tattoos; September-December 2025
Looking east and watching the interislander ferry from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand).
Kia ora from Te Whanganui-a-Tara, January 6th 2026. In my final days leading up to our great journey across the equator, I threw together this collection of tattoos from the last four months of my time in California because I knew it would be the last thing I would want to do once I had returned to Aotearoa. From mid-September until practically the day we flew out of LAX on December 30th, we pulled at so many carefully woven strings to deconstruct the lives we had worked so hard to build in Southern California. We didn’t say all the goodbyes we wanted to say; and we turned towards a nomadism that wasn’t going to wait for us any longer. Unraveling my whole life was a full time job in the background of all the tattoos on this post.
Leaving and packing and preparing was like standing on the edge of a cliff jump and having to remind myself how much I love water. I hate the fall, but I love the woods, I love the water, I love the wilds. I love being entirely in the universe, a whole participant in the world we are. And now that the leap is over, the water is still a shock to the system, and yet, I know the adjustment will melt, and the cold always welcomes in that softening that can reveal itself after a great efforting; there might be opening. My prayer is that my opening might be in great reverent respect and immense love to these islands, beloved land and magnificent waters, to the spirits and the Māori people and the freak ass birds who have tended to them for time immemorial. My prayer is that my opening and return to this place after eight years might be a life-force offering of community delight, vibrant creation, land tending, soul tending. In the words of Robin Rose Bennett: “Real witchcraft is about coming into a co-creative relationship with the universe (God-Goddess-All-That-Is), discovering who you are, gathering your personal power, and using it in service of creating the most beautiful, authentic life possible for yourself, and for everyone else too.” Eight years ago, I sat on the tarmac at Auckland airport to fly to LAX and promised the land, and the aliveness that stirred me deeply here, that I would return. And here I am, a vow fulfilled, and now to live into a mysterious dream of a different Way that has never left me alone, an unknown Other Path that I have organized around since my early 20’s. And how much I want to love this place for not leaving me alone, for beckoning and welcoming me back, for giving me a kindling for the fire in my heart when I needed in those eight years ago. May I be a participant of love and creation here. May the path open for us all, may we say yes to it when it blooms.
And so I leave you with these ink prayers, with a triumph of having made new bank accounts yesterday and my van leaving the mechanic this afternoon. I love the water, even in the cold that makes you howl.
All pieces freehand drawn on unless otherwise specified <3 Tap on any image to make it larger, but if you want to zoom into detail, do so on the original webpage without tapping open the light box! All tattoos made on occupied Kumeyaay land (San Diego, CA, USA) or Acjachemen land (Orange County, CA, USA).
Pomegranate flow for Kara - flow drawn on, fruits stenciled on. My last tattoo of 2025 and my last piece made on Turtle Island for the time being <3
Belly flows for a beloved client - thank you so much. Tricky to get the shape exactly right and we tried a number of different body contours, but so thrilled to have found this one. Not quite my usual style but I welcome challenges from return clients who know what collaborating with me looks like; we loved how it turned into a kelp abstraction of sorts as well.
Fern n mountain n spiral flow for Adi - sometimes I read a submission form and immediately know that there is immense potential for creative and interpersonal compatibility. Making tattoos like this feels like being right at home in my creative nest, and hanging out with fellow “airy fairy” (to use Adi’s language) traveler folks is so nourishing, especially as I was on the brink of leaving for Aotearoa. Thank you for coming from Truckee dear!
Torso and leg flow for Halley - such a fucking journey with this three session piece; we were scheduled for May 2025 and then I came down with a cold that knocked me out for a full two weeks, so we had to rebook for the end of September. And how thankful we are that we still were able to make this happen! Tattoos like this feels like a symphony. Everything freehanded except for the spirit ancestor face, which was a stencil adapted from a sketchbook drawing I did in the summer of 2023.
