Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Scott.
Hi Wendy, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was about 16 taking a drawing class in high school… I had a classmate Jimi that sat across from me. He had a huge tall Mohawk and I had been a cheerleader …lol but we would trade artwork all the time. We became good friends. Jimi was going through a rough time and he left home and school… one day he called me and asked if I would come hang out with him at this tattoo shop… he had gotten a job there. I think he was a little scared and needed a friend. I went down to visit with him now and then. When I hung out customers normally picked out pieces of flash from the wall… customization wasn’t really a thing yet… they would say I love this one but I have 3 kids and there is only a place to put 2 … so, I would draw up something for them. Wes saw I could draw … now females did not work in tattoo shops back then… let alone tattoo. But Wes recognize that this could be a deal… even if it was just a novelty. He would ask if I could help out and clean, then he’d ask if I could set up the stations, then he asked if I could build needles for them. I had no idea I was being apprenticed. Lol … They would tip me out every day … and I kept showing up to help. Next thing I know I’m building my first machine and rolling my own coils. Then my first bloodline on Jimi’s ankle…
While I was working at GRIMMS I met a French pilot. He asked me to go to New York with him. So, I said ok… let’s do it … we lived in New York for a bit. We, had a blast! After a couple years he said he had to go back to France to, fulfills his military obligations, he asked me to marry him and move to France… and again … I said let’s do it… We moved to France in a small village where his parents lived. I stayed with them while he was in the military. I was very bored… his father was very nice to me and his older sister had a cool clothing store in Strasbourg the next town over. Strasbourg was much larger and it had awesome shops, bars, and restaurants. It was beautiful. I went to work at his sister’s shop, I got to meet cool locals and become friends with them. I opened my own shop in the basement of the shop … a thrift store. I would go home to the USA and buy Levi jeans and 70s jumpsuits… letterman jackets anything that screamed American… then sell them … a .25 cent pair of thrift store levies would sell for 100 to 250 dollars over there… I made a killing… I met so many amazingly talent people… I even sang in a punk band over there … we recorded an album and had it pressed on cotton candy pink vinyl. I also met a tattoo artist named Sacha. We had him set up next to my store and we quickly became friends. I tattooed at his shop and eventually opened my own tattoo shop there. It’s now been 6 years since I’d lived in the US. I no longer spoke English, I dreamt in French everything French… and realized it was probably time for me to go home. So, I told the band and the rest of my friends it was time… what a sad day but I missed my family and the USA.
Once we got back to the US, I met up with my husband who had left France earlier to get an apartment… it was not like I remembered and I saw things differently from when I lived in NYC. I hadn’t even unpacked and a friend said Brad Fink in St. Louis wanted me to tattoo at his shop and wanted to meet me… I said I just got home…! All my friends said I was crazy if I didn’t go… they all wanted to work for him… so off to St. Louis, I went … I met him we talked and I started that week. I stayed at some of the artist places until I got my own. It was pretty rough… I was new and a female so you can only imagine the torture and harassment I had to go through. I won’t go into details but wow… it was rough. I hadn’t seen my husband in years it seemed like and we had grown apart … different goals and different lives… so, we called it quits but still remain friends. I saw now single in an unfamiliar town and tattooing 14-hour days… yikes. Lots of partying and well questionable decisions..lol after a while I settled down a bit and met a guy … we got pregnant… I had a baby boy … he was a hand full and I almost died having him… it was bad… real bad… but I got better and was like we got this… lol but just when I thought we were on track and tough times were over… we found out he had Autism. The hospital where we went for therapy etc., had a group for parents with autistic children, in this group they said 5 of the 6 couples will be divorced by next year… because one parent can handle it and one can’t, I thought they are crazy … why would they say that… but.? it was true… that’s exactly what happened. My son’s father left, came back, left, came back until I finally said kick rocks … I never saw him again and we never received child support. But I think it was better that way … fast forward … my son graduated. with presidential honors and now has a full-time job, drives and full health care … boom! Lol, I’m so proud of him… from severely autistic and non-verbal to advanced science and graduation with honors… truly a dream come true… tattooing enabled me to get the best therapist and my own schedule to work with him on behavioral modifications. If I had to work a regular 9 to 5 I wouldn’t have had the time or money to help him. My mother was also a huge help. And support system. I couldn’t have done it without her as well.
