Life & Work with Kate Erso

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Erso.

Hi Kate, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started in Upstate New York; and found myself deep into the world of tattooing during my first year of college. I was majoring in criminal justice to be a homicide detective, but I kept my schedule full of art classes to continue that passion and meet like-minded artists. However, it wasn’t until I found my first tattoo apprenticeship in a local shop that I felt like I had found my crowd.

Unfortunately, it was short-lived when that shop suddenly closed and I found myself at a standstill; by then I was determined to see this through and do whatever it would take to become a tattoo artist. I finally moved to Denver in early 2013 with that singular goal in mind. After 5 months of painting; pounding pavement and 11 shops later; I landed an apprenticeship at Fortune Cookie Tattoo where I apprenticed for three very long years.  The day I got my official Denver Tattooer License was the day I put my two weeks in at my day job.

Since then I’ve had the pleasure of working at a few different shops; Rose Lady Tattoo; Bound by Design; Conspiracy Theory Tattoo and now; Ninth Life Tattoo Studio. In these past few shops, I have worked alongside a lot of very talented and wonderful people! I’ve worked my best to continue to hone my skills and meet as many other people in my profession and build as many relationships as possible! I’ve always valued the community of tattooing and I want that community to thrive and prosper by adding whatever I can back into it!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think many roads are ever completely smooth and we’ve all had our struggles! My first was my first apprenticeship; it had happened very suddenly and ended similarly. I had about half a year maybe a little more to experience the ins and outs of tattooing. As I was still in college while doing this; I had also opted to keep this information a secret from my parents.

As all things like this eventually come out; my parents found out and were not very pleased (One of my family members even sent me a “Jesus” pamphlet about helping me find my way!). Eventually, I dropped out of college for financial reasons and found myself working to pay bills and being in a small town; I didn’t have many options toforontinuing a tattoo career and I found myself doing whatever I could to hone my artistic skills in the meantime. I also tried other places in New York, once going around the Newark area and asking shops around there to no avail.

Once I got Deto never; I felt things would get better as Denver has an immense tattoo scene; even back then! It still wasn’t easy as apprenticeships are hard to come by and take a lot of time to prove your worth. I went to 11 different shops with a portfolio full of fully rendered paintings in my desired “tattoo style”; being turned down by everyone. However, I made sure at each stop to ask for at least a critique of my art if there were artists that had the time to sit down with me.

Most said no; ut some did flip through and gave me valuable information on what to work on. Even at Fortune Cookie Tattoo; the artist told me no; but after flipping through my paintings he ended up asking me for my information and said he’d let me know in a few months and had to wait about 2/3 months for a response I thought might never come! I was beyond grateful to have finally been given a foot in the door, but it did not last too long. I think a lot of apprenticeships have their ups and downs, and mine was no different.

I found myself working for three years under my mentor; with only about 4-5 months of actual tattooing. For three years of learning; I felt my apprenticeship lacking. While I did learn a lot of things; such as making needles and how to put together basic coil machines; I was constantly met with resistance to share more information and promises once I had “proved myself”. I never did figure out what that meant.

Despite this; I used my time to learn what I could and in the meantime, I spent my free time and money getting tattoos and learning what I could from those artists while I got tattooed. I will always be grateful to every artist that shared information with me during that time, and I still cherish that information. And despite my differences; I will still be grateful to my mentor for two very important things; a foot in the door and learning how not to treat people.

Since then most of my struggles haven’t been what I would call “struggles” simply obstacles that have been easily overcome through hard work and determination. My last big struggle would be the great Covid Shutdown of 2020 when I found myself suddenly without a job for 3 months. While other artists were out for much longer; I did come to learn a lot about myself in only 3 months.

The big one; was that I worked way too much; and once I suddenly had nothing it was a huge blow to my mental health. I spent that first-month painting nonstop, but soon burnt out and had to self-evaluate how to move forward from this. It was bumpy and I had a lot of self-doubt pulling me down. But because of this I finally pushed myself to start therapy and learn how to create a much healthier lifestyle and balance between work and pleasure.

I can also say with complete certainty that while I couldn’t tattoo; my devotion to tattooing never wavered. If anything I felt it strengthened and was chomping at the bit; ready to get back into the swing of things and continue forward. Since setting boundaries for myself and my clients; I have been able to give my all to every individual tattoo and I feel far more enriched by each experience.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a tattoo artist, and I tattoo in a more custom; appointment-based style of tattooing. I specialize in illustrative; slightly neotraditional; full-color pieces. I suppose I am most known for my use of crazy colors and for creating weird otherworldly monsters and animals. I tend to do mostly animals and animal mashups, but I am drawn to color; be it vibrant; muted, or a combination of both!

I am most proud of my yearly “flash sheet”. Every February; for the last 6 years I have done a sheet of crazy colored animals; and have come to call this series “Love Bites”. The original idea of this sheet was to create something for all the “loveless” cynics out there during February “Couples Tattoos” hype. I thought to myself; what about all the people out there who tend to be left out during this month? And thus I created a theme called “Love Bites” and I figured I would make it all “ferocious/bitey” animals but with cute; vibrant; Valentine’s day colors.

The very first one was simplistic; simple designs based on a more American Traditional style. Since then it has evolved and exploded into so much more. My last year was the first one where I started to combine two animals into one with the craziest colors I could throw together. I had made a few mashable a few years before but hadn’t quite taken to it. I am the proudest of this because this annual theme has led me to be able to do this style all year round; in fact making it harder for me to think of new unique future Love Bites!

I find it hard to self-evaluate what sets me apart from others as I think I work in a location that is saturated with some crazy talent and wonderful personalities. So I can say that I strive for originality in style and ideas; while no idea is truly original; I try to make sure that the designs I put out are as original and me as possible. I want to make every piece better than the last and I want to get as close to; “wow I have never seen something like this before” as I can get.

I also strive to make sure every one of my clients is cared for and has the best experience I can give them through the entire process. I want to create a safe place where clients feel comfortable and understand that they can speak up and be heard about their needs during the process. I want clients to know that they matter and they are allowed to speak up and address concerns.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I am most grateful to everyone who has helped me grow and impacted my life. Other artists; clients and those closest to me have made every struggle worthwhile and pushed me to grow. So just a big thank you and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hairofthehound/
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hairofthehound?lang=en

Image Credits
Kirsten (@itskirstenlee)