“bee bee”

I have been tattooing professionally or quasi-professionally since early 2019 but my earliest endeavors in tattooing were around 2012-2013 in my late teens amidst midwest American punk culture. This was pre-instagram influencer era, pre-youtube whip shading tutorial, and pre-experimental post ironic dark angel techno trampstamp era. I grew up around old school American traditional tattoo shops where doing “shitty little handpoked tattoos” was really taboo. I had a strong drawing/visual arts foundation throughout my childhood and early adulthood but as a young girl I just did not consider that I could ever become a tattoo artist because of how exclusive and male dominated the industry felt at this time. Handpoking at home was a rebellious little protest of a hobby that I practiced pretty secretly on myself and close friends for around 6 years before I ever considered that it could be an actual career. And here I am now, which is crazy, and still doesn’t feel real.

Social media has really changed the game for independent artists like myself, technology has democratized access to art forms that were once considered exclusive. I am a “self-taught” tattooer meaning that I never had a formal mentor/apprenticeship experience, but before taking on clients more formally I worked as a “shop girl” (shop assistant) where I was able to learn the general ins and outs of working in a professional tattoo environment.

It has been a very wild, non-linear journey for me. Im happy to talk more about this at your appointment if you’re curious to hear some crazy stories, lol.

A tattoo machine operates by utilizing electricity to drive a tattoo needle through the skin at a rapid rate, up to 50 times per second. In contrast, I hold the tattoo needle manually, creating each dot by hand. While my method may be slower, it has a different visual quality in texture and I appreciate the concept of making something completely by hand.

Contrary to popular belief, handpoked tattoos do not “fade” faster compared to machine tattoos. Regardless of technique, the objective remains consistent: depositing ink into the dermis, typically 1-2 mm beneath the skin's surface. Successful ink placement into this layer ensures permanence, as the pigment particles are too large for white blood cells to remove. Handpoking only differs from machine tattooing within the process, the end result is the exact same concept.

Handpoking offers faster and smoother healing compared to machine tattooing as there is less immediate trauma to the skin due to the slower method. Unlike machine tattoos, which pierce the skin repeatedly in a continuous motion, handpoking minimizes this wound resulting in less scabbing, and a swifter recovery process. Although handpoking may prolong the duration of a session, they are generally perceived as less painful. I believe in my philosophy of "low trauma tattooing," which prioritizes minimizing tissue damage to enhance healing outcomes.

Handpoked tattoos, especially when executed by experienced artists, can also effectively prevent raised scarring and keloids for clients who are prone to such.

I started handpoking myself in my bedroom almost a decade ago and at this point I am so comfortable doing things this way it is just what feels natural to me. I feel totally in control and I enjoy the gentle build up of value within a design. There is so much intention and power behind my work and I think the experience is really special and memorable for my clients (it is very brave to be tattooed in slow motion for 5 hours!) In addition, I have a high awareness of trauma reduction within my manual technique and I think this is an important skill to offer people who are looking for an easier and less painful experience getting tattooed. While there is always pain involved in the tattoo process, it is really disappointing for me to see so many horribly raised, blown out, scarred tattoos and hearing horror stories of people leaving their session in agony, bleeding through their bandage and being scabbed for an entire month just for their tattoo to heal like shit. It does not have to be this way! Most of my clients have shared with me that their tattoo barely scabbed and soreness while healing was minimal. Healed photos of my work can be found in my instagram highlights and you can see that there are no blowouts, scarring, ink spreading, and other excess trauma.

I am definitely curious to learn to tattoo with a machine but my number one priority is producing high quality work and inflicting as little trauma and pain as possible onto my clients. If the time comes I would approach this extremely slowly and only with a good teacher ;)

Have a read through my Rates/Policies page for an extensive breakdown on pricing. I follow an approximate rate of $200/hour for flash and $250/hour for custom designs.

I believe that what I have to offer the tattoo industry is extremely rare, I handle all aspects of my job by myself and deserve to make a good living for the amount of work that I put into what I do. Tattooing is a luxury service and a permanent alteration of your body so the cost-per-wear must be considered. If you think my work is over priced you are totally free to go to any other artist who will charge a cheaper rate xoxo

There are many different factors that affect how long it will take me to complete a tattoo. On average I find that it usually takes me around an hour to manually fill each square inch of the design. However, some designs have more empty, negative space and other designs have a lot more detail and variation in value packed into a smaller area. It is really the fine rendering and detail that affects how long a design will take me to complete. I can probably fill a square inch solid black in less than 15 minutes .. but a tiny, 1 inch butterfly will take me 1.5 hours because there is so much gentle rendering involved. Skin also varies a lot and can sometimes be thicker, thinner, rougher, stretchier, or less hydrated and any of these factors can cause me to have to go over the same area multiple times to achieve an even fill. Placements such as ribs, torso, neck, hands, and feet almost always take significantly longer than tattoos placed on arms and legs. Something I have noticed that drastically affects my ability to tattoo you is showing up hungover or even just having one or two drinks the night before. Your skin will become more swollen while I am working and can sometimes reject the ink. Please avoid alcohol for 24-48 hours prior to your appointment with me, I would rather reschedule than tattoo you hungover.

My private studio is located in Ridgewood, Queens (New York City) in a converted industrial space with central air, clean bathrooms and a few vending machines

I always offer touchups in order to guarantee the longevity of your tattoo. Technically this is free but tips are greatly appreciated and customary for this service as it is a courtesy. Once you leave my studio you are responsible for your tattoo and many issues with healing can be attributed to improper care—be sure to pay close attention when we are discussing aftercare and take notes if needed. Detailed aftercare instructions can also be found on this website. Please understand that your tattoo is never going to look as “perfect” as it did the day it was made. I am incredibly conscientious about the way my work heals but we also have to be realistic about things because our canvas is human flesh which is always growing and changing. Touchups are always an option but they are really intended for situations where there is a major issue with the way the tattoo healed. If you have any questions about how your tattoo healed you should email or text me high quality photos of your healed tattoo in good lighting and we can discuss :)

I source reference imagery all over the internet, occasionally take my own photos and edit everything on procreate. I have all information regarding artists, photographers, models, magazine publications etc. (excluding public domain references) This is very very regular in the tattoo industry - reference material and reference books are common in all visual art forms. Some tattoo artists will hand draw every single design they tattoo and some will even draw the design onto you with a sharpie, it varies between styles. My expertise is in black and grey dotwork realism and a reference is imperative to maintaining that realism.

I think a common misconception with handpoking is a belief that a specific needle grouping will magically allow anyone to create a well made tattoo. However, the truth is that the quality of a tattoo does not solely rely on a particular needle configuration as the needle itself is not what makes the tattoo. Skilled tattooing is an art honed over years of practice.

If you are currently in the early stages of your tattoo journey you have access to an immeasurable number of resources on the internet that did not exists 10 years ago. I would encourage you to do some real research online in order to learn about all of the different types tattoo needles available in todays market. Order yourself a variety pack and get started on practice skin to see how they all feel.

Personally, I like to use tight “bugpin” needles and a variety of different shaders. It can vary on the design but my most use needle is a tight grouping of 5 pins because I find that it makes a perfectly round and concise dot. These super fine, super tight needles can be difficult to work with and I know a lot of handpokers who hate them so do as you like and find something that works for your style and rhythm.