friend Claire Savard, who moved down
from Montreal.
I have many hobbies alongside
tattooing, which is my greatest passion,
but I love all mediums of art and
expression and hope to try it all in my
life.
MI: What was the moment you knew you wanted
to be a tattoo artist like? Was it something you
considered for some time?
HD: I knew I wanted to be a tattoo
artist the first time I walked into a tattoo
shop. I loved the smell of the place,
the people, the art – it was love at
first sight. I was 15 years old, in my first
year of high school, and I went in with
a friend who was getting some work
done. After that, I found any and every
reason to go back to the same shop
after school. I became their biggest
pain and always felt bad about that.
I first had an interest in tattoos when I
was four years old and started noticing
the old, retired navy men with naked
MI: Tell us about your journey in life. Our readers
would love to know about your life story! (How long
have you been tattooing? Where do you live/work?
What are your hobbies, etc?)
HD: Hello Missy/Ink and readers! My
journey has been all over the place
and I’ve gone through some pretty
hard times. But I’ve worked really hard
to grow and learn and am really
proud of where I am today. Although
my experience has been all over the
place, it has also been really positive
and fun.
I started tattooing without an
apprenticeship but had many amazing
artists and people mentor me, inspire
me, and help me along the way. I saved
up for my tattoo gear when I was 20
years old and living in Montreal. I was
living there without residence and
without employment and had a pretty
serious drug dependency. All I ever
wanted to do with my life was be a
tattoo artist so I knew that I was going
to have to either save money and work
really hard to get out of that situation,
or fall into a lifelong addiction cycle
and never break out.
I moved back to Halifax to be with my
family, cleaned myself up and started
on a path to becoming a professional
tattoo artist. I live in Halifax now and
co-manage HFX Tattoo with my best
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Issue 18 | Missy/Ink