Hello all!

I hope that each and every one of you is hanging in there!

I come before you today with a big fundraising ask: I want to attend Necropolis Tattoo School in the Portland, OR area starting on May 4th, 2020. For many this will come as absolutely no surprise. I've been in love with tattoo work since I started getting my own skin inked in 2018. The community and breadth of work I've seen have inspired my own projects in innumerable ways. And after some soul searching, I've discovered that I'd like nothing more than to make tattoos, too.

Tattooing is in an interesting place professionally: Oregon is the only state in the USA that currently requires graduation from a tattoo school to legally practice. In other states you still need a license, but acquiring training is iffy-er, and apprenticeships run the gamut from cash scams to genuine artistic tutelage.

I live in Oregon, so I need to graduate from a school in order to do tattoo work, though that's far from an obstacle. In fact, it's a boon! It just so happens that I've found a lovely little tattoo school that will teach me everything I need to know and get me out the professional door with contacts, know-how, and a path forward.

Necropolis Tattoo is a small, intimate school and tattoo parlor that maxes out class size at four students per term. Three learned, acclaimed instructors guide students through 210 hours of classroom theory and 150 hours of practical tattoo work. The first two months are all classroom: learning the tools, the techniques, and safe practices. Afterwards I would begin the real work and start inking folks! Per Oregon health and safety laws, students are required to complete 50 supervised tattoo procedures. I'll be practicing on my own legs, on my friends' legs--heck, any legs will do. I promise to do my best! Most students fulfill all these requirements and graduate within about a year on average. It's a lot of work, but I can't wait!

I went to visit the school in person and had a lovely chat with the program director that left me giddy. Some tattoo artists that I really admire graduated from this program! I want to join them.

I've already had my first taste of tattoo work, in a way: the above butterfly design is a piece I did to commemorate my late brother, and it's now tattooed on my left forearm. The design below was a commission for a dear friend, and I'm beyond honored and thrilled that she went through with getting it inked. Seeing it for the first time shot me onto cloud nine.

I've got the taste for this work, and I absolutely want more. For years now I've been struggling to find a way to make my passion for both artwork and helping people into a profession, and tattooing is that perfect balance. The discovery of this knowledge brought a light into my heart that I haven't felt for years.

This is my dream, and I'm going to do everything I must to to go for it!

But in order to get to school, I'll need the funds to afford it. The Necropolis program, front to back, is going to cost me $12,950 total. I have enough money saved up to pay for half of that up front, but I can't afford the rest without sinking deeper into the clawing red of debt and loans.

Thus, I turn to you: my friends, my family, my partners in adventure. I would be eternally grateful of anyone who can spare a few dollars towards my goal of raising half of the school tuition, which evens out at $6,475. Every little bit helps! For my own efforts I'm going to continue to work at my receptionist job full time as I attend school(though I'll be working 30 hours a week instead of my current 40 hours). I won't have a day off for two months, but if I can just get through those rough weeks I'll make it to the practical aspect of the programming, which allows more scheduling freedom. This is all so I can still afford to pay for rent, food, and my myriad of existing bills and loans in addition to the school tuition itself.

My 150 practical tattooing hours will add finished, completed ink pieces to my growing portfolio, and hopefully allow me to start building a client base while still in school. From there the future is open! I'm going to put my heart and soul into this work, and your support would mean the world to me.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far, and to everyone who has seen my work and felt it good enough to encourage my path forward. I wouldn't have come this far without it.

To see more of my work, please do check out my Instagram account, @rhaeluna, though as a word of warning: it's pretty weird.

Let's see where the future leads together!

Cheers,

Holly Loveless