A little about me and my journey as an artist, an instructor and a tattooist.
I have always loved art and have always been compelled to excel at it. Even from the tender age of five, when my nemesis, Jamie, got high praises for his crayon sketch of a car, from our very strict 112 year old kindergarten teacher, while I, did not. I felt that burn of competition, that sting of “what could I have done to this Crayola house and sunshine to make it sing, to make it scream out, “LOOK AT MEEEEE”.
Draw, draw, draw, it is all I did, all the time, everywhere, on walls (sorry mom), for friends, for contests, for newspapers, for my brothers homework, etc., then I entered Middle School and was introduced to more pro style art mediums, I WAS EVEN MORE HOOKED! I was always blessed to have super strong, motivated, positive art teachers from elementary school all the way through til college.
Let’s fast forward....I went to college (the first time) for Interior Design. I learned all of the wonderful and delicious tools it takes to draw up blueprints and designs. I put those to use in my art to this day. (This was in 1846, before computers) It wasn’t for me, I was too immature for such a mature medium, and my classes were filled with those who just did not understand my more “progressive” and sometimes odd input. WHATEVER!
Tattooing, I love it, I always have, in 1999 I decided to ask my tattoo artist if I could apprentice for him, he was so sweet, quiet and lovely, he couldn't say no. Crazy fact about him, he had been in a horrible motorcycle accident, two years prior, the only thing that wasn't broken, his hands, incredible. I sat down with a Tattoo catalog ( it may have just been a tattoo magazine) and ordered my machines (of which I chose the “Jolly Roger” style lol), and all the lot that it was going to take. Once again folks, this was before people got on a computer and had access to all things everything. I worked for him folding paper towels, inspecting needles one by one before soldering them into the shapes and forms he needed, shaved big hairy dudes, cleaned and did general shop duties for a solid six months part time. He was in Champaign, I was 45 minutes away and drove my ‘77 Cadillac Coupe De’ Ville on the backroads to get to this gig. An incident occurred in my personal life (and said equipment was stolen, before I even ever got to take it out of the boxes practically) and I had to move back to the QC on the fly. I put that dream away, thinking it just wasn’t meant to be.
A few years later, I became a mom. My creative spirit really sparked by having this bundle of energy that needed to be stimulated at all times “LETS DRAW THEN”! I went back to school to make a better future for me and my son. I took all the classes it takes to get into the nursing program, but I COULD NOT STOP TAKING THEM ART CLASSES! And my art professor was so great and made me realize there was something to this style she saw me constantly doing. So I stuck with the art!
Then I married a fellow artist. Another creative spirit to spark my own creative spirit! What a team we made and make. Being the positive to keep out the negative. Being the wind to move the sail. He behind the camera, me behind the canvas, I think we needed each other, and I think we were always meant to be.
Art for others, art for me, art for restaurants, etc., the game was going but where would it solidify? Brick and Mortar was what I needed. Life happens and sometimes it happens when you aren't looking. My husband was looking though, and he found a space for his art with a space next door that I could afford and with all the sunshine spilling in one can dream for! But then what? It took me a bit to figure out what to do in said space. I had to come up with a generic umbrella name as well, so I could do what I wish, at a whim, and not be stuck, “AF STUDIO” was conceived.
When I was a wee one, I got the pleasure of having a few private art lessons from an artist at her home. She lived on a farm, there were horses roaming, trees swaying in the Iowa breeze, flowers blooming, fat bumblebees lazily flying looking for their next spot to nap, drawings to be had in that dreamlike environment. Just her and I and a sketchbook, an adult to listen, an adult to be silly with, in a safe, secure, non judging way. Her family in the stables or in the house while we were usually outside. She let me ba****ck ride a horse once around the house, I mean....can we say heaven??
That’s what I decided to do, be that private art instructor. I would create that safe, secure, fun, dreamlike environment for a kid, a soft spot to land, once in awhile, in this chaotic world. “Lil Pugcasso” was born. And it took off like wildfire. And does to this very day! I may not have horses and bumblebees, but it has positivity and sunshine, paintbrushes and markers, fortune cookies and watercolors, and sometimes that is all a kid needs.
Back to that tattoo thang. Sitting across from my friend, Chelsea, as she tattoos the now famous “to do list” on my hand she says, “you should be my apprentice”. I laugh, she laughs, we look at each other....we laugh again. SO WE DID IT! She, the teacher, I, the student, we, the happy. Slow and low was the tempo for that apprenticeship, as I had my own students, and that brick and mortar payment to make each month. Over a year and a half later, I was finally at the stage of “completion” and was ready to spread my wings and fly. By this point she had moved into the space next to “AF STUDIO” and we now have a little art commune taking over the corner of 19th and 5th in downtown Moline, Illinois.
A few months of remodeling and paperwork...here I am, tattooing out of AF STUDIO to the left, instructing students on the right. Is this a dream, no, it’s being an artist.
None of this could have been done without the support of my incredible, creative and wildly handsome husband, my artistic and hard working kid, my hugely supportive uplifting parents, my family, my mentor, my professors, my teachers, my nemesis (just kidding, maybe), my fellow artist friends, my students, their parents, I could go on, but also because of the forks in the roads I have chosen and the immense struggles along the way that have made me strong and empathetic and resilient. AND the fact that I can wait the HECK out of a table, which paid the bills during most of my adult life. I got to hang up that waitress apron a few years ago, though I do miss that sassy frassy job.
This is my story. There is more to it, but that would take a lot longer then a morning to write. Maybe one day.
Thank you for reading. And thank you for visiting AF STUDIO.
