Tattoos 

My name's Trish Jones. I'm 26 years old and I was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. I grew up in Rockville, though, um lived there my whole life and, yeah. I work as an apprentice tattooer um at a tattoo shop.

 

What like education, was like was your education like related to your current work or did you go to school for something else or?

 

I never went to an art uh high school, like I never went to any of those um special schools that you apply to. I just went through regular, middle and high school, taking a lot of art classes. Um I tried to take as many art classes and elective classes as possible. I'm going to be real, so, um, but um I didn't see art as a career path initially, so I changed my major a few times in college, um before switching it to art. Um a general art study, but eventually tattooing became such a big part of my life and realizing that I didn't have to go to school for that, uh, I never completed my degree. Um but my last major at MC was general art.

 

Great. Um, what kind of made you realize that you wanted to pursue art like as a career?

 

That was a really scary moment, I think, in my life because I was always told that that never paid the bills and that that wasn't a serious job choice. Um, but I was actually working in Ameri Corps um post my first year of college and I was working in a teaching Ameri Corps program called Cityear in DC. And because I thought I wanted to be a teacher um and my mentor in the program actually was the one to tell me, like, you're doing all this art for the entire school. You clearly love doing art, like why don't you make this a career, why are you teaching? Um, and that was the first person that had really told me, like close in my life, like that I could do art. And like make it into something. Um, so I'd always I'd wanted to pursue art, but I've been told no so many times. Um, that was kind of that was in 2017 um when I decided to like, you know, say screw it and um just pursue wanting to tattoo.

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What kind of drew you to art like originally, like, just like art as like a hobby and like, like when you were younger?

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One of my first memories as a kid was making a Mother's Day card with my sister for my mom and my sister's 10 years older than me. Um she was the artsy person in the house. Um she was fantastic- she is a fantastic artist. Um and I remember copying exactly how she was making my mom's Mother's Day card and I was making the same exact thing just in my like couple-year-old self, her version of it. And I just remember being so fascinated with like how good I thought my sister was- and she is an amazing artist. Um, but that was my sister was the, I guess it was a false into the other like influence question. My sister was always like, I was her number one fan. She was the coolest, um she is the coolest person ever. Um and getting to be so much younger than her, I watched her um do art in high school and um win awards, like statewide for her art. Um so I had so much fun as a kid watching her do that and I wanted to be just like her. So I think it just stuck. I never think I I don't remember a time where I was like, I always just feel like I was drawn to it. hundred percent.

 

Great. Um, what kind of things do you draw inspiration from now, like when you're creating art?

 

There's like art in tattooing that I like doing art for a living. Um there's stuff I create and bring I mean, it brings me a lot of joy, like tattoo imagery. Um, but like outside of work-related stuff, I really love um like religious iconography. Um There's some really insane insanely, like almost psychedelic um features to a lot of old art, um and I think it's really cool. um how far back you can go and like just see all these different um ways that they portray the same stories. I love religious iconography. I definitely love psychedelic uh features and art. I love bright colors and not that I like used any. I mean, you know, I' seen my like entire body, like I only have black and gray tattoos. I do love bright things too. um but yeah, I think it's hard to choose one thing, but, um going back to like things that I pull influences from, too, um with like religious iconography, you can find, like really old books and stuff that people, you know, they might even have of them at. Like yard sales and whatnot. You can find some like really cool reference for art that way. So I find it in really unlikely places like estate sales or like used bookstores, but there's some like really awesome ways to find like old-fashioned stuff and like make modern art from it too. So that's that's cool. That's where I get a lot of like interest from, I guess.

 

Yeah. Like in like reference to like your current work, have you ever done like similar work like going back in your life and in your career?

