LAURE C

What did your family and friends think about you getting into the tattoo business? They laughed at first! They may not have thought I was born to become an artist, but I am very lucky all my family and friends have always been very supportive of all my goals, and now they can see how much I love what I do.

What would you say is your favorite part of the job? The fact that it doesn’t feel like a job! I get to go to work each day and be surrounded by artists and clients who are as excited to be there as I am. Most of all, it’s being able to express my creativity through my work and give my clients beautiful designs that make them feel more confident and love themselves even more than before!

Born and raised in Antibes, France, I decided to move to Toronto in 2021 with my boyfriend and our two cats. As a big fan of nature, I chose to focus on floral and ornamental tattoos and have been tattooing since 2019.

Who or where do you get your inspiration from? I find inspiration and passion for what I’m doing from the nature surrounding me. I also find a lot of my inspiration in different styles of tattooing. My boyfriend and biggest mentor, Ossian Staraj, works on high-contrast black and grey realism tattoos, so that’s part of what inspired me to put a lot of contrast in my designs as well. I’ve always loved to study Neo-traditional and Japanese composition.

What advice would you give to someone about getting his or her first tattoo? (A tattoo virgin) Choose your artist carefully, find the right person whose style matches your project, don’t be impatient, and don’t be cheap. Have trust in your artist; that’s the best way to get a tattoo you’ll love.

Was it hard getting an apprenticeship? How was yours? I am very lucky my boyfriend was my mentor from the time I started tattooing. He’s been such an incredible source of knowledge and was able to steer me past many of the mistakes and issues that young artists often experience. This really helped me grow my tattoo skills very quickly. He’s been really supportive of my career through all the early growing pains and has always pushed me to see my full potential.

What is the most important advice you can give someone new to the art of tattooing? Never give up; hard work always pays, don’t be afraid to ask for advice from artists who inspired you, and surround yourself with talented AND altruistic artists.