Great ink from great gals
Back in the olden days, tattooed women used to be more than a little taboo. People objectified them so much that they were shown in Victorian freakshows, and Maud Wagner, widely regarded as the first professional female tattoo artist (in the US at least) made her career work around a life spent in Vaudeville and the Circus.
Luckily things are different now, so you don’t have to go to the circus to look at the amazing work these women do.
Alex Strangler
Based in Northern LA, Alex works out of her own private studio ($300 minimum) and is usually booked up to three months in advance. She refuses to tattoo people’s faces, necks, men’s feet, genitals and fingers.
Millie Rawicz
Known to most as Mildred, Millie is based in Melbourne and specialises in custom drawn dotwork and illustrative blackwork tattooing.
Grace Neutral
Currently based at Old Habits Tattoos in Haggerston, Grace, who has her eyeballs tattooed, tongue split and facial scarification, also hosts VICE’s new series Needles and Pins, which focuses on different styles of body modification.
Keely Rutherford
Based at Jolie Rouge Tattoo in London, Keely has been tattooing for seven years and is known for her over the top kawaii colourful style.
Abbie Williams
Custom artist Abbie works at Lost Time in Peterborough. Her books are currently closed, but while you wait you can buy pocket mirrors with her designs on them. Handy.
Cassandra Frances
Cassandra Frances was a full time tattoo artist for many years, but in 2016 took a break to focus on her illustration work. While you wait for her to returning to tattooing you can look at that work here.
Angelique Houtkamp
Angelique is based in Amsterdam where she works at Salon Serpent Tattoo. She’s also just finished a harrowing six months of chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma and is now back to work full time, which is pretty amazing.
Danielle Rose
Danielle Rose is based in Scotland where she works at Sanctuary Tattoo. She also paints her sad gypsy ladies on canvas as well as skin.
Kelly McGrath
Unfortunately Kelly’s books are now closed due to the popularity of her dayglo cutesy work. You can’t DM or email her right now, but if you’re in North Carolina she works at a small private studio there. You can also still appreciate her Instagram in the mean time.
Jessica V
Jess moved from NYC to London and has been tattooing since 2005. She is big into Anime and loves tattooing cute and spooky themes.
Melissa Contreras
Melissa, AKA axelhoney, says her mission is “to inspire YOU to live a JOYFUL life filled with beauty, love and imagination. She is currently apprenticing as a tattoo artist in Venice, CA to work to further share her creative vision and fulfill her purpose.
Hannah Pixie Snowdon
A tattooer and creator based in Sheffield, Hannah is engaged to Oli Sykes, lead singer in the band Bring Me The Horizon. More importantly, her work is amazing and she also has a worldwide charity project coming soon.
Emily Malice
Emily works at Parliament tattoos in North London. She also has her own knickers, which is pretty cool.
Abby Drielsma
Based in Melbourne, Abby’s art focuses mainly on blackwork, lines and dots.
Julim Rosa
Originally from Argentina, Julim travels around to work and is currently based in Berlin. She started tattooing after buying her first DIY machine in 2008 before attending Central Saint Martins in London.