Megan Massacre - The art of tattoo: an insiders look at a tattoo artists inspirations, designs, and hard-won advice

MEGAN MASSACRE has been a tattoo artist since 2004. She is the author of Marked in Ink and has appeared on TVs NY Ink , Americas Worst Tattoos , and Bondi Ink Tattoo . Best known for her incredible attention to detail and vibrant use of color, Megans artwork has been exhibited in galleries and publications both inside and outside the tattoo world. Megan resides in New York City, where she is a partner at Grit N Glory, the citys first rock n roll lifestyle boutique and tattoo studio.

Making art is more than just picking up a pencil and deciding to draw something. It takes being inspired with an idea to know where to start. Inspiration works differently for everyone; it isnt something you can just turn on and off like a switch. Sometimes it flows naturally, but how do you discover inspiration when it doesnt? Each artist finds her or his own ways of learning how to encourage inspiration when needed. I personally find inspiration from the world around mefrom my home in New York City to far-off destinationsand from all the animals, objects, and colors that surround me every day.

One of the things I love the most about being a tattoo artist is being able to travel. Tattoo artists are pretty migratoryits common for artists to move around and work at different shops and tattoo conventions all over the world. Traveling is valuable for work and play, but also being away from home leaves my brain free from everyday stresses and distractions to allow inspiration to freely flow in. Traveling also provides an opportunity to have new experiences and to see new things from different perspectives. Now, we cant always just hop on a plane whenever were in a lull, although we may wish we could. This can be done in simpler ways. During the spring and summer I try to hike once a week, each time at a different mountain, park, or nature reserve all within a couple of hours from home. I always bring my camera and take tons of photos along the way (between scaling giant boulders). Even just being out in nature, with great weather and feeling peaceful, really sets my mind at ease to let the inspiration flow in. Make sure you always have your phone or a notepad with you to jot down ideas, because if your inspiration works anything like mine, it can be fleeting. Sometimes ideas will come pouring in out of nowhere and be gone just as fast.

Outside of my own home sweet home of New York City, there are many places I have visited and fallen in love with and found truly inspirational. Here are just a few, and I hope to keep adding to this list as the years go on. Different regions of the world have different things to offer inspirationally. Culture, architecture, religion, animals, plants, textiles, art, and geography are just a few examples.

The colors, music, food, and culture of Mexico make it one of my favorite places. You can see its influences through my sugar skulls (see ) inspired by the Mexican holiday Da de los Muertos, which celebrates loved ones who have passed. It is believed that for a span of days over this time, the souls are allowed to reunite with their families. One of my favorite trips to Mexico was a trip to Mexico City with my business partner Veronica to visit her family there. On this visit, we climbed the ruins at Teotihuacan. It was an exhausting and awesome experience. I also got a wicked sunburn after climbing the temple of the suncoincidence?