Lunar moth for beloved Che Che - badass gay ass shit!! Stenciled on, and such a fucking honor to make this piece with them. We made this tattoo at the beginning of November the day after I found out about the sudden death of a beloved mentor of mine. As I worked on their drawing in the hours after finding out, I had a coffee shop cry about how not-trivial tattooing feels in the face of tragedy, of shock and loss. How making this tattoo with Che Che felt like doubling down on one-wild-and-precious-life shit, and that is what grief can beckon us into, if we are open to it. So thank you dear human, I trust and thank Spirit for the timing of this piece, and how wondrous they fly with you now.
Hawk friend for Shylo’s first tattoo <3333 Stenciled on, and so thrilled with how she turned out. Thank you my dear!
Collaborative piece with dearest Jae - ¾ flowers stenciled, eyes stenciled, rest freehanded; two sessions. Adapted from drawings they had made for years of dreaming of this tattoo, amazing to bring it to life with them at last. Thank you, I love you <3 (PS we traded Alaska Airline points for this piece, which is always a legitimate form of payment or partial trade payment!)
Mountain hip flow for Walter’s second tattoo - we initially thought we were going to do a back piece, but as the drawing day went on, he realized that this placement was actually calling to him. Thank you for coming from the Bay!
Greywash handpoke for Sarah - I have wanted to do a triskelion for YEARS, so special to do this Celtic piece right over the heart (plz ask me to give you a handpoke I love it so much)
River shawl flow for Nuria - one giant day session, thank you for coming from the depths of the Cascades and the Snoqualmie river for this piece. Nuria had a vision of this looping egg sort of shape, as a representation of form/formlessness, of the river carrying us and all things…thank you <3 (shoulders not by me)
Lupine and black sage filler flow for Haley - these plants are always so fucking fun to tattoo. Thank you for coming from Santa Barbara and sharing such sweet time! (other work not by me)
Lil apple blossom for Lilia’s first tattoo!! Stenciled on, to honor the apple tree they grew up playing under in Seattle <3 Thank you friend, I love you
Antler neck flows for Ricky, fellow tattooer big honor joy :’) Psyched on how this piece came to life as we imagined it together, after years of talking about me tattooing them <333
Mountain back flow for Sam, continued up from a mountain river leg flow we have been working on for a couple years. Thank you friend, so rad to see this piece bloom as you’ve continued to live with and learn from it
Same-same-but-different mother-daughter lizard tattoos for Michelle and Tenaya’s first tattoos!! Lizards stenciled on for both of. them, but different freehand flows transforming from the tails. Big time special day, thank you both for trusting and inviting me to make these pieces with you!
Neck n shoulder ripple flow for Hazel - the third time I’ve tattooed her, continuing a forearm flow that we started back in 2022! Thank you my friend, so glad we could make this happen before we both departed onto our great journeys.
Greywash handpoke for Alexa - done as a trade for her letting me stay with her in Minneapolis, ripples for the tides of Alaska, for the lakes of Minnesota, for her ongoing romance and relationship with water and movement
Watery ripple flow for Marisa’s first tattoo - done in two sessions, initially just the area around her knee, she texted me a week later saying, “Mary I want the whole leg.” And so we did :) Created for her love and dedication to the ocean, but also as an ode of love to her leg and to coming to peace with an injury whose journey is still unfolding. Thank you my friend, and thank you for coming from Santa Barbara!
Filler flow for Lily - poppy and yarrow-ish flowers and mountains and river and spiral. Thank you for coming back and traveling from Joshua Tree, so good to see you again!
Raven-phoenix flow for Sara, continued from an upper arm flow we started a year ago, to honor the passing of their mother earlier in 2025. Bird stenciled on, the rest freehanded. Thank you for inviting me into your grief and remembrance process with this piece <3
Rose bouquet for Rebekah, who just keeps coming back for more hehe :) Stenciled on, thank you friend!
Spiral river flow for Elizabeth, really interesting placement! Thank you ~
Handpoke greywash pebbles for Flower, to continue a piece we started on her hand back in May. The last piece I did in San Diego at my old studio - thank you dear, I love you forever.
River filler flow for Abbie, dancing between old work of mine and a piece by my dear friend Katelynn. Thank you for your loyalty and friendship after all these years, so glad that tattooing brought us together!
