Up-and-Coming Tattoo Artist!

About this post: How to turn a dream into reality! An update on how Megan is doing since starting her tattoo apprenticeship in a Downtown Halifax shop. Discover this up-and-coming tattoo artist! #LivingCreatively #LivingtheDream #TattooArtist

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I’m four months into this “empty nest” thing and still trying to figure out who I am…where I fit…what I want in life…but in the meantime, my kids seem to have it all figured out!

All three are thriving and as their mom, I’m enjoying the ride immensely…watching from arm’s length, grabbing a meal with them from time-to-time, keeping up with the family group chat, and always there to offer any advice they need or a loving voice on a difficult day.

Take Megan for instance, for the most part, she’s loving her life but every now and then…a bad day throws her off.

But, before I tell you about that…let’s chat about the good stuff as I’m incredibly proud of how strong she is, and how amazing it is to watch her make her dreams come true.

Up until this past year, Megan had a goal of playing varsity volleyball and spent much of her teen years behind a net, blocking a play, or spiking a ball. She started playing university ball at a difficult time in her life…as she was sorting through some personal things and making decisions about her education. While she had university teams wooing her…it wasn’t the volleyball itself but “going to university” that she struggled with the most. In the end, she chose a program she thought would best suit her, and began the very best year of ball imaginable!

Unfortunately, she REALLY disliked school!

It turns out…Meg had another passion that she was keeping under wraps and it had NOTHING to do with getting a university education. She dreamed of being a tattoo artist and spent hour after hour watching every “ink” show available…while quietly working on sketching…never having taken an art class or divulging that she wanted to live a creative life.

SHE HAS A CREATIVE MOM! WHY KEEP IT A SECRET?

After much discussion, Meg left university with my full support and the support of her volleyball coaches and teammates, who gave her the very best send off imaginable as she walked away from one dream to pursue another. (Blog Post, “Changing Directions”)

What followed was a few months of healing while taking some night classes at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and working at a pizza shop to save some money. Once ready and feeling confident, Megan put together a portfolio of her work and visited local tattoo shops asking for advice as she took the first steps to find a shop that would consider taking her on as an apprentice.

This past September, Meg flew from the nest, took her savings, and moved downtown with her boyfriend while beginning apprenticing at a shop that recognized her potential…deciding to take a chance on this young girl with a big dream!

In order to work around her apprentice hours and live on her own, Megan began working part-time, four days a week, at a job that starts at 3am!!

Over these last few months, I’ve watched this kid SHINE! I’ve also watched her fall asleep in various places and not be able to take part in social events as there’s not a lot of extra time in her days…but I’ve watched her SHINE! Since she started, with the exception of Christmas Day and one day she’d had the stomach flu…Megan has worked EVERY SINGLE DAY. She’s showing up…doing what needs to be done to pay her bills and make her rent while turning her dreams into reality.

She’s shown more work ethic than I ever knew she had and I can honestly say, I’ve sat back in AWE!

The folks she’s working for, both at that shop and at her part-time job…are incredibly supportive, creating a schedule that allows her to do the apprenticeship and work at the same time as they likely see what I see…a hard-working kid who’s doing what she needs to do to make it all happen.

With both of her tattoo machines now purchased and hours spent watching her mentors at Sin on Skin Tattoo Studio work their creative magic, Megan has moved onto the next phase of learning to be a tattoo artist and she’s begun to practice on grapefruit!

At the same time she continues to draw…creating a portfolio of tattoo “flash” and discovering her style as she works her way through her apprenticeship where, in a few months, she’ll move on to tattooing PEOPLE! Some who have followed her from the beginning and can’t wait to get a tattoo from a new artist, others who will discover her as time goes on…and me…her mom, who never dreamt she’d ever get a tattoo but yet, there’s something incredibly special about having your daughter’s art permanently drawn on your skin!

If you haven’t already…follow along with Meg’s progress on Instagram at Illustrations by Meg, and make sure to tell your friends about this up-and-coming artist…with the incredibly proud mom!!

AND…if you have any suggestions for flash OR what Meg can practice on grapefruits…leave a comment below or send her a message through Instagram! She’d love to hear from you.

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OH…about that bad day…

Without going into details, let me just remind everyone to BE KIND to those who are working in service jobs. The ones at the drive-thru, behind the counter, handing you your cupcake or taking away your dishes. Being kind is SIMPLE but being a jerk…for no reason, whatsoever…can really wreck someone’s day! Someone who’s working hard…who has dreams and passions…who deserves respect as a human being.

JUST BE KIND!!