Tattoo Artist: Kelly Gelling
Kelly says that art was part of her life from as far back as she can remember. When she was younger she liked to experiment with a variety of mediums. She grew up creating art with paint, clay, colored pencil, or whatever she could lay her hands on!
Her fascination with piercing and tattoos began at an unusually early age. She was hanging out at tattoo shops when she was only fifteen and got her first job as a piercer when she was eighteen. She eventually landed a job at Artful Ink where her drawing skills eventually led to an offer for an apprenticeship with her mentor, Lynn TerHaar. She never left Artful Ink after that and she bought the shop about four years ago.
Kelly says she loves all styles of tattooing but is finding herself gravitating toward realism, especially black and gray. She says it seems to come naturally to her.
Kelly says, “Tattooing as an art has come so far since I've started and that’s really exciting to me. Artists like Guy Aitchison, Joshua Carlton, Victor Portugal, Kyle Cotterman, and Nick Baxter (to name a few) who have revolutionized tattooing and taken it to the next level really inspire me; looking at their work makes me want to push myself everyday to get better.”
- Kelly on Facebook
- Her shop - Artful Ink Tattoo Studio
