
ABOUT ME
It's a bit of a long story...
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Two years into my undergraduate in pre-med at UW-Madison, I felt I needed to make a change. I had always been artistic, but the workload needed for my degree left little room for art classes. I dove in head first at an opportunity to apprentice at Spike-O-Matic Tattoo as I saw to continue my love of art outside of the classroom. I pushed myself to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology while also learning to tattoo. After I graduated, I turned my focus entirely to my tattoo career and have been tattooing professionally since 2012.
To further my trade, I pursued training in medical tattoo applications and completed Medical Tattoo Masterclass at Finishing Touches, UK. During this intensive training, I was able to learn and perform innovative new procedures to address the medical needs of patients with breast reconstruction, skin disorders, scarring and burns. I found this new focus of my work challenging and very rewarding. With this experience, I opened my own studio, Shade. In this setting I work to provide areola pigmentation, scar camouflage and custom tattoos in a private, approachable space for all.
-Alissa Waters