Today we’d like to introduce you to Luna Lucero.
Hi Luna , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in a small town on Vancouver island Canada, both my parents were artist types so for me being creative was really encouraged and supported. Since I was a small child I always had the dream of being an artist. I always felt a bit different and like I didn’t fit in anywhere I tried, life at home was insecure, my father was an alcoholic and I spent most of my time alone with my mom who was and is the wildest hippie woman. I never had many friends and I dropped out of high school. I moved out very young and made it on my own as a freelance artist since I was 16. I paid my way through life by drawing portraits of people. I always loved to draw women. Around that time I also started to get tattooed, and do graffiti. I found where I fit in society wise by spending a lot of time with those types of people in tattoo shops. I think they made me feel more normal, and suddenly I had a surge of inspiration to learn how to tattoo, at age 16 I started hunting for an apprenticeship, and I got tattooed as much as I could. By the time I was 18 I was already pretty covered in tattoos. One of my first jobs when I was 17/18 was doing the desk at a tattoo shop called Tattoo Zoo in Victoria bc, I worked there for about a year and then I moved to Switzerland to live with my older brother, I moved around Europe for a few years, searching for someone to teach me, and I got my start in 2017 at a tattoo shop in Barcelona, at the time I was admittedly struggling pretty hard with depression and addiction to alcohol so I couldn’t see it through but I did my first tattoo there, and learnt the ropes in broken Spanish. I moved around some more kinda waiting for the right thing to hit me, I eneded up living a bit of a gypsy life with a fellow painter on an island off Spain called Menorca for a while and trying to heal. After much running away and struggling I finally surrendered and decided to move home to Vancouver island where an apprenticeship was put in front of me only a couple months after coming home, I was still struggling with addiction when I started but I was focused on getting in and it honestly saved my life. I moved shops a few times, The first 5 years of tattooing were a blur, I woke up tattooed all day and drank all night and did hardly anything else, I was struggling hard but I always put tattooing first. Finally at 5 years in I made the conscious effort to get sober and once I did all of my efforts paid up and everything got better, my work, relationships, and I suddenly got a lot of recognition for my work, I’ve done podcasts , travelled and did a bunch of magazine interviews, honesty I still pinch myself that I’m here now! I’ve been tattooing now for 9 years and sober for 4, I now live and work in Austin Texas which through tattooing brought me here and put my in line to meet my then client and now husband. We have twin babies and live in the country. I’m still working tattooing full time at Communion tattoo on the East side along many lovely and talented people! so I’m a very busy girl but I am so grateful for it all and to be here in Texas now!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Honestly struggling with myself held me back the most, but in amongst that my working relationships, I got placed with some not so savoury people and I had to navigate some unsafe situations when I was first starting out. However I feel like I’ve learnt so much from that and I’ve become really resilient and tough. Now the challenge is just juggling working with taking care of babies!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in tattooing black and grey illustrative portraits, oil painting and drawing. I love all styles of tattooing though!
What were you like growing up?
I was a bit of a loner hippie kid when I was growing up, I was really creative and imaginative, wild and free. I spent a lot of time in the Canadian nature, drawing and hanging out with animals.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/lunalucerotattoo
