FUELING ART WITH PASSION: TATTOO ARTIST SARAH PEACOCK

By: Leila Arciero

From the outside looking in, it’s not what you think. Maybe it’s a quaint cozy home or a random ritzy clothing store. It’s only upon closer inspection that Artfuel reveals itself to be an art gallery and a tattoo studio. Inside, are the soothing sounds of low music mixed with the hum of a tattoo machine. Sarah Peacock, the owner of the shop welcomes everyone, in slightly paint stained jeans and a hoodie reading “soymilk.” Her hair is a wild nest of red curls. She smiles and invites you in with the remnants of an English accent glossed over by her time in America.

Sarah is from a tiny town in North Yorkshire, England. The same little town as Captain Cook.

“Which is ironic,” she says. “Because Captain Cook was the guy that brought tattooing back to the West from the Tahitian Islands. I don’t know how I ended up here.” Also, like Captain Cook, she felt the need to explore her world and beyond.

After getting her first tattoo at the age of 17, Sarah has been fascinated with the art form of tattooing. It wasn’t until she was 21 that she met a woman with full sleeves.

“I was fascinated with how people decorated themselves,” Sarah says. “It was also a time when not a lot of people were getting pierced and I was heavily into body adornment.”

Now, Sarah has been tattooing for 13 years. What started as a teenage fascination has turned into a successful career. From working in street shops, to co-owning her own shop, she finally has a space to call her own. Fixating herself in the public as a custom tattoo artist. It has not always been easy for Sarah to follow her dreams. After going to school for design in England, she came to America as a traveling sign writer. Eventually joining the Renaissance Festival circuit for four years.

Sarah mentions, “They are definitely a facet of life. To live in that community is really interesting. It afforded me a cheap way of seeing this country, meeting good people and just having life experience.” Sarah’s travels have made her proud to say, “I’ve always managed to finance myself through my art.”

SARAH’S CRAFTS

What Sarah is known for in the tattoo world varies from what she actually does.

“I get a lot of Japanese work. A lot of sleeves, larger scale pieces. Full color, I’m known for color. But then I’m also known for realism too, so I’ll get portraits. Angels based off sculptures, fine art,” says Sarah. She has a knack for detail and color but when someone brings her a piece to tattoo, she adds her own flair. “I’ll rework the clients’ idea with them, or I’ll try to figure out where they’re coming from and present it in a different manner. It’s a little more palatable, I guess.” She is very careful with the pieces she tattoos. “You are giving something of yourself away in each piece.”

Sarah is sought after for her tattoo work. Even her tattooing has a hint of her painting in it. She can’t sit down and do a tattoo without allowing herself the comfort of painting.

“I’m very paintly with my tattooing. I’ve come against criticism for that, because it’s not a traditional approach and some people just feel like that is not the way to do it. I can’t be unnatural to myself. My line work is the most traditional part of my tattoo process. It’s crisp, it’s clear and it’s solid. From then on in, it’s like a painting. I still respect the fundamental elements of how to put in a solid tattoo and I know my limitations with that. But then I don’t feel bound in by any regulations. Once I put that line work down, that’s it. I switch off and I just do it.”

Over the years, Sarah has honed her craft in both painting and tattooing. She is a sponge soaking up a multitude of influences and gaining them from an assortment of different places.

“Everyday is something new,” says Sarah. “I see everyday as being O.K. Where do I learn from now? There are so many great tattooists, brilliant. I mean how can you not be inspired? I wouldn’t say I even have favorites. I glean too much from too many things to pinpoint it down. I’ll work from anything. I’m like a magpie.”

But Sarah’s love of art, like many custom tattoo artists extends beyond inking skin. Her recent re-devotion to her painting career allows her artwork to be displayed on her gallery’s walls and in peoples’ homes as well as splattered across the country on walking skin canvasses. The art that decorates the walls of Artfuel are in no way mainstream. As much as she borrows from other entities to make her own art, there is a very bold line dividing her painting and her tattooing career.

“My painting is my way of removing myself from that crazy idealistic perfectionist side of me that you have to have as a tattooer. But funny enough, my painting is like realism, but it’s not portrait style. It’s not so adamantly exact that I’m putting pressure on myself. I’m more about relaxing and letting the brush make it’s mark. It’s a good balance.”

Within the comfortable confines of her new gallery, she has the freedom to work on either craft. Even though it may seem like there are not enough hours in the day, “If I’m not tattooing, I’m painting, and if I’m not painting, I’m tattooing.”

SARAH’S FUTURE

“This year it’s all about transformation and flight,” Sarah explains. “You know buoyancy. Dropping things I don’t need. Putting the old suitcases down and being free to go ahead and be courageous enough to take the next move. I feel like I’m moving into a different transition in my life. So my art’s reflecting that.” The opening of Artfuel has allowed Sarah to look at her long-term goals. She controls this environment and shapes it to her specifications. She’s allowed to work when she wants and paint when she feels like painting. There is reassurance imbedded in the walls for her at Artfuel.

Having her own studio/gallery has given Sarah the opportunity to work at her own pace. “I try and take days off,” Sarah admits. “But generally what happens is I’m stuck in the middle of a huge piece and they haven’t booked enough appointments, so I’ll bring them in. But the thing is though, I’m still accessible to my painting and I’m still in a quiet atmosphere. I’ve got a great circumstance. I make my own hours. I work good hours. I don’t wipe myself out by making myself work. I know what my limits are and I will say to someone if I’m burnt out, if I’ve been tattooing seven hours. You have to recognize limits.”

Sarah’s studio is tailor-made for her and this allows her the ability to stop and start when she is comfortable. This is necessary to maintain her endurance and creativity in both art forms.

“I’ll be 50,” she exclaims. “My career … has been a really wonderful career; it’s been very exciting, very successful on every level. I don’t want to ruin it by physically deteriorating. I do not want to start churning out bad stuff. This environment here is perfect for me because I’m going to start concentrating on (painting), which is way less stressful, way less pressured, but still tattoo and hopefully kind of economically balance it out to the point where I don’t kill myself tattooing.”

“Everyday of my life, when I work and I deal with people I thank them for giving me the chance to tattoo them and to send them away with a design. That’s so important to me. You’re putting someone to the edge of anxiety and fear and you have to help them through that. I don’t feel like I’m sitting on that pedestal and you have to damn climb up that pedestal to get to me. I feel it’s the opposite I am absolutely thankful and grateful to do this. You get a friendship with that person. I have a wonderful clientele base. So what that you slightly blur the lines of business and friendship. You’re only as good as your customer.” And with this Sarah Peacock feels confident that she and Artfuel will be around for years to come.