Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna James.
Hi Deanna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been studying art my entire life. When I was in high school–Booker T Washington’s visual art program–I knew I wanted to be a tattoo artist rather than go to art college like all of my classmates. Though it wasn’t an official because I wasn’t old enough yet, I started an apprenticeship at 16 cleaning up a shop in Dallas after school. My apprenticeship was extremely difficult and spanned 3 studios in 2 states over 5 years.
After my apprenticeship, I started tattooing at Dark Age Tattoo Studio in Denton. This is where my career really started to flourish. I learned more than I had ever had under the owners, Frank and Rember; I was on Ink Master twice and won awards in Dallas and at tattoo conventions all over the country. Wanting to be closer to Dallas, I left Dark Age after some amazing years to tattoo at a private studio in the Design District.
I met my husband Colton around the same time I moved to the private studio, and we started talking about opening up a studio of my own. He loved tattoos and was extremely supportive of my work and my career, so he was eager to help. After accomplishing many of the goals I set for myself when I started my career, I decided that opening the studio, helping to teach, and creating a safe space for others would be the next best step for me. In 2021, we opened our studio together, Eden.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We started looking for a space right at the beginning of 2020, right before COVID. We quickly found that finding a location for a tattoo studio was probably the most difficult part of opening our business. We had to navigate city zoning regulations and picky landlords all while finding a location that could support our high-end clientele and business model. When COVID hit, we definitely had to put the breaks on our search with the uncertainty and the lack of money coming in while we were shut down.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’ve come to call myself “The Baroque Tattooer” because of the influences baroque painting has on my work. Not only do I like to replicate these paintings as tattoos, but much of my technique and color theory is based on my experience with oil painting. I use photographs and paintings as reference, so my work is in the realism realm, though it looks much more “painterly” than photo realistic. I think “Painterly realism” is a great way to describe my style.
Subject-matter-wise, I love tattooing flowers, artistic faces, family portraits, and skulls. Of course, my favorite subject matters are paintings and figures. Over the past couple of years, I’ve really expanded my portfolio with these, from tattooing replicas (“micro”-paintings) of Dutch paintings no more than a few inches tall to entire leg panels utilizing Robert Ferri’s work as reference.
What do you think about luck?
I would definitely say I had a string of bad luck during my 5-year apprenticeship. This lead me into a lot of difficult and dangerous situations, and my career took a long time to get going as a result. At the end of all that though, I was definitely lucky that Frank and Rember took me in at Dark Age which changed my career and entire life.
You could also say the timing of COVID was bad luck (as it was for everyone) right when we wanted to open the studio. It slowed things down a great deal. However, it actually turned out to work in our favor, as since so few business were opening, it became easier to find a suitable location.
Contact Info:
- Website: deannaart.com, edenbodyartstudios.com
- Instagram: @deanna_art, @edenbodyartstudios
Image Credits
James Blair
Ian McKenyon
Lexie Newell
