Exploring Life & Business with Cat James of Old Sol New Tricks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cat James.

Hi Cat, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am originally from San Diego and remember always being drawn to art. I studied graphic design in college and when my mom discouraged me from getting a tattoo apprenticeship at 18 I vowed to pursue it later. Thanks to her, I had a lot of freedom in the following years to travel abroad which I would not have had if I started pursuing tattooing right away. I spent a lot of my early 20s in Central America, namely Mexico. I worked as a freelance graphic designer until I taught myself how to hand poke and shifted my energy into that. I mostly just wasn’t quite ready to settle down and stay any place long enough to commit to a traditional apprenticeship, although my sights were set on learning to machine tattoo. I had been doing hand poke for two years by the time I ended up in Hawaii ~ living there a few months before my planned move to Australia where intended on learning machine. My life path was obviously altered because I’m very far from Australia, here in Denver. I’d say I’ll ‘blame’ Covid for that, but actually, I’ll ‘thank’ it…

When the Australian borders were closed I spent three months calling a beach in Mexico home, surfing and playing chess every day. The end of that trip also marked the end of a seven years relationship. To cope, I shifted focus onto my budding tattoo career and unsurprisingly found the best situation to be far from San Diego. I had come across AJ McGuire’s tattoo shop and work while looking for an artist to get tattooed by during an upcoming friend’s visit to Colorado. I knew instantly that he was the artist I wanted to mentor me. The style and quality of his work, especially color, was superb. From his social platform, he seemed like he truly loved tattooing and valued work-life balance. I made an instant decision to move to Denver without having even been there before. I made that trip a reconnaissance mission and began convincing AJ that he should take me on as an apprentice. It took a lot of attempts and conversations before he finally said yes and I moved here a month later.

I knew what I wanted. Most importantly, I knew what I needed both practically and emotionally. I dove head first into work and drawing more than I ever had in my life, dismissing social experiences and focusing on my mental and physical health. I rebuilt my confidence and independence by way of learning to tattoo. That was a year and a half ago now. I love tattooing more than anything and I was right about the social aspect. After the coldest winter I had ever experienced, I began giving my first machine tattoos in April. I’ve now tattooed hundreds of people and become friends with so many of them. I feel so blessed to have landed here even though it was never in my plans.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Is it ever a smooth road? Seems to me all the roads worth traveling are never smooth. So yes, there has definitely been struggles, but I welcome them wholeheartedly. Teaching myself to hand poke was very stressful at times. Moving to Denver mid-pandemic and making a fresh start without friends or family or the ocean within reach wasn’t a walk in the park. Learning how to winter was a doozy. Committing myself to stay put for two years + however long AJ decided my apprenticeship would be was a real test of how badly I wanted this (I’ve historically been quasi-nomadic and rarely spend more than a few months in a place before itching to travel). Learning how to navigate the strange environment that is a tattoo shop definitely rattled me. Did I mention winter? Sorry that one continues to be a real struggle for this beach kid. It’s important to acknowledge that the hard times all came with and continue to accompany genuinely fulfilling moments and experiences. I wouldn’t have any of those things without the struggle. That’s a big reason ‘Discomfort is Cool’ has become a big part of my brand and lifestyle.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
OSNT was sprouted from the concepts of the ‘old soul’ knowing we are all part of something bigger & acknowledging that no matter how much experience we have there is always more ‘new tricks’ to learn. My twist on the word ‘sol’ (Spanish for sun) is an ode to Mexican culture and language. Mexico is my home away from home; the place that I feel taught me the most about myself and what is important to me up to this point.

I am primarily a tattoo artist, but I also curate events called ‘Old Sol Fiestas’ which are a celebration of art and community. OSF began as a way for me to gather all the amazing people I’ve met through my tattoo work into one place and it has blossomed into a series of events for creatives and art enthusiasts to connect and support each other! It’s a hybrid of an artist market, a party, and soon to be live tattoo show!

My tattoo work is a blend of bold American traditional line work, neotraditional detail, and earth tone color palettes inspired by my beachside travels through Central America, background in graphic design and my affinity for flora and fauna among other things. My work evolves constantly, but there are definitely projects I am extra excited about at the moment. I’m interested in bold brown line work to mimic henna, especially as a way to create a flow between patchwork tattoo collections. I currently really enjoy anything with scales or feathers. It will be fun to see whether more of these projects manifest into reality.

The most fulfilling part of the work I do is creating the opportunity for a genuine connection between people. Whether that be me with my clients, my clients with the people they associate with the tattoos I give them, the Old Sol Fiesta artists, the strangers with matching tattoos that meet at my events, or even the random people that initiate conversations with my clients on the street because they share a liking for the art on their skin. The tattoo and art community in general (especially here in Denver) is incredible and I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

What does success mean to you?
This is a question I try to ask myself on a daily basis. What fulfills me changes constantly. I believe this is mostly because of how much I enjoy learning and pushing myself to find my limits. Success, in my opinion, is being able to identify what I think will fulfill me or give me purpose, strategizing and executing a way to experience that and then finding a positive takeaway from that experience, even if it’s not what I expected. Once I accomplish something or learn from the attempt, I often seek success in a new way to keep life interesting. Currently, an important measure of success to me is being able to balance all the things at once. It’s a constant battle to sustainably take care of myself while also trying to improve and evolve as a tattooer… also just as a human.

Pricing:

• I base my rate roughly on $200/hour for tattooing
• $200 minimum

Contact Info:

• Website: oldsolnewtricks.com
• Instagram: @oldsolnewtricks

Image Credits
Connor Pickett Boxcar Photography