Meet Lizz of Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lizz

Hi Lizz, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My 6 year old self made the dream of being a tattoo artist.

Growing up, things were hard. My mom was a teen mom and along with that comes growing up with your child. My father was absent and I knew little to nothing about him- other than a few potentials that shaped my inner child’s wants.
My mom always had an artistic eye. She would spend days drawing Looney Tunes and 90’s tribal tattoos. She did her first tattoo when she was 13 and only 4 years later did I make my entrance into the world. Tattooing wasn’t something my mom pursued but it is really awesome to see some of my family with tattoos she did over 30 years ago.

As you could imagine, growing up without a father, I often would ask where he is, what he does with his life, if he had any other children or what his hobbies are.., my mom didn’t know. My mom would tell me “If your father is anything like he was when we were together.. he’s either a tattoo artist, a chef, or both”. Truthfully I’m not sure tattooing would have become my dream if my mom never told me those things. My whole life has revolved around connectivity and being creative. My home life, periodically, was chaotic and stressful. I turned to drawing as a means of escape and that escape became my safety blanket. When you’re a kid, you don’t get to control much, you kind of sit around being hopeful that things will get better. Drawing made it better. Drawing turned my anxiety and anger into something tangible. At 6 years old I told my mom “I want to be a tattoo artist”. But in hindsight I think all I really wanted was to have some type of connection with my father. I wanted to grow up and do something I loved and maybe find him along the way.
Fast forward to 2017…. I was a teacher at a preschool. If there was one thing I definitely never wanted to be, it was a teacher. Lo and behold I ended up needing money more than I needed happiness in the workplace. Don’t get me wrong, children are incredible beings but it wasn’t my path and I knew that. One really rough month at school and I felt like I needed to make up my mind on what I wanted for myself. I came home after the second lice outbreak of the month and I pulled up an application to go back to school to be an art therapist. While holding that tab open, I decided to look into tattoo shops around me and there it was… an opportunity so close I could actually throw a rock at it. Across the street from where I was living was a tattoo shop that was hiring. I told myself “go in with your portfolio, tell them who you are and do whatever it takes”. So I did and I got hired on the spot. It was the furthest thing from a traditional apprenticeship. Within a few days I was tattooing my friends and in a few months I was taking walk ins. All during this I stayed a preschool teacher so I could afford my rent. It was a different time then. You’d stand outside with the shop phone in hand, smoking cigarettes until a conversation got sparked and managed to snag the bread and butter of the job- the infinity symbol walk-in for the 4th time that day. No one taught me anything but that isn’t really a flex. We’re artists and most of us took the path of getting our foot in the door and running wild until it started to make sense.
All this took place in Pennsylvania. In 4 years I went through 4 studios.- trying to find people who were confident in their abilities, who knew what the best products were, the people who made names for themselves in this industry. I wanted to connect with more people, learn more, grow more, travel to tattoo and I was willing to go through 50 shops if I had to. Luckily I didn’t.
In 2020 I moved to Denver, no clients, no family, no friends.. I just went for it. As familiarity works, I found another walk-in studio to build clientele. One year of working there and it was time to fly the coop. I didn’t want to be in another walk in studio… those weren’t the tattooers I was looking for. This is no dig at walk in shops, I’ve been more than grateful for them and the knowledge I acquired being there but I was itching to do conventions and meet the tattooers who I was seeing on Instragram and wanted to become. None of those people were at these walk-in studios.
Jan 2021 I got tattooed by the infamous Flipshades. He was the first tattooer I had ever met that looked me dead in the face and said “Gatekeeping? Get the fuck out of here with that. You tattoo, right? You’re here with me right now, right? Well then ask questions cause I’ve got nothing to hide”. My entire tattoo identity changed that day because of the connection we shared. I left my appointment with him on the biggest high I ever had about tattooing. A month later, taking all of his advice, tattooed something I was so proud of and sent it to him to thank him for all his knowledge and help. A month later Jymi Calkins and Flipshades gave me an opportunity to be apart of their studio and even more so apart of their lives and the accomplishments they had already made.
In 2022 they asked me to become a partner in their business and the rest is history,
I’’m now the co owner of Long Live Tattoo Collective located in the heart of the Santa Fe Art District with the two best guys who’ve become my brothers.
So… 6 year old Lizz.. maybe she didn’t get the relationship with her father she wanted but she is making a name for herself in an industry she loves so much.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Is anything a smooth road?
I think there’s obstacles in every avenue we take. Tattooing is the furthest thing from easy.
It takes a lot of grit, guts, tears and late nights to become what you want to be-in any capacity-but definitely tattooing.
The challenges often come from fighting with yourself, especially in a creative field. It’s hard to be objective about the work you produce.

A lot of my challenges early on were more about finding the place that I fit. I always felt like if I was comfortable to be myself and uncomfortable in the work I was doing due to my peers being such amazing artists then I would finally be in the place to flourish. I wanted to create a home somewhere because for me, home is where all the good and bad things happen but as long as your support system is near, you can get through anything.

Being a woman in the industry, that’s a different story. When I first started tattooing in the town I lived in.. there was maybe 4 women who were tattooing. The rest were men. There was upwards of 20 studios.

I was in tattoo shops that didn’t respect women at all. I was around men who made me feel lesser than the other dudes who worked there. IE: had me do all the cleaning and answering the phones and sit at the front desk when I wasn’t tattooing to tend to clients. In every negative experience I’ve chosen to look at the bright side. Ya girl knows how to clean that’s for sure! But women now, are finally being shown the respect they deserve.

Now my struggles come from the art itself. I see people tattoo things I could only imagine of doing one day but that’s was keeps pushing me. I don’t know I’ll ever be the best tattooer or the best artist but I’m going to spend my life trying to make the best connections, give the best experiences and give it my all every time.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The good ole speciality question. I never know how to answer this. I do a lot of illustrative, colorful, psychedelic tattoos but I also do a ton of linework based black work tattoos. Someone once told me “don’t ever get stuck in your ways” and another person told me “never stop trying new things”. I think I’ve been in the latter.
I’m most proud of giving my clients the tattoo they want while adding in what makes the tattoo mine. Clean lines, saturated color, and smooth blends.

I’m known for line work and it sets me apart from a lot of people. It’s definitely the one aspect of my tattoos that get the most compliments and I’m extremely proud of that.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Giving my client the best of me.
These tattoos I make aren’t for me. They are for the person who’s wearing it.
I get a lot of gratitude from doing them but the more important aspect is that my client is happy, truly happy.

Pricing:

• $150 an hour

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.longlivetattoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/longlizztattoos
• Other: Email: longlizztattoos@gmail.com