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Madame Lazonga's Tattoo Located on the backside of Pike Place Market in beautiful downtown Seattle, Madame Lazonga's Tattoo ... active over 3 months ago |
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| Saturday, February 10 2007 08:08 PM |
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Subject: Articles |
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Tattoo Magazine April '07 FEATURE ARTICLE |
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
vyvynLAZONGA
Vyvyn Lazonga has been a tattoo goddess for more than 30 years. One of the first female artists who didn't work for or with her husband or partner; Vyvyn made her own way in what was then the manly man's world of tattooing. She broke down boundaries, challenged the tattoo/artistic norm, opened doors for other talented women, and continues to create amazing custom body art today.
Most recently Vyvyn has also focused her energies on building a shop that is a warm and welcoming home to other artists. She's opted to do this as part of a plan to wind down her career. "I'm not a young girl anymore," says Vyvyn. "To successfully retire I knew I needed to build a new shop and start investing in the future of tattooing as well as my personal future by building a place where creative artists can flourish--the sort of place I wish I had when I was first learning to tattoo. For me, it's also a place to share ideas with other artists and break out of a rut if I get into one. Idea exchange is a very important thing for the career artist. Without it, you can easily stagnate."
The staff at Madame Lazonga's Tattoo are all females, something which Vyvyn says creates a vibe that's totally unique. "Generally speaking, most young men are full of testosterone and that definitely has an effect on nearly all aspects of a shop," says Vyvyn. "I find that it is difficult in tattooing to find men that don't allow testosterone and ego to play a prominent part in their careers. With most women you find a spirit of community rather than competition, which is just part of being women in general. We help each other, and encourage each other in a real sense of sisterhood. I can go in new directions that I haven't been in before because I know that my girls have my back and will be there to encourage me every step of the way."
Vyvyn's clientele is a pretty even mix of males and females. She thinks guys come to Madame Lazonga's because they can "get good ink, but also don't have to deal with some of the macho ideals that many shops have." And Vyvyn adds that her male clients tend to come back again and again for more work because "they don't have to pretend to be anything other than their true selves. No pretenses, no posing, no acting stronger than they are. If someone is overwhelmed with the first few minutes of tattooing, they feel totally comfortable telling us."
The crew of artists includes Jacqueline Beach, Vyvyn's apprentice of four years. Jacqueline is really getting into photo realism and portraiture right now, but also loves tattooing organics, especially florals. She's always up for a good challenge. Ruby santiago spent three years in a very busy street shop environment before coming to Vyvyn's in search of a place where she could be challenged to create fine art, custom tattoos. Ruby loves tattooing both realistic and fantasy motifs. And Melissa Thompson and famous French tattooist Stephane Chaudesaigues work as guest artists whenever they are in Seattle.
Vyvyn also hopes her shop can help to foster a community of learning amoung tattoers. She offers life drawing sketch sessions at her shop twice a month and may soon offer classes in digital art. She is also developing seminars for artists' continuing education. She's focused on finding ways to give back to the tattoo community and help the next generation of artists learn some of the valuable lessons she learned the hard way. "Our whole model is based on simple hard work," says Vyvyn. "I wanted to create an environment where artists can work hard, be creative, and feel motivated. There's not a lot of room for drama around our place. We tend to eat right, take our vitamins, go to bed early, and get a little yoga in on occasion--and encourage each other to take care of ourselves physically and mentally. I don't know if that totally blows the whole 'rock star tattoo artist' ideal, but there it is.
"It's about dedication and perserverance, not who you know, how many parties you went to, or how many movie stars you tattooed. At the end of the day, the average person will remember getting that amazing tattoo twenty years ago at Madame Lazonga's and will then bering her grandchildren down to get their first tattoo. Yes that has happened to us. That's how your artistry gets to stand the test of time."
Article written by Michelle Delio courtesy of Tattoo Magazine
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