On September 19, 1991, two German tourist discovered a frozen skeletal body in the Ötzal Alps in Austria. After excavating the mummified corpse they found 61 tattoo markings on the body of “Ötzi The Iceman”.
It is believed that Ötzi is over FIVE - THOUSAND years old, making him the oldest known body to have tattoos in human history.
Tattoo history dates back to different ages in every culture and/ or region of the world.
Every region has it’s tattooed icon & forefather who paved the way for future artists.
Tattoo culture has also had it’s share of females who’ve made an impact in the industry. Apprenticeships came in different forms throughout the years. From “traditional” to non-traditional self-taught training.
In the early 1900’s we had Maud Wagner, a circus performer - turned tattoo artist. She had an apprenticeship in exchange for a date with her future-husband Gus Wagner.
In 1932, a 15 year old, Whang-od Oggay from the Philippines followed the family tradition and started marking peoples skin. 85 years later, at the age of 102, Whang-od continues to tattoo.
Some artist haven’t had such luck when it comes to learning the trade.
So they’ve taken matters into their own hands to learn the art and become the artists they are today.
Stevie Randallyn Hansen 's journey into the world of art began at an early age.
She was born into a creative family. Her great-grandma created oil paintings, grandma knitted, mother sewed and uncle made jewelry & carvings. Of all the mediums available to her, drawing took over a majority of her life. Being able to create anything with her two hands was a way to enjoy herself and escape. Drawing would change her life in a big way during her teenage years as she explored different art mediums. One of those mediums being tattooing. At the age of 13, while living in San Diego, her tattoo curiosity went a step further as she hand-poked a tattoo on a friend (and herself). These actions would get her in more trouble than she’d imagine and landed her in Kingman, Arizona.
It was during her teenage years in Kingman where tattooing would consume her life and push her art even further. Her interest in pursuing art was growing and now being in high school she had an outlet through art class.
“I took art every year. I would skip lunch and spend it working on class projects. I had the same teacher every year in high school. She was absolutely great. I loved art & I knew I wanted a career in it. I didn’t think there was anything else but to be an art teacher. Once I knew that tattooing was what I wanted to do, she let me stop doing the assignments and instead had me do a new drawing everyday for my (tattoo) portfolio.”
At the age of 17, Stevie decided to get her first “professional” tattoo in Kingman. The laws in Arizona allow minors to receive a tattoo with parental consent. It was at this point, while being tattooed, that she felt this was her calling.
“ (I knew) I wanted to be heavily tattooed, so that was always a thought in my head. Then when I got tattooed it was an epiphany. My dad had always portrayed tattooers to be shitty bikers or someone in a garage. It never crossed my mind they could actually make a living from it, until I grew up and started learning things for myself. Then when I was old enough to get one, I was just like Wow! they get to paint, draw, and make permanent art on people! Oh my god, this is amazing! I knew right then, tattooing was going to be it!”
After receiving her first professional tattoo, her plans for college were definitely out the window. Focused on finishing high school, she graduated a semester early to pursue her dreams. Living in a small town left little to no information when it came to tattooing. Most of the information she learned was through tattooers she would pay to be tattooed by. Asking questions about tattoo machines and needle sizes to get an idea of what they were doing or what techniques they were using, to get a better understanding & learn from her experience. She would then go home and practice her tattooing skills on fruits and rubber “skins”. Also, having many friends volunteer as “guinea pigs” to get a more real experience. Her hard work would soon pay off, as her work was noticed by a new shop in town - who asked to meet & offered her a spot at their shop.
Being her first time working in a shop, she learned a lot of new things she missed from not having a traditional tattooing introduction. Learning a bit from everyone and doing daily tasks that included: drawing, scrubbing tubes, sanitizing work areas, setting up /breaking down stations and cleaning the shop as a whole from open to close (while still tattooing full time). Both in house artist would give her advice, but one artist specifically would turn into her mentor as he took her under his wing.
"Capone showed me everything he could. He forced me out of my bubble and even though I wanted to primarily do traditional he made me learn black and grey and fine line. It made me a more versatile tattooer. Yes, I had a style I wanted to do but if a walk-in came in, I was able to do it all - no matter what the style was.”
Practicing and perfecting her traditional style didn’t come easy. Though the designs look “simple”, they are still very difficult to transfer from paper to skin. Stevie was hooked and devoted her time & effort into perfecting her style.
With 11 years under her belt, she was able to become a well-rounded artist tackling on new & different styled pieces. Her tattooing would allow her to not only tattoo in Kingman but also Bullhead City, Las Vegas, various cities in Southern California and numerous tattoo conventions to name a few.
Tattooing has given her the opportunity to meet & work with great artist from around the world. She’s been able to travel across the states and tattoo people who later became friends.
Her work has a allowed her to design for different brands & businesses. The childhood dream of becoming an artist gave her more than she could have ever imagined.
Currently, Stevie is taking a hiatus from her career to focus on herself due to life changing health issues.
We hope & KNOW she will make her return one day.
For those pursuing their dreams of becoming a tattoo artist, Stevie shares these words with you.
“Everyone should apprentice. I would’ve killed to start off that way immediately but I lived in the middle of nowhere, I felt so limited. (To start) Get tattooed as much as you can, by as many great artists as you can. Just watching them and asking questions is great knowledge. Draw and paint as much as possible and build a portfolio. Spend lots of time in shops and be persistent. Do your homework & research on tattoo history.”
Big thanks to Stevie for taking the time to share her story with us. If you'd like to see more of her work follow her on Instagram:
(Tattoo photos provided by Stevie Randallyn)
