LEONIE NEW - FOREST CREEK TATTOO

I grew up in Melbourne. East Brighton to be exact, which was really nice, but definitely not the posh side of Brighton that people imagine! Just a normal suburb, doing normal suburban kid things like roller skating around the block and buying lollies from the local milk bar! 

I wanted to be an archaeologist, I was really into ancient Egypt and the idea of digging up long lost treasures. Then someone told me it was a lot of paperwork, so I wasn’t so keen!  I don’t remember the first time I saw or noticed tattoos, no one in my family had any so I don’t know where my interest came from. I drew all the time as a kid, and made little crafts out of things, anything I could get my hands on. 

I couldn’t wait to get out of high school, as soon as I finished I went overseas for a year, then came back for a bit and travelled again for a couple of years. Lucky I did that then, because since I started tattooing I haven’t stopped. The first tattoo I gave was a black cat silhouette on my dad’s friend, which I thought was a good first one as it could always be made larger if I messed anything up!

I worked mainly in hospitality between school and tattooing, and worked on some farms when I was overseas. I did a Diploma in Visual Arts at Swinburne Tafe while working in an ice cream shop -it was good times! 

I did my apprenticeship in Warragul, commuting between there are St Kilda for over 3 years. My parents lived out that way and their neighbour’s son’s girlfriend owned the tattoo shop, so I went to hang out a bunch of times and showed her my folio and eventually it turned into a job. 

I’ve been at Chapel Tattoo for almost 4 years, it was always the dream to work there since I started tattooing, and I was so happy to get there, it’s an institution! 

So many things make a good tattooist, technical ability obviously, and good designs.  But also I think it’s important to have good customer service. Ff something isn’t going to work for technical reasons, like it’s too small or detailed, or not in a great spot, then it’s up to the tattooist to guide the customer to a better solution, but not totally steamroll their idea. I think there’s always a way of working out something the customer will be happy with, and that that tattooist can stand behind. 

I admire so many tattooists, it’s honestly hard to name people because then I’d feel bad for not mentioning all the rest! Most of my tattoos are from people in Melbourne and there are so many amazing artists just there, let alone the rest of Australia and the world. I admire so many artists as well. I absolutely love all scientific illustrations, especially the birds of Elizabeth Gould. The first tattoo I got was an angry looking fish from a scientific illustration. I’ve always been really into those perfect drawings of birds, fish etc. I also love folk artists like Mirka Mora and Frida Kahlo.

I don’t get too many strange requests these days, but for many years there were all sorts of things I had to do. One of my favourites was a smiling skull face stingray, with its stinger pointing to a scar from an actual stingray wound. 

As an adult I’ve always lived in or around St Kilda or Windsor. My husband and I felt like a country change and decided this was the place for us! When I was a kid we used to stay in the old school in Fryerstown, so maybe it was a nostalgic thing for me, but also it seems like the best of all worlds, and still close to Melbourne. So far we’re absolutely loving it, it’s been even more of the dream than I imagined. Before I moved, whenever my husband or I talked to anyone we met up here, they would often tell us it’s been the best move they’ve ever made and now I would definitely say that too! I feel like already I’m finding my place in the community and want to embrace that! 

Because everything’s been in lock-down, I haven’t had a chance to go to a pub or see a band yet, but I’ve been absolutely loving exploring the local walking tracks with my dogs. Just being able to see so much wildlife and birds right at our back door, and all the historic buildings and mining artefacts, will never get old. 

My studio is colourful, warm and full of things that I like. It’s just me at the moment but hopefully I’ll be getting the occasional guest artist, I think that would be fun! 

For anyone wanting to get into tattooing, I’d say don’t get into it if you think it’s all parties and some sort of rockstar lifestyle... it’s the best job in the world, but a lot of work!

https://www.instagram.com/leonienewtattoos/

https://m.me/forestcreektattoo

5B Union Street, Castlemaine