THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WALL ART YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED)
I once met a friend at the tattoo parlour where she was getting her first tattoo. It was big, so it took a while. As I sat next to her, holding her hand, I looked around the room. I started noticing pamphlets. From political parties. Right-wing political parties. Oh great, I thought, my friend’s first tattoo will forever have been done by a nazi. A few years ago, I was getting my… 10th?… tattoo and the radio was on in the background. The radio hosts start to interview a sex worker about her job working with special kinks and fetishes. My tattoo artist loudly started berating this woman for her job. I just had to lie there and be permanently marked by a, turns out, horrible person. Honestly, after that I was at a loss. How do you search specifically for non-problematic tattoo artists? It’s not exactly something you’d expect them to announce on their websites.
On top of which there is the whole ‘fat’ thing. How do I find someone who will definitely be okay with tattooing a fat person? I wanted a tattoo on my inner thigh. Who would feel comfortable doing that? Or, more importantly, who would I be comfortable with down there?
I put up a post on Instagram asking, and I kid you not, the majority of people answering said ‘Martha Smith’. I had never heard of Martha Smith. I didn’t even need to know more, I booked an appointment with her as soon as possible.
She ended up doing five of my tattoos. Not only is she extremely talented - but thank god, her politics are spot on. During our sessions together, we have talked about everything. She understands social justice, she is a feminist, she is perfectly capable of doing smalltalk but she is EXCELLENT at talking about big stuff and feelings and empathy. She is, quite frankly, super, super lovely. Her tattoo chair is a heavy duty one, so it can carry me safely - hell, I’m even comfortable in it!
She marked me perfectly with a hippo on my chest, a cactus and an illustration from my book on my left arm, a scorpio on my right arm and a whale on my inner thigh. They are all gorgeous.
Before lock-down, we had another one (or, maybe, two, I think) planned. But I messaged her and apologised and said that I was going to need to self-isolate. She told me that she needed to do the same. Two days later, she closed her shop. At this point, she was booked up to six months in advance and had to postpone or cancel all her appointments. She has to self-isolate because her partner is in a high-risk category.
We both started self-isolating mid-March. At the time of me writing this, it’s been 145 days. I have tried out many different things in order to survive, like doing online live shows, selling signed copies of my book, starting this blog, up’ing my podcasting game and so on. I’ve been lucky to have an amazing audience ready to step in. But I know how hard it is and I know all about the fear regarding next month’s rent and your future and not knowing when it’s all going to return.
Martha Smith started making her art on paper instead of skin. Unsurprisingly, it’s as beautiful and gorgeous as all of her tattoos. She started out doing plants and animals and now she’s doing bodies and abstract stuff. Her most recent thing (which I really loved) was doing images of the zodiac signs. I mean, take a look yourself:
Martha also does custom prints, so you can just contact her with your request.
I wouldn’t think twice when it comes to having her art permanently on my body forever, so having it on my wall is a no-brainer. I highly recommend. It’s also ridiculously cheap, considering her talent and the love and care that goes into each and every single one of these pieces of art.
Support a small business, an independent feminist artist with a vulnerable partner and get pretty prints for your walls. It’s a win-win-win, I think.
Follow Martha Smith on Instagram here and go to her website/web shop here.