About me
I'm queer, trans, and agender/non-binary. White and filipinx, witch-adjacent atheist, forest goblin. Nerd of many flavors. Neurodivergent and mentally ill. My special interest is mycology, and I love going down research rabbit holes.
I love making tattoos that are weird, whether in concept or execution. I love the absurd, the surreal, glitchy stuff, dead stuff, fun juxtapositions, and punchy colors.
About My Practice
Personal Practice
As a trans person who has had a tumultuous relationship with their body, I understand how healing and transformative receiving a tattoo can be. Tattoos have allowed me to love myself more, to reclaim my body as my own, and feel more at home in this weird fleshy vessel. Having the ability to help others feel at home in their bodies is one of the best things about this career and I aim to make this service more accessible to all.
I try to foster a trauma-informed, accessible, and safe space for my clients. I have a large collection of stress balls and sensory fidget toys for clients to borrow during sessions, and we can work in whatever way is most comfortable to you -- whether you'd rather put on a pair of headphones and not talk or if you'd like conversation to distract from the pain, either works!
I'm a member of the Community Tattoo Collective, a non-profit group of PNW tattoo artists who raise money each month for a good cause.
Tattoo Process
The typical process of getting a tattoo from me involves a few steps:
Before scheduling, please fill out the inquiry form here.
After reviewing your submission, I'll reach out to you via email. I might have some clarifying questions before we can move on to scheduling.
I'll send you a link to my calendar, where you can schedule a (virtual or in-person) consultation. This website is synced to my personal calendar so it will only show you the dates and times that I have available -- no need to check with me if a certain time works; if it's there, it's available! The website will also send you a confirmation email and a reminder email or text the day before your appointment.
During the consultation, we'll discuss your design in more detail. My goal is to get enough info from you that by the end of our consultation I am positive I know exactly what you're looking for and that the design I draw will be perfect or close to it! This is also a great opportunity for you to ask me any questions or address any concerns you may have.
If you also feel confident about moving forward, you'll put down a non-refundable deposit toward the tattoo and we'll schedule our first tattooing session through the same calendar. Your deposit pre-pays for a portion of your tattoo, and is applied when paying for your final session.
Generally speaking, I won't get started on your design until a few days before our appointment and I won't have the time to send you drafts beforehand. This is why the consultation is so important -- I'm gathering enough info to nearly guarantee that you won't want any major adjustments to the design I come up with.
When you come in for your first session, you'll see the final design I came up with. There will be time to make any final small adjustments that you may want before we get started, as well as to figure out exactly how you want the stencil placed on your body and whether or not you want the design scaled up or down slightly in size.
After your tattoo is finished and is fully healed, please reach out to me with healed photos! Touch-ups are free for up to a year after the tattoo is finished in case there were any issues in the healing process or the tattoo otherwise has not healed as expected. Please make sure to check out the tattoo care & pain management page before your session.
About the Shop & Parking
True Love Tattoo is located in the heart of Capitol Hill, at the corner of E Pine St & Summit Ave.
All guests must wear face masks at all times.
Street parking can be very difficult to find. You can find more up-to-date info here on rates and restrictions.
Parking is generally limited to a maximum of 2 hours, but you can circumvent that with a little preparation. When paying by phone, keep track of two "location numbers": the one you're parked closest to, and a second nearby one. Once you've reached the maximum 2 hours for the first location you can use the second location number and switch back and forth between the two without having to physically move your car.
Alternatively, if you're like me and would prefer to not have to find street parking, Harvard Garage is a few blocks uphill from the shop and charges $15 for all-day parking. Beware that the parking spaces are very narrow, though!
Accessibility Info
Our shop is set in a building that is unfortunately old enough that the property owners are not required to meet ADA regulations.
Our entrance has a wide, low-grade ramp leading down into the shop. We have two single-stall genderless bathrooms: the first is close to the entrance (and my workstation!) and requires two small stair steps to reach; the second is in the upper half of the shop which is past a larger set of 6 stair steps with a hand rail.
Please let me know if you have specific questions regarding the space and any accommodations you require. If needed, I will find an alternative space to rent or borrow that meets your needs.