My journey to become a tattoo artist
The beginning of my story
I was born and raised in Palmerston North, New Zealand. I started drawing when I was a child. My father teaches Graphics & Design and was a draughtsman for many years before. He taught me how to draw in perspective, including the art of shading which I particularly loved – the way you can make something look so real fascinated me! My uncle was also an artist and we enjoyed often seeing his painted murals on the walls of shops in neighbouring towns.
Starting with just pencil and paper, I found that I could copy an image with quite a bit of accuracy – I seem to have an eye for it. Despite taking art in high school, my family pushed me to focus on the academics of school as I also had natural academic ability and ended up ahead in most subjects at school, but I loved to draw in my spare time – it was a real emotional outlet for me.
The doors to the world and raw reality
Due to a less than ideal family life, I left home at 16 and went out on my own. After a year here and there, I realised that I could do more for myself, so I attended the local Massey University which specialised in Science and Business subjects but did also offer some elective design papers. I studied a wide range of subjects with Life Drawing class, which I loved and did well in.
My life drawing lecturer told me about Massey’s Wellington School of Design and encouraged me to consider a career in design. I put a portfolio together and submitted it which was accepted not long after to attend the next year. This required me to relocate to Wellington, a two-hour drive south from my home city, but I loved to draw and wanted to see where that might take me in the pursuit of becoming an Illustrator, so made the move.
Despite enjoying the range of design subjects, I struggled to keep up with all of them due to also suffering some health issues from undiagnosed endometriosis. This unfortunately impacted my life on a regular basis throughout that first year of study, and so resulted in my need to put my study on hold until my health could improve. With a need to support myself financially, and long wait times for medical treatment, I had to put my dreams on hold and began working in office administration instead.
An early adulthood
It took another 2 years until I was able to finally receive the surgery I needed to remove the endometriosis. By this time, I was in my early 20’s and working my way up quickly through my career in the office environment, I had met the man I was to marry, and wanted to travel the world, and the desire to become an illustrator slowly disappeared. At the time, tattoos were also still widely viewed as a bit rebellious and alternative and were still not so widely accepted by society. The thought of becoming a tattoo artist instead did not yet cross my mind.
Distracted by a life that made me happy, including spending time overseas until my mid 20’s, I found I drew less and instead concentrated on supporting myself and pursuing a career – an academic one. On my return to NZ, I began the long 8-year journey of studying a Bachelor of Business Studies. With a career opportunity presenting itself not long after returning to NZ and commencing study in the field of commercial property management, I completed my degree majoring in Finance and Property while working full time, getting married, and starting my family. Before I knew it, I was losing myself to the corporate world and family life.
The choice to get my own first tattoo is typical for most a ‘big’ decision given its permanency on the body and at the time was still viewed as ‘less than ideal’ for a corporate career. I designed it while traveling overseas – the idea of the cross-over of my, and my (now ex) husbands’ cultures, Kiwi and Scottish, but wanted to wait until we were married and had children as ultimately, it was to represent what would be their mix of heritages. After having my son, I was too busy learning the life of motherhood to stop and think about getting it done. We also were not finished creating our family. After the birth of my daughter within the last year of my study, I thought it was the perfect time to finally get it done, so I booked it in on the afternoon following my very last exam – this gave it double meaning to me.
Realising my truth
After the break-down of my marriage, I turned once again to drawing much more as a form of therapy for myself. There truly is something amazing about creating something out of nothing, and it always seemed to bring those I gifted drawings to great pleasure. There is immense satisfaction in being able to use an artistic gift that seems so natural and easy to the artist. As my property career flourished, I also became less content with the corporate world and the constant need to deliver what is required. And, when you specialise in the corporate world, even though you might work hard and achieve successes, those successes are not impacting any individual person’s life, more the company itself.
Getting older and wiser in life, and reaching my corporate career goals, my thoughts turned to my future work prospects, and I really began to consider whether my career was what I really wanted for the rest of my life, especially when originally I have been so keen to pursue the arts and put my artistic abilities to use. I began posting my drawings in my personal social media pages and always received such positive feedback. I have heard many times “you should be an artist! You could sell your drawings!”, but the thought of being an artist, trying to create something that you hope someone might like enough to buy at a good price, really wasn’t attractive to me. With an ability to replicate any image, I began asking family and friends what they would like as a picture and gifting the drawings to them. It gives me great pleasure to be able to produce something that someone desires and will appreciate and enjoy.
Reigniting the flame of an artist
With times having now changed and tattoo’s becoming more the norm than for the rebellious only, the idea of using my artistic skills to be able to create something so desired by someone is appealing. Remembering my first tattoo and the meaning it has for me, knowing that those who may one day come to me to use my skills and produce something amazing for them, became more and more desirable as a possible alternative to my corporate career (as did the thought of being able to one day be my own boss!). And I thought to myself – “why not?”
If I can spend the next years of my life doing something that is more meaningful to individuals and use this gift I have been given to bring joy to others, then I will one day die a very happy person. For this reason, I have worked to learn the art of tattooing, transferring my skills from paper to skin, and hope one day there will be many who will proudly wear my designs on what I think is the greatest canvas of all – their own bodies.
RaychInk 
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