Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Mater.
Brittany, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After graduating beauty school, I knew I didn’t want to work in a hair salon. We had a project where we had to design our own imaginary hair salon and mine was half tattoo shop/hair salon. My fiancé, Jacob, encouraged me to talk to one of his tattoo artists about becoming a tattoo apprentice. He has supported me since day 1 and saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I had always been interested in tattoos and grew up doing art. After a couple of trial and errors, I made my way to Advent Tattoo. I knew I wanted to work there as soon as I got tattooed there. I had never been to a custom shop before. All of the tattoo artists did art of all kinds. Pencil, marker, digital, spray paint, etc. I became friends with Jason Martinelli, an amazing artist, and he put in a good word to the owner, Mike Woods. I apprenticed under Mike for two years. At the beginning of my apprenticeship, I was working 4:00 am shifts at Starbucks and apprenticing 12-8 at the shop. I was pretty much a zombie but I was dedicated to become a tattoo artist. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else with my life. I graduated in September last year. Now, I have my own booth at the shop. I draw as much as I can and constantly push myself to become better. You can never stop learning.
Has it been a smooth road?
You don’t get paid for a traditional tattoo apprenticeship. Working at Starbucks and the shop, I didn’t get much time off. I lost a lot of friends because I didn’t have any personal time to spend with them. Most of the time, people were understanding. But, getting through my apprenticeship was my main priority. I struggled with my mental health. Constantly doubting myself, often times, I felt like I wasn’t good enough. One of my friends actually pointed out that it was crazy I was able to tattoo people because I was nervous to paint nails and would have panic attacks in beauty school. It’s still all very surreal to me. Right before I graduated my apprenticeship, I was at an all time low. My fiancé and I had just moved into our first house together and after Hurricane Harvey, we got over a foot of water in our house and lost 80% of our belongings including my car. I went back to work as soon as I could. Tattooing is always my escape and happy place.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
There are a couple different types of tattoo shops. There are flash shops and custom shops. A flash shop is usually covered in tattoo designs on the walls that you can pick from and get tattooed. It’s easier to walk in and get tattooed right away at these shops. A custom shop is an opposite. Artists book out appointments in advance and draw custom tattoo designs. In a lot of shops I was around growing up, the artists didn’t draw. They just printed things offline and tattooed them. The thing I love most about Advent is that everyone is an artist and puts their heart into their designs to make sure each client has a unique and original design. A lot of people come to me for watercolor (or colorful in general) tattoos. My favorite thing to do recently is bright cartoon characters with big eyes.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Houston is always going to be a good place for people to get tattooed. Just make sure you keep sunscreen handy to keep tattoos bright. Tattoos take 2-3 weeks to completely heal, so plan on staying out of the pool for about that long after you get tattooed.
Pricing:
- $80 shop minimum
- I charge $100 an hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 16506 FM-529 Rd
Unit 105
Houston, TX 77095 - Phone: 281-856-2366
- Instagram: @tattoobrittany
Image Credit:
www.masnfoto.com, Nate Harer
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