Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Woodard.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In November of 2019 I was released from the Texas prison system after doing almost 5 years in prison. I was a recovering heroin addict terrified to go in to the world, but desperately wanting to leave prison. I was rehearsals to my mom’s house on parole and the first thing I did was start looking for a job. Being a federal and state convicted felon on parole with a wrap sheet a mile long there’s really only one job that will take you, so I started waiting tables at atex-mex restaurant surrounded by college kids and I was a 34 year old 2 time convicted felon fresh out and I’ve never felt more out of place in my life. 3 months after starting covid hit the world and over night I went from having money and gaining stability to having nothing and once again being a prisoner in my home. I have always been an artist and I think I got it from my grandmother and great grandmother. My grandmother was an art major at Texas state when it was south west Texas and her mother was a painter who painted beautiful landscapes. My dad was a pretty good artist too. My family is full of creative people so it kind runs in the family I guess. I started trying to commission drawing jobs through social media for portraits and I got a pretty good response. One day I had a best friend of mine message me telling me I needed to start tattooing. We use to use together and both got sober and got our lives together and supported each other through every step of it. He told me I needed to start tattooing and I was like yeah that would be awesome but what am I supposed to do? Walk up to a shop that’s closed down like every other business and be like, ” hey I know yall are closed down and making no money but bring me on as an apprentice. ” lol I kinda laughed off the idea and he told me I didn’t need a shop or an apprenticeship. That I was so good at art I could just figure it. My second rebuttal was the fact that tattoo supplies cost a ton of money. At the time he was making so much money with bitcoin and building 5g towers he quickly responded that he’d pay for everything. But what if I can’t pay you back? He just told me Emily, don’t f*** up my investment. Hahaha yes sir. With in a week there was boxes on my steps with tons of tattoo supplies and the first thing I did was tattoo my boyfriend’s ear. I was completely hooked. And I was really good. Like just naturally one what to do and how to feel the needle in the skin. Once the world opened back up I got my first spot in a shop in dripping springs and that experience with that shop owner is what drove me to do what I’m doing now. Creating a safe space for all walks of life but especially for women in the tattoo industry and for women wanting to get tattooed and not be harassed and sexually exploited by the men tattooing them. Touch is the most intimate sense in the human experience. I’ve witnessed things done to women, both artist and client, by men in this profession that made me furious and leaving a shop any time it happened would just cause me to be unstable with my clients. I was going to do it. I was going to open a shop in my tiny little home town of Wimberley. The first tattoo shop ever in its history, and I was going to do whatever it took to make sure that any client who found us would walk through our doors and feel home. And I did it with la Belladonna. My safe space. We offer tattoos, piercings, laser tattoo removal, and permanent jewelry. We have amazing clients who we call our family and that we care deeply about. When you walk in to the shop it’s not your typical look for a tattoo studio. We’ve converted an old home built in the 1920’s in the downtown area into a sacred space full of art and taxidermy. January of this year was our 2 year anniversary and I’m looking forward to serving my community for many more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think any business is a smooth road. There’s always going to be bumps. In this industry when the economy is bad business is bad. And the economy as we all know is really bad right now. But we do everything we can to help out the community and continue to provide services. You have employees come and go and then you finally build a perfect team and you can breathe. The team we have is excellent. I’m the owner along with my husband ben and I’m a tattoo artist here. I have another artist named Dillon Bailey who is still very new to the industry but his innate skill for it reminds me of me when I was starting. His work is just so clean and I truly believe he’s going to be a force in this industry. Ashley is my sister and she’s our laser tech and does our permanent jewelry. She’s a warm welcome when you walk in and everyone adores her. I swear I’d hide from the world with out her help and support. Our piercer danielle is still new to the piercing industry but she has so many great people that are teaching her and guiding her through her apprenticeship. She’s still fresh but already amazingly talented with a natural gift with piercing and helping people find themselves through modification. I also currently have a tattoo apprentice ash that is just crazy freaking talented at art. So yeah there’s tons of things that can get in the way sometimes and stress you out but it’s the people around you that keep you going.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well I’m a tattoo artist and owner at La Belladonna Studio in Wimberley. I specialize in fine line, florals, neotraditional, realism, and horror. I’m probably most known for my fineline floral work. I’m most proud of the space I’ve created. I’ve worked so hard to create a safe space that people walk in the door and feel at home and truly I think that’s what sets me and my shop apart from the rest. There’s no ego.. just love and acceptance and understanding between everyone.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The tattoo industry just in the last 5 years has exploded. We’re doing things with skin no one has ever seen and I think that’s only going to progress. Unfortunately that also means that anyone who think they can draw can do what I did and order a machine on Amazon and start tattooing. Which is cool but instead of advanced artists taking them in and nurturing them there’s this crazy gatekeeping culture. And women are super excluded boo matter how good they are. Unless they’re super skinny and super hot. It’s just a make dominated industry so you have to have extremely tough skin and an even stronger back bone.
Pricing:
- Varies between artists
- Laser starts at 100 per location
- Permanent jewelry starts at 60
- Piercings start at 45
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.labelladonnastudiotx.com
