Today we’d like to introduce you to Naomi Shanti.
Hi Naomi, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I was a wife, young mom, and hairstylist in the central Florida area in the early 2000s. I had not grown up as an artist but always admired my friends who could draw and paint, as well as my older brother who was extremely talented. In 2008 my brother (Henry) passed away from a tragic car accident. He was a tattoo artist, of 13 years and owner of Hardcore Tattoo in Cedar Rapids Iowa. I had watched him learn and grow into that craft during my teenage years. Spending time with him in his shop, getting tattooed, and not realizing then how that time had truly impacted me.
After his death, I was devastated I was depressed, and felt the only way to really feel close to Henry again was to create. So, I began to draw. I started making art every day, and my husband and two boys were very supportive. Day by day I began to heal through the art process and feel that connection I thought I lost when my brother passed. I had always loved the tattoo industry; growing up around it, getting tattooed by my family, it felt like a piece of me and a part of home. Deep in my heart, I wanted to tattoo, but I had a way to go before I could get there.
My art and life journey were filled with mothering, moving, improving my craft, and going back to school. I earned my bachelor’s in studio art in 2017 from the University of Minnesota. Being a mom, a full-time artist, working, and doing school was not easy. I was tired but determined to be a better me. I showed my art all over the United States, I taught art to many children in schools, in museums, and community classrooms. Then, it was in early 2018 an opportunity to tattoo opened up. I felt like the timing was perfect! I continued my work teaching art and painting while I learned to tattoo. In 2019, I jumped head first in and decided it was time to open Alchemy Tattoo and Fine Art. Now my art and tattoo studio coincide. A place where transformation and healing can happen through the process of creating, through art. Alchemy is a private studio with tattooists and fine artists that believe art heals.
I feel like when my brother passed; he left me a gift. The gift of finding my true self. Tattooed on Henry’s knuckles was “Stay True” That was the true gift he passed on to me, being true to myself and following my heart always!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Some of the biggest challenges I faced was deciding to switch career gears with young children and being a young mom! I knew for the sake of my family and being the best possible woman I could be that, I needed to. I needed to find who I was. I found that through art.
The art industry is full of rejection, which I am not sure I was really prepared for. I remember going into different tattoo shops looking for apprenticeships and getting multiple “no’s.” It was discouraging. When I went back to school for my art degree, I had a professor tell me I was not good enough and that I did not belong with the caliber of students in that school.
I look back at what I was creating 14 years ago, and it was not that good. However, I never stopped learning, and I took the no’s and turned them into “watch me”. Rejection and constant rejection, and feeling not enough was the most challenging part of the journey. I won’t lie and say it doesn’t affect me still, at times. I try to look at each rejection as the opportunity to grow and learn!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am owner and tattooist at Alchemy Tattoo and Fine Art in Ocala, Florida. I specialize in black and grey intuitive realism with a delicate fine line approach. I love tattooing birds as much as I love painting them! And I am also known as “Bird Lady”! My tattoo work will resonate with people who prefer a soft style and soft hand that lends to more of a realistic approach with a minimalistic style.
As a fine artist and painter: My paintings tend to be large-scale, of birds mainly residing in Florida. I feel personally connected to birds that are endangered, mysterious, or often overlooked. At the same time, I will paint almost any little creature that touches my soul deeply. As a whole, I believe each bird has a story to tell through their unique power, their history, habitat, and behaviors. Most of my paintings are watercolor on wood, with color pencil, and other mixed media. All wood panels are handcrafted in my home studio.
I am also a creative coach, utilizing the past 14 years of teaching art to both adults and children, combined with experience from my own art journey, to help support artists at all levels. Artist supporting Artist!!! As artists we have this innate need to create, to show the world through our eyes, our hearts, and our souls. I believe the art we create is a piece of who we are, the stories that move through us, our emotions, and our souls. Ultimately it can help us heal and transform from the inside out. Creative coaching offers you the opportunity to be encouraged, loved, and supported through your own process of creation and transformation. Through coaching, you have the opportunity to tackle artistic goals, find your true authenticity as a creative, set intention, and release stagnant energy to make room for more flow and connection to your art. All while being supported creatively, emotionally, and spiritually.
I am extremely proud that I have created a physical and emotionally supportive space where my clients, family, friends, and fellow artists feel safe to be their most true self. Whether painting together, being tattooed, coaching, or working side by side in the studio, we are all free to be, to heal, to grow together in a positive creative community. I love making art that helps others heal that connects them to certain aspects of their own life and spiritual journey! I have found through creating this space to heal through art, with the goal of helping others, I have been so blessed and found even more of my own deep healing.
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?
I think something that I love seeing in the tattoo industry is that for the past few years and moving forward, artists are really finding their own niche. When I watched my brother learning and building his tattoo business in the ’90s, I remember him being and needing to be extremely versatile, doing all styles.
Now, I am seeing artists really true to what they love in regards to styles, themes, and approaches. Though I still see the importance of being versatile (more so in the beginning stages of the career), trying and learning different styles, and applying and discovering new processes, approaches, and techniques. I find that the importance is to help in discovering yourself as an individual unique artist and to fine-tune and perfect the craft.
There is definitely an artist for everyone who is looking to be tattooed. There are more and more studios that are providing different types of tattoo experiences, private studios to a more community open setting, quiet, to hardcore! I think the client looking to be tattooed has many options to find the artist and studio that best suits their needs. It is no longer a one-stop shop, and I think that is beautiful!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alchemytattoo-ocala.com and www.naomishanti.com
- Instagram: @nshantiart @alchemytattoo.ocala
Image Credits
Dani Mcdonald
Dez Smith
Naomi Shanti
