outside of my "day jobs" as tattooer (since 2009), art teacher (since 2008), mama (since 2016) and doctoral researcher (since 2022), my personal work has often focused on zine and bookmaking, expanding on a practice i have worked with since adolescence. not allowed to go to many punk shows, i survived on mix tapes, learning to play the bass via guitar world magazine and downloaded tablature, and publishing my first zine, “mecaroni and fleas.” i was able to access community without leaving my house - networking with other zinesters, making flyers for local bands, and poring over mail-order catalogs.​ in this way i learned the process of design hands-on. the skills i'd honed with glue and scissors translated to the tattoo world, not only in having an eye for good layout, but economy - finding just the right words and images to tell the story - nothing more, less.