 

I don't know. I think, I think everybody is always, you always want to be evolving. Um, I think at least for the past like seven or eight years. So I guess like my entire like adult artistic drive has been um tattoo imagery. um I love tattoos even in like middle and high school, but like the imagery part of it, I think has um has been pretty consistent in like since I graduated high school. um just wanting to like do that, replicate that, um oh, I love how this artist I follow, um draws their tigers. Like, how could I, you know, how can I do that one day? um and like, you know, just I guess finding a lot of tattooists like as like my biggest inspiration for art, that's just a lot of the art that I'm doing and so that's that influences there and is always going to be there. So at least I found like I can't escape it. It's it feels like my whole life, so

 

Um, what challenges have you faced while creating work and kind of like in your like journey toward uh, like your goal of being a tattoo artist?

 

um being I've learned a lot of like being open to like being wrong and being bad. um that has been a trope of like when I trip up um at work or things like that, it's like I'm expecting myself to like be good at something that I'm just starting off on like learning in the grand scheme of things of like life. Like you can dedicate eight, 10, 20, 40 years to something, but you will always be a student in the eyes of the craft, I think it's in today's As, coming into a a an industry that is very competitive, um and that my set of like staying humble and always being open to like learning, um is been the most important thing in keeping true to like what I want to do and and maintaining my goals. That's a really hard one. I had to learn, I mean, I learned the hard way of like I-it took me eight years to get to this point. um post-high school, you know, that's a really hard thing um to do when everyone else in your life is going in and getting a degree in four years or- so the thing about being an artist, I think for, I mean, I think it's a general trope, um for people who decide to go against the traditional school message for like career choices. It's like true for like tradesmen too, but like, um especially art, like finding your process is never like it's never one size fits all, and um that was really hard continuing to work. Um, like, I've been working the front desk at shops for like three and a half years now, um, and to everyone who hears me talk about how long I've worked at a shop before I was the apprenticing, they think it's crazy, but then they go to school for four years and um, you know, have to wait a long time to receive their degrees the same thing for art. I mean, you in traditional art degrees and also like art trades, like outside of schooling. um, it's everybody's got their own like paths and that getting over that made me hold back so much less with my art, um, because I was like, oh, this, I should be here by now and like making up all these like fake goal posts for like where I was supposed to be striving for, but there is like no, there's no reason for any of that. And it really was just holding me back anyway, like that mindset. Um, getting rid of it's like so much of art is a mental thing. It's like creating, but like you, you have to- the growth that you have to like make in yourself to like pursue art as a career, you got to be you got to be tough. Yeah. Definitely has to be tough. um but yeah, um I'd say that was the biggest challenge.

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Was there anything that was more like overwhelmingly positive and just inspirational that you've experienced?

 

Oh yeah. I think since since working in a tattoo shop and um it's only cemented in my brain that this is what I was meant to do. This is where I want to be. This is all I like want to do, um for the rest of my life and the positivity that I get from watching clients of like my coworkers get like really meaningful tattoos or, you know, have a bad day and then get a tattoo and feel better. Or like seeing their experiences and how happy they are coming through the door and leaving that is like something that is so not talked about. You know, like people who get tattoos don't think about the impact that they have on on their tattoos. um because like you bring your energy into the room and you you sit with this person for hours on end and create, you know, give them a piece of permanent art. It's all very intense. So it can go one of two ways sometimes like, you know, so when people put that trust in you and, you know, they're so happy at the end of it and just watching my coworkers experience that and like how happy people are. Um it like, tattooing really like heals people in a way. Like I hear people talk about like tattooing being therapy for them. Um, or like tattooing like, you know, I had a bad week, but, you know, I'm getting a tattoo on Friday or I had a horrible week let's go get tattoos. it's like the feel-good body modification. It's just like, oh yeah, I feel so much better. I'm more true to myself, I feel happier in my skin. Maybe this tattoo helped me get through something big in my life. That is so cool to get to be a part of. Like people need to like choose you to be a part of that. And that'll never not be like the coolest thing ever. It's like when your dad, like, and your mom, like say like they want me to tattoo them and I'm like, so freaking nervous. But like, it's an honor for them to even say that. Like, it just, you know, especially because I know how much they like don't like tattoos so it's like an extra honor, you know, um and I feel extra honored.

