Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace Wise.
Grace, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have been an artist from the moment I could hold a pencil and was especially drawn to sketch art and painting when I was younger. My mother knew that I loved creating and put me through pretty much every art class in the area that I asked her to. My parents are the biggest supporters of my art (growing up and today), and I would always get so excited to show them my finished pieces and get their praise and critiques (mostly praise). I really owe a lot of my success to them. They were so supportive of me doing what I loved and never once made me feel like art was a waste of time.
Instead of becoming some sort of graphic designer or sketch artist like I always thought I would, I was drawn to photography in my high school and college years. The last few years before I became a tattoo artist, I was a family, wedding, and portrait photographer. I also worked at a coffee shop and started designing tattoos for friends and family to have done by other artists. As much as I loved photography, turning it into a business was taking the passion and excitement out of it. I really enjoyed just creating for myself and trying to please everyone to stay afloat was getting to me. At the time, getting commissions to design tattoos for people was the thing that made me the most happy. There was always a small desire to be a tattoo artist, but it was a world I knew nothing about, so it seemed daunting and impossible. I hadn’t even had my first tattoo at this point because I couldn’t decide on an artist I wanted to go to. At the end of the day, I had been doing photography for a few years, so that path was comfortable. I didn’t want anyone to think I was a failure or had made a mistake in my career choice.
As time went on, I started feeling as though I was putting all of my energy into trying to market my business. COVID had really affected photography because people weren’t having big weddings anymore. It felt like I was putting so much time and effort into my business but was receiving nothing. During this time, I had a coworker whose spouse did stick and poke tattoos from their home for friends. One of our coworkers asked if I would design a tattoo for her to get done by him. Knowing nothing about stick and poke, I wanted to see what it was, so my husband and I tagged along while she went to get it done. It was a really neat process and didn’t have the intimidating factor that tattoo machines can have. On the way home, my husband, knowing that I always had that desire to get into the tattoo world, said “you could do that.” So we went home, bought a crappy Amazon stick and poke kit, and two days later when it arrived, started practicing on ourselves. I made my husband (who is also a talented artist and is pretty dang good at stick and poke now) give himself a tattoo first to make sure his limbs wouldn’t fall off or something. It turned out really well, despite the inadequate tools.
A few months later, after giving myself and my friend’s dozens of free tattoos after work, I had a trip to Marfa planned. I went to a professional stick and poked artist (Ashley Swarts of Slowpoke Marfa) for my birthday and got tattooed. I really wanted to talk to her about how she got into doing it full time and possibly hear her story while receiving the beautiful swallow on my arm. That trip was life-changing in many ways, but the biggest part was when she told me she was planning on opening up a second shop in Austin. She loved my work and wanted me to meet her business partner and discuss being an artist at her shop. Throughout the next six months, we met up in Austin, got to know each other a little better, and worked some pop-ups to let people know the shop was opening there.
Not being from the area (I actually live closer to San Antonio than to Austin), I was a little worried that I was going to be a total failure and not book anything for months. However, when we first opened our books, I think it took about a week or so for mine to be completely booked. I was shocked. From then on, my follower count on Instagram continued to grow (I hit 1k followers at the end of November and 10k by January) and my business continued to grow. I am completely blown away by the constant love and support I have received while working in this city. I owe it all to the people who trust me enough to have my drawings permanently placed on their bodies.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think the toughest part about learning any new profession is figuring out where to start. I am definitely that person that overthinks every move and it can take me a while to make a decision. However, when it came to stick and poke, I felt like I just needed to start doing it. Once I overcame the fear of failure and started tattooing myself, I became more and more confident and I feel like everything sort of just started falling into place.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a stick and poke tattoo artist and I specialize in line-work. I love tattooing anything western, nature-themed, or delicate. I think the designs I am most proud of are my set of cowgirls. Every month or so, I will drop a set of one-time-only designs (only one person can claim each design). Back in January, I dropped a series of western symbols and cowgirl designs and they have been my favorite to this date.
What I believe sets me apart from a lot of other tattoo artists is that I draw all of my designs with a pencil and paper. It definitely takes more time and has a different look than those done with iPads or tablets, but there’s something about the rawness of it that speaks to me.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice for someone who is just starting out or who wants to learn stick and poke is: just do it. There are quite a few free resources online for those who want to see how it’s done (articles, youtube videos, reels), but personally, I learn better with a hands-on approach. However, make sure you research the tools you are using so you don’t end up with scars or infections. If you’re not crazy (like me) and you don’t want to practice on your own skin at first, you can always practice on oranges or fake skin, but the best way to really see if this is something you want to do is to just do it.
Contact Info:
- Email: spicypokes@gmail.com
- Website: www.slowpokeaustin.com/grace
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spicy_pokes
