To This...or Not
We put a lot of work into this career, and by 'we' I mean tattoo artists in general, but not all of course. We weigh the significance of it: Am I doing what I love? Do my clients value my art? *Is* this art? Am I going to do this when I'm 80, or is this a young persons game? “Hmm, I need to make a post today...”
I've been thinking about when-to-tattoo and when-to-do-something-else a lot lately. As a new mother, I've had to take a step back from doing what I love. I still make some art work here and there, sketch out ideas, but spending all day at the shop isn't as easy for me as it once was. Do I get rusty and fall behind like an old machine? Maybe.
Feeling constrained to the sidelines of the job you love, forces a lot of self reflection and discipline. My interests in new fields and lists of tasks have grown fourfold. Which is making me think about all them one on one - what can be improved - what can be removed.
You might have read (or not), that we also help run a non-profit called No More Red Dots. We manage programs, community events, design (and print) flyers and brochures, update the website, print team gear, go to conferences and more. In fact, sometimes it feels like we completely run another business alongside the tattoo shop. And honestly, I guess we do. At this point, it's become a regular part of our schedules since 2018. We've been fortunate enough to host programs and charity events at Relic (and DORK Tattoos before that). Running a tattoo shop and a community endeavor as artists has become very symbiotic.
Where one project leans into the other, one can get eclipsed, as far as time and energy spent, but they both rely on….well, to be blunt, Mark and myself.
It's a beautiful thing that we collaborated on. Though it’s not always functioning the best, and there’s a lot to improve.
It’s exhausting to manage it all.
So, when to tattoo...or not. When to focus on this, or that. When to focus at all - or to let all the things whip us around in perpetual motion. This way and that way.
I don't have an answer. But I'm thinking balance is a good place to begin.
If you're ever wondering what we're up, why we hadn't posted on social media in awhile, or something similar, please forgive us! We're most likely working on it.
And of course, consider getting your next tattoo with us. I may not be the artist, but we have some kind hearted and talented artists that would love to work with you on your new piece.
These are just musings. Thank you for reading ~
<3 Doree