Conversations with Julia Arndt

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Arndt. 

Hi Julia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Art has always been a part of my life and I have loved to express creativity in so many different ways. I took interest in tattooing as a career path after spending multiple hours getting tattooed and talking to an extremely helpful and respectable artist. I spent a couple years working as a research technician where I would tell people that I wanted to become a tattoo artist. This was usually met either with laughter, ‘good luck with that’, ‘are you actually good at art?’, and so many other comments. I remember sitting in a personal development meeting with my supervisor shortly before COVID first began and telling him for my five-year goal, I wanted to become a tattoo artist. He responded that my answer didn’t fit the criteria they were looking for since it wasn’t a “career goal.” 

I left this job in April of 2020 for medical and personal reasons and spent months in limbo trying to find a job within the company, but they were all dead ends. It wasn’t until late July of 2020 when I became seriously interested in fully pursuing tattooing. I started out with extremely little support. I come from a family with no tattoos and they were always semi-frowned upon and met with snide remarks whenever I got them. They told me I couldn’t be serious at first and they were completely right! I was an honor student throughout high school and I had already dropped out of college after two years in the mechanical engineering program. I really don’t think anyone expected this out of me at all and that includes myself. With the support of my fiancé, Andy, my sister, Liz, and some great friends, I was able to make it through my earliest days. Also, Grandma always said to make my passion my career, right? 

I saw a posting in late August of 2020 for an apprenticeship opening for a shop in Three Rivers, but they wanted three months of shop experience. I didn’t fit the bill of shop experience, however, I did have years of retail and customer service under my belt, I had previously worked in a medical facility, and I had been researching and learning about tattooing and brushing up on my artwork around the clock for a month, so I decided to reach out about the position. I ended up going into an interview and talking to everyone there and only brought a few drawings and photos of my old artwork I didn’t have. After a week or so I was told no, I didn’t get the opportunity. I ended up purchasing two coil machines from Amazon and a stack of fake skin. I told myself from the beginning that I wouldn’t tattoo anyone until I had the proper training from a professional and I held to that. After a couple weeks of using the machine on the fake skin between classwork for art and business school (I dropped out again after the semester), I reached back out and told them what I was doing. I received a response a while later asking if I could bring my machines and come in for a trial run. I went in a week later and started learning under an artist named Fernando and practicing all the time. A little over a month later, I did my first tattoo on a person and have kept going since then. I was officially a part of Black Pearl Tattoo. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been comparable to the smoothness of Michigan roads. There’s ups, downs, detours, and swerves. However, it’s about how you handle them that gets you to where you want to go. I struggled last summer with an unknown medical issue that really took a toll on me and after months pain and sickness, I found out I was gluten and lactose intolerant. I received hurtful comments from people around me and some from people who hadn’t even met me. I ended up sitting back early on and realizing my primary focus would be on improving what I already knew; people and art. I have been a people person since a very young age and have always loved making connections and learning more about things I don’t know. As for art, it is definitely a huge passion for me. I have learned a lot from the other artists in my shop and I’m continuously learning more from them! Bouncing ideas off of each other and observing them from time to time has definitely helped to overcome challenges. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a client-based artist; I love to hear what my client wants and take those ideas and turn it into a beautiful piece for them. Additionally, I also focus on providing a comfortable experience for my clients while they’re here. For now, I do a lot of different things and I’m still learning and experimenting with new styles and ideas. I can do multiple different styles and I also do cover-ups, re-works, and small tattoo removals! I’ve been doing a lot of feminine, fine-line, and stipple work lately! However, colorwork will always be something I do in a heartbeat. I love combining the two in untraditional ways. I have some larger pieces in the works right now that will truly showcase this. With all of this being said, the things I’m most proud of and what sets me apart is my clientele. I am super grateful to have cultivated such a comfortable environment where I can create something beautiful for and bounce my crazy ideas off of them. I wouldn’t be close to where I am at without everyone’s support. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
It’s spring and with all of the trees blooming, it’s recently brought up some of my favorite memories. When I was growing up, my childhood home and my grandparent’s house both had magnolia trees in their front yards. Some years it would bloom so well and others were interrupted by a late frost. However, no matter what it looked like, my sister, Liz, and I were climbing on and playing around those trees. Climbing up among the pink flowers on a sunny spring day with her beside me and forgetting about everything else under us, playing monkey and hanging off of the branches. Sometimes it was falling out of the trees and scraping up our legs/arms and swearing off of climbing the tree which would result in us destroying rock gardens by picking out our favorites or digging a hole next to the front door and filling it with water for a mud bath. We also made up a game called Queen and Princess where whoever was up higher in the tree would be crowned the Queen and the other would have to call her that until the reign was overthrown. Despite it being called Queen and Princess, we would fight and try to pull each other off the higher branch. The sheer sloth power that Liz had was ridiculous! I have a tattoo of a magnolia now to remind me of all of those times spent out there 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tallgirltattoo/?hl=en