While My son was in school, I started an online business making prayer candles… not your typical candles… awesome funny candles… like saint Joan Jett or Saint Lemme from Motörhead. you name it I had it. I was featured on the view. The today show magazine and about a zillion others… it was crazy… One day I got an email from urban outfitters EU .. they wanted 6000 units. Holy cow… they wanted exclusive rights to designs I created. I agreed for one year. Most of my business is wholesale … I have accounts all over the world … mainly record stores and small mom-and-pop places. My website is celebrityprayercandles.com.
I like keeping busy… I also teach students at the community college practical theater painting and I’m prop master. In 2012 I won a Kennedy Center Award for scenic artistry in a musical. That was a shock… I’m very honored but I don’t do it for awards. I truly love painting and carving and figuring out how to make a jet pack that smokes or how to make a giant hairspray can that a drag queen can emerge from..lol that is way more rewarding… I’m currently working on a musical and I’m so excited to meet all the new students.
I’m currently in an amazing relationship with the most amazing man… I’m still working at the community college theater Kckcc and I’m still running my website and creating new products… couldn’t be happier… I’m still tattooing … and guess what… I’ve come full circle… I’m back a GRIMMS where I started …what an amazing journey so far… I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being a female artist has been rough, people really didn’t like female artists back then… I was one of maybe 10 in the country at the time … lots of sexual harassment, bullying, I can’t really tell you everything that happened but it was pretty bad… but I was determined to succeed… plus add being a mother of an autistic child also not easy. I recently had an old boss reach out and apologized for the way they treated me. He recently had kids and realized how difficult it can be … he said he didn’t know how I managed to do it all and by myself… I had help from my mom but it was never easy.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love doing a little bit of everything… it’s a problem..lol I love painting, building, designing, teaching… I run an online business making some awesome rad shit…lol my business name is kitschup creations. My website is celebrityprayercandles.com. As far as my specialty… in tattooing, I’m known for my cover-ups. I love problem-solving and figuring out how to cover it up… and not with a rose. Tattoo artist that says oh… I can cover it with a rose … run… run away … fast… lol. They don’t know what they are doing. What am I most proud of… well… I don’t really know… I’d say raising an autistic son… that I definitely proud of… I won a Kennedy center award in 2012 for best scenic artistry in a musical. And I’ve definitely won a few tattoo trophies in my time… oh, and I built a greenhouse out of recycled materials in my backyard… it’s magical you should check it out…
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Well, I guess I would say … I’m alive … and I kept my kid alive so there’s that. Lol
But in all seriousness… everyone has a different idea of what success is… I guess mine is I’m happy and I love my life. I’m blessed with my son, close friends, family, and an amazing fiancé, I have my health and minimal stress… and lucrative careers. I can’t imagine anything better. One opportunity can lead to another success and another. I feel like it never ends. Opportunity is everywhere… success and failure are just life… small successes, big ones, setbacks and leaps forward. I didn’t give up when they said I couldn’t be a tattoo artist, that it was a waste of time when they said I’d never sell my candles and they were stupid… nobody would pay money for them… when they said my son would never talk and never look at me or say I love you …
I’m thankful I was stubborn… listened to myself and believed I could … it’s what you do that will determine if you’re successful or not… so maybe my definition of success is … never giving up…
Contact Info:
- Email: Tattoosbywendyscott@gmail.com
- Website: Celebrityprayercandles.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/wendyscotttattoos
- Other: http://beacons.page/wendyscotttattoos/
