Today we’d like to introduce you to Rah Temperley.
Hi Rah, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Rah Temperley, Born in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
I’ve been tattooing for 18 years but doing art all my life, mostly on the Gold Coast, Australia.
After travelling the world multiple times with my old Death Metal band, i fell in love with Austin.
after i quit the band i travelled the world for a few years tattooing all around the globe but always found myself coming back to Austin, not only for the friends here, but just the lifestyle and knowing how this city knows how to have fun.
I returned home to Australia and decided Austin was going to be home.
So i worked for 7 years to gain my visa to be able to move to the US, after being approved last year, i packed up and sold my whole life and made the shift to my new home in Austin.
Now i am working from Sharp Objects Tattoo in South Congress with Valentina Riabova (@val_tatboo) who is incredibly highly renowned in the industry, so to be here is an honor i cant describe.
Between working in Austin i still travel the States doing guest spots and conventions when i can, but Austin will always be home from now on.
Your night life, restaurants, bars, lakes, even just quirky little things to see around the city are like nothing i’ve seen anywhere in the world, now i get to see them all!
I love this city.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
oh hahaha not at all.
Tattooing is full of ups and downs, especially when the economy goes up and down.
But the hardest part was gaining my visa.
it is technically an “exceptional skills” visa, so i had to prove to the government i was worth being here.
which included winning multiple trophies for my art from around the world, being endorsed by multiple brands within the industry, having letters written from multiple high ranking tattooers from around the world, celebrities i’ve worked on, conventions i got invited to judge at…. and the list goes on.
and it took me a few years to get all that evidence.
But now it’s done and i am here, there is a huge weight off my shoulders.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Well when i first started drawing i just drew comic book art, spiderman, spawn, stuff like that, but when i started tattooing i only drew traditional japanese style artwork, i loved how dynamic and bold it was.
But a friend asked me to draw a portrait of her and her partner, and after i did realism and portrait art just clicked with me, so i worked for maybe 10 years to just be a great portrait artist.
Now this was difficult because it was around the 10 year mark when my band started touring the world and i was conflicted into which direction to go, put all my effort into music or put it all into art, as i was building a reputation in both.
but after the band kind of fell apart, i went all in on tattooing.
dove into full colour realism and some fun abstract art and really built my name around that.
But oddly in the last 2 years i picked up a new technique in doing a style of “dark art” using opaque values in my art and i feel i’ve finally found my niche.
i still do colour, i still do portraits, but i have heavily leaned into the more spooky and disturbing kind of artwork.
and while many people do similar art, i think mine has a certain “creep” to it that i haven’t really seen before and it’s getting alot of attention lately.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
oh hahah risk taking.
it’s almost all i do. i’ve never turned down a challenge.
anytime anyone has ever told me i couldn’t do something, i did it on purpose.
Now, it has cost me alot of relationships, personal and professional, but no risk has ever stopped me.
i was told i wouldn’t make it in a band so i toured the world to prove them wrong.
i was told i’d never work with some of the greats in tattooing, so i went and did it.
i was told to get a visa was too hard to get for an artist. so i went and did it.
I’ve moved cities dozens of times, i’ve moved to different countries 5 times and never particularly worried about the outcome, or had a plan, i just did it.
so yes, i enjoy a good risk, it’s the fun part of life and the pride you get when things work out is far greater than anything else.
Pricing:
- Pricing is based on the artwork required
- Just hit me up and lets work with your budget
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @rahrahtattoo
- Facebook: Rah Rah Tattoos
