Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Sanchez
Hi Andrea, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Artistically, I think my journey began pretty early on. I have always been inclined to follow some form of artistic endeavor from an early age. I can truly remember the very first time I started drawing, and that was in second grade. Although for most of my life I created art as a hobby, I always had a little voice in the back of my head that art was going to be my livelihood; and i held on to that. In 2020-2021 my life changed, just like it did for many of us. I was going through some tough times in my personal life and I was leaning on my friends for support at the time. I got the privilege to see one of my friends at the time follow her dreams at a tattoo shop and thats how I gained exposure to the industry. For a whole year I was going to this tattoo shop where I completely fell in love with the craft and where I decided to take a leap of faith. On November of 2022, I had a very informal apprenticeship interview with the owner of the shop and got accepted as an apprentice. It was the best day of my life and when everything changed. I knew that this was what I wanted, and so I worked my ass off. For a whole year I worked a full time job, while also working my apprenticeship. My days started from 5am to 12a minimum 5 days a week. I can look back now and say it was all worth it. The apprenticeship I had was far from traditional and honestly, not ideal. I was thrown into the fire and it was very much so, every man for themselves. Through the good and the bad, I learned a lot about myself and what I wanted. I will forever be grateful and thankful to my mentor, and everyone in that tattoo shop who took time out of their day to guide me, mentor me, and befriend me. I am forever indebted to you all, so thank you. I would not be where I am today without the opportunity I got. Pretty early on in my apprenticeship, I realized that the shop life was not necessarily for me. I wanted to create something a bit more slow paced, personal, individually guided, and comfortable space for my clients and myself. So, without a second thought after completing my one year apprenticeship, I jumped and opened up my own, humble, little private studio. This was the best decision I could have made for myself and my career. Although completely terrified, with the help and support of my friends and family my vision came to life! I opened up a small, humble, little tattoo studio in the willowbrook area. It was my first year as an independent artist. That year had also been extremely fundamental for me, because not only did it continue to prove to me that I can do what I put my mind to, it taught me that people also see the beauty in my art and that has been the most rewarding part of it. When my year lease was coming to an end, I ended up reconnecting with an artist from the tattoo shop I did my apprenticeship at,Ellie, also know as iglesiastattoos. Her and her colleague at the time were looking to expand and they offered me a space in their new studio, Be Divine located in the Galleria area. At the time I was looking to partner up with my dear friend Vu, who is known as levigelio, so when offered the space I said it would have to be two for one… haha. That is when, all 4 of us became Be Divine. It felt like a great decision because at the time I felt like I had outgrown my studio and was super excited to be surrounded by incredible artist and to have that sense of community. Although being by myself was great, it didnt compare to sharing a space with like minded people. It was refreshing, and challenging( in a positive way) , motivating, and welcoming. It was exactly what I needed. The space we curated was beautiful! After a year, I was asked to be a part of Be Divine as a co-owner. I was very excited to be a part of a women owned business, not to mention being around extremely strong women. With that being said, we decided to expand. For a whole month, blood, sweat and lots of tears we completed the renovations of our new space that is located in the Memorial area. Here, we gained an amazing artist to the team, Lalo, also known as amazing_lalo. For the past 11 months I have called this place my home. It has been the most challenging and rewarding endeavor I have taken on in my career. However, every day I am grateful and extremely thankful for everyone I work with and everyone Ive had the privilege of meeting and working with thus far in my career. I want to take the time to thank my partner, family and friends for all the unconditional support and help. Without them this space wouldn’t exist. So HUGE shout out to them! Most importantly, to all of my clients, thank you for following me through this crazy journey, and traveling from all places for my art. I cannot wait to see what the future holds.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think as an artist, it is never really a smooth road. Besides the challenges I have faced at the start of my career, culture has been a challenge. Being Mexican, tattoos can be seen as taboo and to be honest, were pretty taboo in my family. I have been the one that has been breaking generational barriers associated with tattoos and the stigmas connected to them. Even though it definitely hasnt been easy, I am grateful to have the responsibility to show the world of tattooing to my family and to also break those taboos. Mental health has been a huge obstacle for me throughout my career as well. Maybe this is hard to believe but I am a pretty anxious person. So struggling with the overwhelming feeling of anything possibly going wrong can definitely put a dent in my every day life. Not to mention, social media. Although, I think social media is such a crucial tool for artist, it has truly been my biggest struggle. From trying to balance content creating, which im bad at, to falling into the rabbit whole of comparing myself to others. It can be difficult, and if im not careful and ensure I give myself breaks and create a distance, my mental health and my social media kind of all clash together.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a tattoo artist. I would categorize my work under fine line ornamental blackwork. I specialize in organic, abstract work. Anything that falls under the realm of astrology, nature, floral, botanical… and so on. I do find it difficult to label my style as I do work with a lot of elements. I combine bold, and abstract, with fine line, pointillism components. I think the biggest element that im known for is incorporating red into my pieces. In regards to my work, one, I am extremely proud of my clients sitting through their tattoo sessions. It hurts to get tattooed, and it takes a mental and physical connection within yourself. Its very cool to see! I am also most proud of not giving up. It’s easy to compare ourselves to others and like I previously mentioned, it’s a struggle. I am just proud that even on my lowest days, I still believe in myself enough to keep going. Although I do think to a certain extent my style is unique and different from others work, I try my best to meet everyone with kindness and compassion; I find this craft to be extremely sacred. And I think that its my duty to ensure everyone has an incredible experience. And I can only hope my clients feel like their experience with me is different from others.
What makes you happy?
Man, what a beautiful question. Everything? Haha. I love my life. I love everyone in it. I love my family, my friends, my job, my career, my clients. It truly fills this joy inside me that I cant compare to anything else.
I get to connect with people in such a deep, raw and honest way. People are placing complete trust in me and to have that brings me so much joy. Tattooing silences my mind and brings me so much peace, what more could I ask for?
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Positively.energized.tattoos
