Katelyn Crane

I grew up in the hard knocked streets of one of the safest cities of the country, Simi Valley CA. The only way I stood out growing up was being a head taller than all of my classmates. In the 8th grade I took an art class and realized there finally was a subject in school that held my short attention span the whole 55 minutes it was in session.

In high school I doodled on my notes and planned out the tattoos I was going to get myself when I was 18, something my parents always thought was a cute joke. Then I turned 18 and came home with some tattoos on my hips that my mom had assumed I drew on myself before I broke the news. In 2005 my addiction of getting tattooed was in full swing and the only class I was passing in college was my art course when I asked my own tattoo artist, Mike DeVries if he could teach me what he knew.

I had been travelling with him to conventions as just a collector and realized that the world I had been peeking into was something I wanted to devote my lifes work to. I've been working at his shop full time since 2008 and still grateful everyday that I am able to do something that I love. I love the constant human interaction.

My client's unique perspectives drive me to get better everyday, to be able to more accurately convey what they see in their heads to what ends up going on their skin. I never wanted to be better than anyone else, just better than I was yesterday. My favorite color is blue, I have a pug named Puggy Sue who is the light of my life and I have a bucketlist I keep with me at all times, and even though I try to cross off things as much as I can, it just seems to keep getting longer.