A conversation with Jay Rose, new interviews every Monday.

When I think of you the word whimsical comes to mind, you’re the most delicate little creature that holds such power in the way you work. You project the feminine Devine and embrace nature within yourself and your work. Obviously tattooing used to be a very male dominated industry and we have been part of the movement in which this has started to change, I personally feel that being a woman allows me to connect more with my younger female clients to make them feel at ease. 

How do you think being a woman within tattooing, who has obviously been tattooed yourself for many years, has effected the way you work?

Thank you so much Jay! This is something I think about a lot. I know my work is informed by me as a person; and being a woman is a huge part of who I am, so it makes sense that being a woman informs my work too. I'm still figuring it out to be honest!  Most of my clients are women, and lots of them say they feel connected and comfortable being tattooed by another woman. The exchange of energy and trust between women can be very special, empowering and healing, and I believe that happens quite often in the tattoo process, and I believe me being a woman can help facilitate this experience for my clients. It's hard to put into words! 

What has been the most comforting thing another artists has done for you whilst you’ve been getting tattooed? I think mine was being fed biscuits and a brew during my first tattoo!

Ohhh, same here, a supply of tea is always the one. Also just making sure I’m warm enough, comfy enough, all of that stuff really helps. Also, positive affirmations!! I love it if a tattooist is like “you can do this!” if you’re feeling a bit nervous or flakey, positive encouragement goes a long way.

There is a delicacy within your work that I think separates you from other artists that use similar pattern work in a heavier way. You hold a lot of the same patterns on your own body (as do i) and I wondered if the use of this within your own work stemmed from the interest in adorning your own body with such pieces?

Definitely! I remember being a kid and loving looking at patterns and pictures of all kinds of things, like mosaics, beautiful wallpapers and textiles, tiles, the repetition of forms in nature - just absorbing it. So I’ve loved ornamental imagery for a long time but it took me a few years into tattooing to be confident enough in my own work to start exploring patterns, repetition and ornament in a way that felt natural to me. I feel like there is infinite beauty and possibility in the repetition of patterns, small motifs, leaves, lines, crosses, dots, etc. Getting this kind of work tattooed on myself definitely affirmed that it was a style I wanted to make as well. In the “limits” of symmetry and repetition you can do so much, you can take each idea in so many directions, big or small. It feels timeless and beautiful, it flows on every single body, every time. It feels ancient too, with deep roots in early art and traditional tattooing. My eyes soak it up, I absolutely love it. 

The pattern work on yourself is really beautiful, do you have a vision for the direction you want your tattoos to go in as a whole or are you just planning to keep adding bits as you travel/collect from other artists?

Oh yeah, there’s no vision haha! I keep changing my mind, it’s definitely a work in progress, so I think I’ll just keep adding bits. I know I want to embark on my back piece but I haven’t decided whether to go for large scale patterns or natural imagery yet. For my front I’m really enjoying piecing together smaller single needle pieces with more grey tones. I love your recent chest piece from Jess Chen! Holy fuck it looks so beautiful, the flow of it, and the glimmers of colour. I love the idea of incorporating more layers. Your collection is gorgeous too!  

Your tattoos combine more traditional pattern work with plant based subject matter these days, as you mock up larger concepts you can really see the way these patterns move with the figures bodies. Are you wanting to move in the direction of more large scale work going forward?

I’d love to work on more large scale projects, especially botanical and ornamental pieces. Being trusted with someone’s back piece for example is always such a huge honour and I have really enjoyed each one I’ve made so far. I’d love to work on larger pieces that flow with the shape of the body. I do really enjoy making smaller pieces too but yes, large scale work is always welcome! It’s very challenging and pushes me to grow.  

Obviously you draw a lot of inspiration from nature, it’s something I think a lot of us take for granted. I know I grew up running around the woods and finding new plants and flowers I’d never seen before, and I think in all honesty that excitable kid in me never grew up from discovering these things. Do you find nature is where you go when you need to re fuel creatively?

One thousand percent, nature is my solace. It’s where I need to go to refuel in every aspect, especially mentally and emotionally, and certainly creatively too. I grew up around the woods too and I still feel permanently pulled back to nature. For me the cycles and seasons of nature really help to reassure and ground me, which helps with my anxiety, which is no doubt helpful for my creativity too. Thank you, earth.

We started to tattoo about the same time, I remember seeing your earlier work and now I can really see how much you’ve evolved as an artist. Do you think experimenting with different mediums like linocutting has really allowed you to find your own identity as an artist?

Aw, thanks dude. I’d say for sure, for all the ways this year has been so hard, it’s been a gift to have more time on my hands to work with other mediums and I’m so grateful to have found lino cutting as a new outlet; I’m going to try and maintain more time for my art practice outside of tattooing going forwards. Doing things like painting, sketching, observational drawing, whatever, it’s time consuming and I definitely don’t do it enough, but it’s all so valuable and educational, and it helps us develop our identity/artistic voice and it definitely helps with generating ideas. 

Did you find when you were learning to tattoo your drawings translated well into tattoos or that you had to re learn what would work on the new medium (skin)?

Generally speaking, in the style of tattooing we do, the line work is very important, you want the lines to be strong and clear. I found the sureness of it, the commitment to one line, really scary at first, my drawings are naturally much looser and sketchier. So I had to learn to be more precise. In terms of the ideas I was having, most of my drawings were of plants or people, so they translated quite well! 

It took me a while to get to grips with drawing for skin, obviously it’s a 3D malleable surface, and I definitely didn’t consider things like movement or stretch at first, because you just don't when you’re drawing on paper. But then you start imagining your work on the body and how it will fit and move, and that informs your work more as you progress. But really, I think so much is possible in terms of what can work on skin, and there are so many different ways of tattooing, so I can only speak about my experience and style! 

Other than tattooing what other creative outlets are you enjoying at the moment?

I love music a lot, I play the piano here and there and it really relaxes me, I like noodling around and writing little melodies. And I’ve been getting back into mixing through lockdown, I used to DJ and do local radio (hell yes), I love putting mixes together and I really miss it. So yeah music is a really huge outlet for me! 

Also, learning about plants, which feels like a mix of science and intuition and creativity all in one, has become a really exciting new thing for me and it makes me just excited to learn more and more. 

Thanks for your lovely questions Jay!