Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Adkins.
Hi Emma, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi, my name is Emma Adkins, aka Persephone Ink! I am a mostly self-taught tattoo artist and owner of Nocturna Tattoo. I have been an artist my entire life, and after getting my first tattoo, I was hooked on tattoos and the art process behind them. I spent countless hours watching other artists, obsessively zooming into pictures of tattoos and doing my best to dissect the techniques that my favorite artists use. I learned so much from this and the artists around me. I had the amazing opportunity to come guest spot at this shop, when it was called Black Kat, and never left! I guest spotted for a week and then they wanted to hire me! I immediately loved being here in Logan, so my husband packed up all our stuff and we moved here right away. After about 2 months, I had the chance to buy the business and we took the risk. It was difficult at first but it paid off tenfold. We moved to a new location, we renamed it to Nocturna Tattoo, and we have expanded to now 7 artists, a piercer, and our apprentice! I have really watching this business grow into my dream tattoo shop. I love the space that we have created, I love that people feel safe around us; I am so proud to call Nocturna Tattoo mine. I have grown so much over the 4.5 years I’ve been tattooing, each year I love it more and more, it is such an amazing outlet and chance to be able to help people feel confident and excited in their skin, and I hope to tattoo until my body gives out.
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?
There have definitely been struggles. When I first bought the shop, I had only been tattooing for a year. I had a dream of opening a shop after about 5-10 years of tattooing, not after only 1. I was very worried about some backlash I may receive because of that, but as far as I know, we were received very well. We decided to take the risk even though we only had month to find a new location; we wanted the artists at the shop to stay together and we wanted to make it work. After lots of looking and rejection, we found a new space that we have made our own. Being a boss is not something that comes naturally to me either. Over the last 3 years of owning Nocturna Tattoo, I have grown into the role of the owner and have become more confident and proud of what we have created.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At the moment, I consider myself an Illustrative style tattoo artist. However, that can be interpreted differently from artist to artist, so sometimes it feels more accurate than others! My most recent obsession has been working with color. I am absolutely in love with how the color soaks into everyone’s skin differently. I love color theory and picking out the best colors for each piece and each person. Watching a tattoo come to life with color is so so fun and happy. Getting to tattoo such fun subjects with these bright pigments is an absolute joy. I do mostly flowers, bugs, and animals in color, but I am getting into doing stylized portraits in color as well.
My second love in tattooing is portraits. I absolutely love tattooing faces, especially gods and goddesses, in black and grey; I’ve been calling it Stylized Realism recently and it feels very accurate. The human face and figure was my favorite thing to draw growing up and that really helped me to understand the anatomy of the face. I love being very meticulous with the smooth shading and small details of a face; I love watching it come to life on the skin.
I truly am IN LOVE with tattooing. I love learning new techniques and coming up with new ideas. I love giving people art on their bodies that they get to keep for forever. That is kind of scary sometimes, and I am very proud of the fact that I have been trusted thousands of times to do so. I hope to do thousands and thousands more!
What matters most to you? Why?
This is a 2 part answer for me. First, I think that being able to give people art that they get to keep forever is so cool. I have had so many people cry to me for the tattoos we have given them; you never know how meaningful it can be to someone. Tattoos can be so fun and spontaneous, but they can also be well thought out and very meaningful and symbolic; I love that I can be involved in that process. I love giving my clients a tattoo that gives them a confidence boost, or a constant reminder of a loved one or thing, or a random thing that they just think is cool. I feel honored everyday for the trust that people put in me.
Second is creativity. Tattooing has the ability to be very difficult or very fun, and I think it depends on how much time you put into your creativity and passion for the art behind it. I find so much joy in creating new ideas and drawing up designs for people that only had a vague concept in their heads. It is so satisfying to draw an idea, watch it come to life, and then be able to see it take shape on the skin. People are out there wearing my art forever, so I want to make sure it is unique, beautiful, and a true representation of my art style.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://venue.ink/@persephoneink.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/persephoneink.co/
