Ink Therapy; Natasha Cantone
Paper and Crayons
Originally from New York Natasha May Cantone is a lover of animals, a professional tattoo artist, and has been a creative coper from a young age.
(Natasha in her shop with a sign gifted to her from her boss)
Natasha confided one thing that might surprise people about her is that she has a mental illness and suffers from schizoaffective disorder (having audio hallucinations, mood disorder, or manic behavior).
She recalls that when she was a young child around the age of 4, she started displaying signs of bi-polar disorder. When her mother took her to therapy, she would express her feelings and communicate through art. “They put out paper and crayons,” she said.
Losing Touch
This gem of a human informed me of the fact that she learned to express herself through art at a young age. She confessed she originally wanted to be a veterinarian and help animals but quickly changed her mind to wanting to be the next Van Gough; getting really into painting and watercolor.
Cantone and her mother moved out to Arizona from New York when she was 13 years old due to her grandmother being ill. Natasha said that her mother told her living in Arizona was like being in a constant summer which she took to mean that there was going to be no school…needless to say she was a little disappointed when she figured out that wasn’t the case.
As an adult she continues to use art as a coping mechanism. She declares, as an artist, “I’m drawing my feelings, not just something I want to sell.”
(Drawings done by Natasha Cantone)
She let me in on the fact that, in 2010 she turned to drugs when life got rough. “I lost touch after therapy stopped,” She says, “I was using meth to cope. At the time I thought meth was everything. I was getting everything done that I needed to, plus more.”
A Dash of Doggo Therapy
Natasha also brought up the fact that she stopped creating art at this point and that art was what slowly brought her away from the drugs. “Towards the last little bit while I was on meth, I started drawing. I was drawing so much that these two fingers (index and middle) were literally blistered.”
“It was around that time too that I started getting audio hallucinations,” Cantone talked about her struggles, “I still occasionally have them, due to the drugs, even though I have been clean for four years. It’s like overhearing a conversation in the next room but no one is there.”
I talked to Natasha about this and she says she has hopes but is unsure of this problem resolving. She mentioned that her mental illness has been somewhat of a hindrance to her in her career (such as when she feels overwhelmed or switches to a new medication) however it has helped immensely to create art daily and to be around people.
She also told me all about Dash, her Jack Russel therapy dog who is always able to make her feel better. After seeing pictures of this sweet dog, I completely understand why.
(Natasha and her therapy dog Dash)
It’s Okay to Not be Okay
Her advice to anyone who is going through what she went through or who may also have depression is to, “Always have an open mind, to know it’s okay to not be okay, and to know that this part of your life isn’t going to be this way forever. Things change.”
Now at the age of 29, Natasha is a tattoo artist at a shop in Mesa (Traditional Ink).
“I never thought I would end up being a tattoo artist,” Natasha told me this notion was due to her and her mother joining a church and bringing religion into their lives when moving to Arizona. “I knew I would do something artistic but I wasn’t sure what.”
(Natasha working with a client in her shop)
“I did cosmetology for a while,” she stated before telling me how she innovatively created art from products at the salon. She produced a rainbow koi fish using hair color one day when they were working on color composition. While praising her work, someone mentioned to her she should be a tattoo artist and the idea then sparked.
(The Rainbow Koi Fish Natasha created out of hair coloring)
Women in the Tattoo Industry
She originally got an apprenticeship with a different shop than she is at now that she described as a ‘grungy shop’ but was thankful to get her foot in the door somewhere.
She explained that being a woman in the tattoo industry has been the hardest struggle she has faced. “Hazing is a normal thing in the business, but some shops take it to an extreme.”
She clarified in regards to the hazing, that a few shops she worked at before landing at Traditional Ink were all about having her do what she called ‘bitch work’. She went on to define that work as sweeping, cleaning, all the side work, which she found frustrating. She respected that it needed to be done but wanted to be learning from the other artists. She felt she was being taken advantage of and that it was hard to find a shop that took women seriously.
(Natasha’s ink collection)
Cantone is very happy at her shop she works at now and states that it has a family friendly environment and that they try to make everyone feel welcome.
Client Relationships
When she was hired at Traditional Ink and they told her she was ready to officially start tattooing, she felt a little frantic. As someone who had a close relationship with my dad, it touched me to find out that upon being hired her dad immediately wrote her a check to purchase the supplies needed to start her off. She said he bought her all of her ink (an impressive collection) and her tattoo machine which she beautifully calls her paintbrush.
(Natasha and her paintbrush)
Despite lacking some of the years of other artists, Natasha has quite the clientele built up which was no surprise when she started talking to me about her clients and showed the love she had for them.
She told me about a few individual clients, things they have worked through, things she was proud of them for, and how she likes to get to know them to make their experience personal.
“Half of getting a tattoo is the experience. Even those clients who come in wanting something simple and small that I do all the time. Often times those are their first tattoos so I try to give them something personal, even with common symbols.”
She even told me about one client who has fought through melanoma skin cancer and how she was able to work with her on finding techniques on giving her tattoos and working with her skin when other shops weren’t necessarily willing to.
It is evident in the way she speaks and her display of gifts from clients, that she has a true love for them.
She was even able to tattoo an entire family once who was visiting from out of state to Arizona. They all got matching tattoos of cacti and left with smiles on their faces after working with Natasha.
(The family from Wisconsin that Natasha had the opportunity to work with)
Advice to Aspiring Artists
Cantone says that her main goal is to bring peace and happiness to others through her work. She also mentioned that she hopes to be an inspiration to young women and people with mental illness, for them to know that they can overcome their challenges and follow their dreams.
Natasha says to anyone who is aspiring to be a tattoo artist, “Be available and never give up. Straight up those are the two things that always come to mind. Your availability in the beginning makes you stick out. (Just let them know) I can be here every day and I am willing to work. Don’t ever give up.”
She said her favorite moment in her career so far was when she finished her first big piece. She says she looks at it now and sees things she could add but that it was the first one she loved that let her know she was in the right business.
(Natasha’s first big tattoo piece)
Natasha says she likes to put on her iheartradio (anything from Sublime to Post Malone to Aretha) and get in the zone, which is what she plans to do on Friday the 13th (of July) when she and her coworker plan to do a 24 hour event. They will be doing a $13 special on specific tattoos they’ve created specifically for this event which I got a sneak peek at and can tell you I found quite a few of them tempting.
Coping Through Art; Inspiring Through Ink
Cantone claims that art helps others because it is a creative outlet for them, “Whether it’s writing, doing hair, tattooing, any form of art.”
I believe she is not only a creative coper but such a strong and beautiful soul for overcoming such huge obstacles such as finding her way in a new place after moving at a young age, coming clean off of drugs, and even finding confidence in the workplace without giving up when she wasn’t treated as an equal at first.
To Natasha I want to say, thank you for sharing your incredible life journey with not only myself but the readers of this blog and for displaying acts of creative coping others can be inspired by.
(Natasha Cantone and I in her shop after interviewing)
