I did have a little common sense, so I boiled my needles and cleaned my rig in bleach between tattoos. Hell, even if you had a shop in those days, nobody talked about “bloodborne pathogens” or autoclaves. Another old timer I ran into at a show recently joked about the days when a coffee can with kerosene in it was used to soak the needle tubes between clients.

But we’re not gonna go there now, because this article isn’t about our improved understanding of cleanliness and sterility and communicable disease.

It’s about me!!

All about me as an artist, anyway, so you’ll just have to come back some other time and check out what I have to say about improved cleanliness, methods, media and ethics.

I think for openers, I’ll include here a rebuttal I wrote as part of my userinfo at Tattooartists.org, when I got sick and tired of all the “scratcher” bashing. It’s a favorite pass time of a bunch of teenyboppers and Johnny-come-latelies to the industry, who have “paid their dues” by paying a couple thousand bucks to clean toilets in a shop for a year. Granted; there are a whole lot of folks who shouldn’t be tattooing out of their kitchen and garages or cars. Not because they don’t have talent (although I shudder to think of some of the scratcher tats that I’ve covered up), but because they don’t know how to be clean, and because they have no ethical understanding of what they are doing. So scratcher bashing seems to have become a common theme that was directed at any artist who had not been “mentored”. (Sheesh! Some people’s kids!)

I am a self taught tattoo artist.
A Self Taught Tattoo Artist is:
*An artist that has not taken the same path as many today, but rather has had to do all the research on legalities, sterile procedures and requirements and how to (and where to) get certified and licensed, on her own, without the benefit of a mentor.
*An artist who has a loyal client base going back over 25 years who has reworked, touched up and yes, even repaired pieces for free, as her knowledge and skill increased and improved.
*An artist who has hung around shops and conventions for over 20 years, carrying her portfolio, showing it to any artist who would look, being polite and watching and asking questions wherever and whenever possible to learn.
*An artist who, in all humility believes that tattooing, like life, is an ongoing journey in which one must continue to learn, to strive and to improve.
*An artist who works out of a clean and comfortable Home Studio.
*She is not a “Scratcher”
*She is not Unclean, uncertified, unlicensed or irresponsible.

So that was my response which I think pretty well sums up still how I feel about being a self taught artist of any medium! It’s always nice to study and learn from the masters, or at least have some small formal training in your art, but if one is passionate and dedicated, she does what she must. I have never let not having someone to teach me stop me from doing anything I really wanted to do. I learned most of the ins and outs of painting wall murals, using an airbrush and designing and building stained glass windows that way, too. It’s just the kinda gal Thornie is! I do have some education in art which has given me a sort of jumping off point. My Associates Degree is in Art and Language, and I did some trade school certification in graphic design and computer graphics about a million years ago. (More about all that in another post)

This is a “repair” I did about 15 years ago for a client who had this poorly designed and executed celtic cross on his arm. The “scratcher” who did the original piece seems to have drawn or “freehanded” the cross on this client while the client had his arm bent and leaning on a table, which of course, distorted the shape of the cross significantly. I recommended the client have the piece removed, or at least lightened a bit with laser technology so we could cover it up, but the client didn’t choose to go that route. I designed this dragon to wrap around behind the cross in hopes of off-setting how badly the cross was skewed. Am I happy with this solution? Not entirely, but it’s the best I could do at the time within the limitations set by the client. Is the client happy? Overjoyed.

First rendering of this design was in 1999. I wanted to experiment with more color and less line/black for this piece, and the client wanted a less “cartoonish” lined look than her other tattoos (done by other artists). It’s an original design based loosely on a couple of Brian Froud Faeries, with the tiny face drawn as a portrait of the client. At the time liked it alot and felt that I’d been successful with the piece. A couple of years ago I had to opportunity to see it again and insisted that she come back so I could “touch it up” I had to work on her a bit, because she remembered all that painful yellow in a pretty sensitive spot quite well. In the end she trusted my judgement and allowed me to improve her artwork.(below)

The “touch up” was more of a “do over”!! I really felt this piece needed deeper color with better gradient of tones and transitions from hue to hue, as well as a bit more black to give the piece more depth. Of course, there was no charge to the client for this. It was all me.

So for me, I suppose I need to say that all of my various art studies, experiments and background definitely contribute to my ability as a tattoo artist. If I could tell all the “scratchers” out there who really do have a passion for art and for the art form of tattooing anything at all it would be, “study art! Get books, read about color, perspective and line. Study and even copy the masters! Draw and paint and draw some more, before you make permanent marks on someone’s skin.”

It’s been a long road and an exciting journey. It still is. I think that my multi media background along with the fact that I wasn’t “mentored”, that no one ever said to me “NO. You can’t do that as a tattoo”, has allowed me to explore, and to depart from the traditional without prejudice. It has allowed me to experiment with color, line, light, negative space and technique in my own way, on my own path to discovering myself as an artist. This has by necessity enriched the experience of my clients, I believe. I learn new techniques and experiment with new equipment all the time. I’m not hidebound, or stuck in a rut.

I aim to keep growing as both an artist and technician in this field, and that’s where my wonderful clients come in. Every tattoo is a work in progress, each client an unfinished art. Most folks who have collected body art over a span of years will attest to the fact that while the industry and variety of styles and talent of artists over time has progressed, they still have a fondness for many of their early pieces. Often these collectors are still in contact with their early artists, (as are a number of my long time clients and friends), and have taken advantage of the growing knowledge of their artist to touch up, define and sometimes redo their older ink. Many artists, like me, will do this work free of charge because we want to keep our clients happy and because our older pieces eat at us every time we see them and know we could make them better now.

Sometimes as I look through my older portfolios I wish I knew where some of those old friends and clients are today. I see how I could make their design better, and I hope that wherever they are, they still love their tattoo as much as they did at that moment when they first looked in the mirror with joy and pride at their brand new body art.

I don’t have a particular style, I’m comfortable doing black and grey as well as color and love to design in an eclectic range of styles. These days I specialize in spirit ink- images that are spiritually relevant to the client, and scar reclamation. I tattoo self injurers, who find healing in our process and I have had the honor of tattooing several cancer survivors. These are such an incredible things, and I find such joy and service in filling this need with my vision and art. In many cases I build a relationship with my clients who become lifelong friends as we work together to decorate their flesh with their dreams and images and statements.

So that probably is indeed more than you ever wanted to know about Thorne ; Tattoo Edition, and if you actually read the whole thing, I’ll just say, “thanks”.

Peace, out!