Today we’d like to introduce you to Lydia Orr
Hi Lydia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been an artistic and creative person. I realized I wanted to start tattooing around high school while I was taking lots of inspiration from different tattoo artist at the time. I spent a few years perfecting a portfolio and I finally found an apprenticeship at a street shop in Dallas in 2019. Once I finished my apprenticeship I wanted to further my career and decided to make the move over to TNT Tattoo Co. To grow my skill set and better myself.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It most definitely has not been a smooth road. I put in a lot of hard work to get here. From working a 6am shift at TJmaxx throughout my entire apprenticeship to pay bills while I wasn’t making any money, to the late nights I spent up at the shop. I have pretty severe anxiety as well so there were plenty of panic attacks and nights spent crying. The environment of a street shop can be taxing on mental health and not the best at times. I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful support system throughout the entire process with my now husband, my friends, and my family, as well as some wonderful artist that worked at the shop at the time. I also started tattooing right after the Covid shutdown lifted. That was a very weird and tough experience just because the typical walk-in and get tattoo atmosphere what not there.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I tend to lean more traditional when it comes to my flash sheets I paint but I love to tattoo lots of different styles. Traditional will always be my absolute favorite just because I think there is something so beautiful about the simplicity of it. I really enjoy the more euro-traditional vibe and the super old school framed traditional work. I don’t see a lot of that being done over here. With that being said I also really enjoy black work, more fine line dainty pepper shading, and watercolor.
How do you define success?
I would define success by having a happy, healthy and balanced life that you are proud of.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @TheArtofLiddy
