Tattoo flash refers to pre-drawn designs a tattoo artist has available for you to choose from. You can either look through my flash book and choose a flash piece to have tattooed (either before your appointment or when you come in for your appointment), or you can request a custom drawing based on your own idea. When a tattoo artist or shop hosts a flash day, this means they are only doing designs from their flash books on that day. My flash designs can be found in the ‘FLASH’ story highlight on my instagram.

Handpoke tattooing is done without the use of a tattoo machine – this method is also commonly referred as ‘stick-and-poke’. There are lots of different machine-free tattoo methods that date back thousands of years in cultures around the world, which use different materials and techniques. I do my tattoos using the same industry-standard tattoo ink and pre-sterilized, single use needles that you would find in any other licensed tattoo shop. A handpoked tattoo is made with a needle held by hand, rather than inserted into a machine; the image on your skin is made by poking one dot at a time just below the skin’s surface.

I am a fully licensed tattoo artist and follow Alberta Health Services approved safety and cleanliness protocols. So yes, it’s just as sterile as getting a tattoo in your typical licensed tattoo shop! This is a really important question to ask and isn’t necessarily the case for all ‘stick-and-poke’ or handpoked tattoos – please feel free to reach out if you ever have questions about this. I take safety very seriously in my space. This refers to more than just the tattoo itself and your physical health, but also maintaining an environment where all people feel welcome, respected, and comfortable. I have a lot more information about this in my policy + procedures!

Not really. Every tattoo artist’s style is different, though, so it really depends. With handpoked tattoos, you can often see the individual dots making up the larger image if you look closely, making these kinds of tattoos slightly imperfect, while a machine tattoo will often look much more crisp. So it depends on your preference! I always encourage becoming really familiar with a tattoo artist’s body of work before booking with them so that you’re clear on what the end result is likely going to be.

A handpoke tattoo is very much a permanent change to your body and appearance! When done properly and by a professional, a handpoked tattoo should age in the same way as any other tattoo. It will always remain on your skin, and as your skin ages it will slowly become slightly faded and less crisp with time. This is to be expected with all tattoos.

This depends on so many things! Different people can tolerate different kinds of pain to varying degrees, and the placement on your body can affect the pain level, which is also different for everyone. Most of my clients find this method less painful than machine tattooing, but I can’t make any guarantees.

Handpoke is a much slower process than machine tattooing. I generally stick to sessions that last 1-3 hours of tattooing (not including prep time, placing the tattoo, breaks, etc) and result in tattoos that are usually no larger than 5”.

Yep! My tattoo inks, as well as all of the soaps, antiseptics, and other skin products used during the process are vegan, as well as plant-based (rather than petroleum derived) wherever possible.

I’m open to doing larger and more detailed pieces if I feel that your idea is a good fit for my work. Usually large pieces are broken up into multiple sessions. The handpoke method can definitely limit the level of detail and size that can be accomplished with a tattoo. Sometimes I have clients who like to slowly build a sleeve made up of lots of little tattoos. However, if you’re looking for a really dark, detailed sleeve piece I would really recommend going to a machine-based artist who typically does that sort of thing.

My base rate (minimum price) for a tattoo is $100. I take $60 of your total tattoo cost in the form of a deposit to confirm your booking, with the remainder charged to you at the end of your appointment. I charge by design using a sliding scale pricing system, and most of my tattoos range between $150-$400. You can always give me an idea of your budget or financial situation when filling out a booking form, and I will do my best to work with that.

Yes – I work out of a shop that has opening hours, so you can walk in during those hours and have a look at our retail space and flash books, but I do not take walk in tattoo appointments. You will need to book an appointment if you want a tattoo - please fill out my booking form to start that process! Alternatively, sometimes I run flash days, which sometimes allows me to accommodate walk ins - these are special events that happen once in a while and are specifically set aside for doing deigns from my flash book.

I book using a books open/closed system. If my books are closed, I am not taking bookings at the moment. If my books are open, I am taking bookings, usually for the current and following two months. You are welcome to fill out my booking form at any time, and I will either respond to you within a week or to get you booked in right away, or keep your form on hand and give you an idea of when you’ll hear from me! You can also see whether my books are open or closed by following me on Instagram (my bio will say so, and I post updates and announcements about this periodically), or you can sign up for my newsletter to be notified whenever my books open up!

Please fill out my booking form! If my books are open, I will get back to you as soon as possible to let you know whether I can make your idea happen, and if so, we’ll get you booked in. If my books are closed, you can still fill out a booking form and I will keep it on hand until I’m ready to take clients again.

That’s pretty common, especially when you’re getting your first tattoo! I totally get it and sometimes feel that way myself. The best way to combat this is by doing your research first and asking questions. For example, what are other peoples’ experiences with an artist? Does the artist or shop have policies around how they keep their clients comfortable or maintain a safe and respectful environment? (Also, definitely choose an artist whose work will reflect your ideas and vision well, and make sure you’re familiar with their work - this helps to avoid any disconnect between the kind of work your artist wants to do and the kind of tattoo you’re looking for!) I tattoo out of a fairly quiet shop where there are usually only a few people present at a time, where we can accommodate varying levels of privacy based on our clients' preference. My studio mates and I strive to be openly welcoming and make sure our clients feel that their ideas, comfort levels, and boundaries are always respected through a consent-based approach to tattooing. This is a totally reasonable expectation of any tattoo artist, and should be the norm. Unfortunately, having a tattoo artist make you uncomfortable or feel like you can’t express your ideas and needs (ie. taking breaks, changing the size or placement of your tattoo within reason, etc.) does happen, although it’s absolutely unacceptable. The good news is that there are tons of shops out there doing a great job of changing this, cultivating safer spaces, and putting their clients’ needs first. Please reach out if you would like a few recommendations! I would also recommend visiting Change Tattooing to learn more about what you should expect from your tattoo artist.

No, I will not tattoo an exact copy of someone else’s tattoo or another tattoo artist’s work. But if the concept fits within the scope of my work, I can provide you with my own interpretation of the idea – just keep in mind that it will likely not be the same and will be done in my drawing style.

Maybe, but only if I have explicit permission from the artist whose work it is, the design suits my style and method, and it’s something I want to do!

I sometimes travel to Vancouver and Victoria BC to tattoo and would love to do more of this. If you want me to come to your area, send me a message!