Today we’d like to introduce you to Madelynn Shively.
Hi Madelynn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been inclined towards art. Since I was very small, I could always be found with a paper and pencil in hand, doodling, sketching, or writing creatively. I grew up in southern Illinois, eventually attending SIUC to pursue a bachelor’s in fine art. Although I had always seen myself working in a creative field, I began to realize that the fine arts may not have been the best fit. I loved people and making connections with others- something that isn’t easy to do whilst spending 8+ hours a day in a studio alone. I still loved creating, drawing, and painting, but I noticed that I felt uplifted when working in the service industry; some of my favorite times in college was when I was waitressing. As I collected my diploma and began putting thought into what came next, COVID hit the country and all tentative plans changed. While scrambling to figure out what life might bring in the midst of the pandemic, I began to start getting tattooed. I became fascinated with the industry, and how people were able to express themselves artistically while also cultivating relationships with others, and working closely with their clients. It seemed to be the perfect marriage of the customer service industry and the art world. I bought a tattoo machine online and started practicing on my friends (which I do not recommend!) and quickly realized that I needed to find a tattoo apprenticeship if I was going to take this new venture seriously. Eventually I picked up and moved to Gainesville, FL to pursue my dream. I was able to land an apprenticeship, and worked a 9-5 job while learning how to tattoo from 5-10 in the evening. It was exhausting but I learned enough to eventually transition into tattooing full time. With the basics under my belt, I could hone a personal style of tattooing that could showcase my art background: inserting portraiture in tattoos, integrating art history into designs, and altering plants and animals to honor my ability to draw and paint. After getting into a good groove with work, I started painting again for pleasure in my off time, which has allowed me to reconnect with traditional art after years of taking a break from it. I am truly grateful to work at my current shop, Pizzazz Tattoo and Piercing, and have a job that I am excited and happy to go to every day.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the hardest things to come to terms with is that I was not a natural at tattooing. Art has always been easy for me and something I have been naturally good at, but tattooing requires innumerable technical skills that I had no idea about. It wasn’t as easy as learning how to turn a machine on, and then getting to work creating masterpieces on skin. I was very humbled by the amount of training it took to even tattoo a straight line. Through lots of patience and lots of friends that “sacrificed some skin” for me, I eventually got my grounding!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I tattoo black and grey illustrative work. I incorporate surreal imagery and blending of animal/ human elements in my tattoos. Recently, I have been doing a lot of fish tattoos with twists like the inclusion of portraits, jewelry, and florals.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
As tattoos are seen less and less of a cultural “taboo”, I expect the tattoo industry to soar. Even in the past ten years, there has been exponential growth in the field. Tattoo machines are smaller, more accessible, and more user- friendly. Tattoo inks are safer and wider ranges of colors are being produced. More women are making their way into the fold of the tattoo world, which as recently as 20 years ago was rare. Client comfort is being considered more carefully. With vehicles such as social media, information about tattoo artists, the work, and shops are easy to find and research. Short form video platforms like Tik Tok are a hotbed for artists to showcase themselves making their tattoos and showing their process- as well as folks showing off their new tattoos and their process of getting them! While there are the unavoidable pitfalls of an industry growing at lightning speed, it is good to see tattooing viewed more as an art form these days rather than “unprofessional”. I think that the attitude will continue to trend upwards as time goes on.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mad_s_ink/