 

what kind of experience do you want them to have? Like, I know you have a kind of explained part of that, but like what do you kind of want people to feel specifically with your work?

 

I mean, I guess everybody says, like, I want my art to like, bring positive, you know, bring joy to people or like, evoke this emotion that people are like, oh my gosh, I can't believe art made me like, feel this way. But all I can ask, um in this, like, in agreeing to like give myself to tattooing and like the the things that you kind of have to like surrender in order to tattoo and also, like, like what people surrender, like at the door of like getting tattooed. I just want people to have a good experience. Just like I don't wanna give them a good experience, like I want my art to make people feel more comfortable in their body because tattoos are um, it's proven that people that get tattoos are more confident. Um if I can instill more confidence in someone, if I can make someone feel more uh comfortable in their own skin for whatever reason, um like with like scar cover-ups or just like a bad memory or just like anything. I think I just want, at the end of the day, people to see my art, whether it's on the skin or like in a frame, I think I want it to make them feel better. Because and like what's so much suffering in the world too, like, we can only ask that like, you know, like a moment of joy is honestly worth it. um in this day and age, you know? 

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Do you have any like any like further message that like you want to send or like anything else you want to say kind of about, you know, like what you do and like your message in your art?

 

Um, I will say there's been a saying that my mentor told me, um, since I started, um working at the shop. It's been this saying that he says, and I have it written on the wall in front of my desk and I've had it there for years, um it's how badly do you want it? Because whether you're listening to this and you're like pursuing an art. Yeah, my mentor, my mentor has always said at the end of the day, like how badly you want it will be proven in your actions. You can, you know, talk of a big game, you can um you know, in my case, like tattooing is like, you can draw really good, but that is nothing to, you know, drawing well and tattooing are two totally different things. So, he's always told me like, you know, how badly do you want this? Because that will, you will show me how bad you want it and then we'll go from there. you know? So if you're pursuing something and you really like feel like your whole heart is in it, I don't think that failure is an option, you know, at that point. And if and if you're hesitating or you don't, uh, know, for sure if you want to do something, um, let's probably not the, you know, the path for you, because you'll know when you want something more than anything in the world that lights a, you know, fire of passion in you, like you know, and you'll make it happen. I think that goes for literally every single person on this earth. Like there's something out there that you would rather do for the rest of your life than anything else and um, you just have to find it. And I'm I feel really lucky that I found what I love, um so early. um, and I think everyone just has to like keep that at the forefront of their mind, like in school, like, how bad do I how bad do I want this film degree? How bad do I want this education degree? I didn't want an education degree that bad, so I was like, you know what? let's just do actually what I want to do. Um, yeah, dude, I switched my major actually like three times.

 

um, is there any is like there's something that you're most like proud of

 

yeah. I'd say, like, up until like this point, like, my getting my apprenticeship was the proudest moment of my life. I think, um, you know, minus getting married to your brother. Um, that is my proudest achievement. Um, because that was what I had been that was the goal, you know, that was like my version of getting into my dream school. I got this wicked apprenticeship that I did have to work my butt off for, but um the things that I'm learning and the pace that I'm learning and that stuff like, I'm I am so uh, in awe, honestly, that it's still my life. Um, but I've until like during my first tattoo was probably like my new Uh, my proudest achievement in life. um has been getting my apprenticeship, uh, it took me eight years uh and I'm a year in now. I'm still gonna be doing my apprenticeship for a while, but um this has by far been like my most proud moment of myself. It was a lot uh, you know, like leaving school and stuff. I was like, wow, like, I really need to like, make this happen so that, like, I can be proud of myself. like leaving school and, uh, yeah, I it was hard. I had to work at the shop for a few years before I even got an apprenticeship, so it was a lot of like hoping, waiting, um, just working my butt off.

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thanks for uh letting me interview you.

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thanks for choosing me um as you're like interview person, that was so nice. I was I was super stoked.