Interview with an Artist: Bella Ames
Bella Ames is a talented artist, a motivated self-starter, and a master at connecting with people through art. I recently had the privilege of interviewing her to learn more about her artistic background, her experience going from tattoo apprentice to full-time artist, and her perspective on the impact that art and tattooing have had in her life as a whole. She is a highly impactful communicator who truly cares about her clients and is determined to discover everything she can about her trade. She currently works full-time at Street Hate Tattoo in Denver, in the famous Santa Fe art district, where she has experienced great success in her first year as a professional tattoo artist, and countless connections with people whose lives and bodies will be forever impacted by her undeniably impressive art.
Her artistic style and ability have been with her since childhood, from growing up having art nights with her family, to taking it upon herself to paint with pudding on the kitchen table, it's evident that a connection to the arts in every possible medium has been instilled in her from early on. She credits her earliest influences to things like visits to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, frequently watching Ink Master with her dad, and her grade school art teacher, who taught her the fundamentals that she still uses to this day.
Growing up, she had always wanted to pursue a path as an artist, but held back due to the practical reasons that most people claim all artists struggle with, like job stability and money. Although she continued to do art as a hobby on her own time for a while, the desire to eventually find a way to pursue a job in art and tattooing never left her. It wasn't until her years in college, when she first began giving practice tattoos to her lacrosse teammates, that she realized tattooing was what made her feel most fulfilled and connected to herself. Her passion drove her to dive deep into the career of tattooing for the long term, and this time her art would no longer be only a hobby; it became the central part of her life. She said,
“I think that's where I learned a lesson in my life, that the only person that’s going to make things happen is you. And I just decided okay, this is what I'm going to do…and it was nice because there were so many people in my life who had seen my art already, like my friends or teammates, who told me that if I ever picked up a tattoo gun, I could tattoo them. And it was perfect because it let me do what I wanted to do and loved to do… so that's what I did, I started tattooing in my dorm, and some of those still haunt me to this day, but that's what got me into it. Then when I started, it felt almost weird, like a movie type of thing where everything falls into place, the music starts playing, and you know there's a montage coming on. That’s when I was like, yeah, this is it. This is what I’m meant to do…I never felt like something belonged in my hand more… and it's been the same way every time I pick up that machine. It's still that feeling.”
From tattooing in her dorm to finding her apprenticeship at Street Hate, her passion and true love for tattooing are what drove her the most through every challenge that came her way. She wanted to go from tattooing alone to being in a shop with other people that she could meet, learn from, and connect with, and that’s exactly what she did. Her motivation to become a more impressive artist each day is never-ending, and I truly admire the way that once she knew what she wanted to do, she never let anything get in her way of committing to life as an artist. When asked about her favorite part of tattooing in her shop currently, she said,
“My favorite thing about it is that it feels like the human experience, down to working with a team, to having new interactions with people, you're working with people, communicating with people. At the same time, you have certain obstacles that you as the artist need to get through to make the perfect thing for someone. But it's not just like needing a prompt, it's that I'm adorning this person with something they’re going to have on them for the rest of their life, and how can I make it their perfect tattoo? How do I make something that I also really love?...And even when it comes down to art, I feel like art is something that is meant to be shared with the community, art was bred in communities, art is one of the earliest things humans ever did, and so I love that about it…I think sometimes it's felt akin to when people were drawing on caves, those things are there forever, they stay there throughout the rest of time, and it's the same with the human body. If I can do art on the human body it's always going to be there, and to me that feels really powerful…and one of my favorite moments is when the client approves the design because you can feel their excitement in it, and you can sense that they really want it on their body, and they’re very grateful that you can take an idea from their brain and put it on to their skin.”
Bella Ames is unique in that she’s never satisfied with the design until the client is. In a world of many people with bad experiences getting tattoos, she creates a space where people feel at ease knowing that she will be collaboratively working with them until they both feel right about the design that will be on their body forever. She is fully aware of the importance that this holds, and has never taken it lightly, which is why her work always finishes with a fully realized piece that both parties can feel proud of. Even more uniquely, her devotion to her customers also shows through the fact that she has never turned down a tattoo idea. She has never made a person feel as if the art that they want to get isn't possible, and that alone shows how much she understands the value and importance of the service she is providing to the community through her unbelievable creativity and talent. Her artistic growth has been proven time and time again through her hard work, and getting to this point from where she started wasn't easy either. When I asked her what she would say to her younger self, she said,
“My non-sentimental version is draw more portraits, because those are fucking hard…otherwise I would say don’t let other people dictate your life, because I think a lot of my life was led by doing what I thought other people wanted of me…and I wanted to do my own thing, I always had my own desires of what I wanted to be doing, but I would let other people override that because I thought that was what gave me happiness, but it wasnt real happiness like what I’m experiencing today...tattooing is the love of my life”
My chance to talk with Bella about her greatest passion and see her trade through her perspective was truly amazing, and I’m lucky to say that I have also had the privilege of getting tattooed by her. Each work of art she makes is powerful, intentional, and fully considerate of the person who wants it done. If you ever need a tattoo in Denver, she is the person to go to. You can find her at @bellatofu_art on Instagram, bellaames.godaddysites.com, or if you're extremely lucky, she might take your walk-in request at Street Hate Tattoo.
