In 2017 I made the decision that I would tattoo/moko for one more year and end in Spring of 2018. I had gotten to a point where moko felt like a job, and I never looked forward to it. I would sleep until the last possible minute before getting up to face another client. I thought the best decision was to relinquish my connection to moko and tattooing by stopping entirely and I genuinely thought that was going to be it. I was excited to be finishing too.
Fast-forward 5 years, a shit load of failures and successes, self-discovery, and I’m currently at a place where I’m excited to do moko and be tattooing again for the first time since 2012. I’m pretty sure that was the last time I felt excited about growing and working in this space. I’ve had to create a bunch of my own tikanga (processes) in this space that make me feel most comfortable. When I feel comfortable, I can do my best work. I feel no pressure and my creativity just flows.
My processes include:
-No support people (unless otherwise stated). Having a bunch of support people in my space gives me anxiety because I always subconsciously feel like I have to accommodate everyone, and I can’t solely focus on doing the piece I’m working on. I also feel more vulnerable when doing moko and juggling different people’s behaviours and ‘vibes’ can be difficult, so I’d rather not entertain that possibility.
-I strictly don’t do weekends (unless it’s important to me personally). For some reason people think that tattoo/moko artist’s like to work weekends. We’re like you falas. We enjoy our weekends, and we enjoy finishing at a reasonable hour too. If your moko is that important to you, taking a day or two off from work should be easy. You’d do it for other important things in your life. Weekends are for my relationship and any other things I think are important to me.
-I currently have a minimum rate of $1,700. This is the cheapest you’re going to get from me. I reached a point in my moko journey where I didn’t want to be doing pieces that weren’t paying much, so I didn’t have to do moko as much. Reducing the number of people I did work for, meant I didn’t fall into the trap of it feeling like work again, and having a minimum rate meant that no matter what people wanted, I would know how much I would be getting. Having a relatively high minimum rate also changed the types of clients I got. I remember getting those hoha (annoying) people who would always ask about getting huge pieces and only have $50 to pay for it, yet you saw them always wearing new clothes, going out every weekend etc. Ironically, it was mostly people who had no money that were the pickiest about what they wanted, and the people who could afford it were usually the easiest to work with. As I get more competent with my tattooing process, I’ll change my rate to reflect it.
-I don’t tattoo necks/throats, sternums, and ribs because I don’t enjoy doing them. I want to enjoy the moko I do, so saying no to those areas of the body means I will enjoy the piece.
-I don’t tattoo other people’s designs and no longer tattoo work from other cultures. I’ve done so in the past, but not anymore. I also don’t do other artist’s styles and prefer to stick to what I do.
-I currently only do moko and no other style of tattoo. I’ve been having some internal wananga (dialogue/conversations) about this and may one day do portrait style pieces again. Doing strictly moko has streamlined my process because I don’t have to prepare drawings days before and make stencils and refinements etc. Like moko artists I know, I freehand all my moko pieces and interpret what you’d like to represent. This process also means that your moko is unique to you.
There are probably a bunch of other parts to my process, but these are the mains ones for now. As I grow and learn, my processes will continue to change and best help to ensure that my clients get the best version of me every time.