Evie Yapelli is an artist who is inspired by brightly colored vintage images, and it shows in her work! Her generally light-hearted tattoos have wonderful color saturation, and almost do take you to another time.
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Furies Magazine: Were you always involved with art in some form? If so, what?
Evie Yapelli: Yeah, I always loved making art and crafts, ever since I was a little kid. I have artists in my family, including my great aunt, who was a professional illustrator and painter in Chicago. My mom would buy canvases and acrylic paints for my brothers and me to mess around with. In high school I took art classes, and I even considered going to art school, but I was afraid that it wasn’t practical. Plus, I never really felt like I was an artist, I felt more like I hung around artists. I ended up creating an art minor in college, but it was more art history than studio art. The painting I do now is all with india ink and watercolor, with classic tattoo flash techniques I learned from my master, Esther Garcia. I’ve honed my skills by watching my other mentor, Nuco (he owns Studio One in Chicago, and I spent some time assisting him during my apprenticeship).
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Furies Magazine: Please describe your Tattoo Journey.
Evie Yapelli: After college, I didn’t want to do anything that I was “qualified” to do. I really didn’t want to put on pantyhose and work in a traditional office, so I fell into some different jobs. First I worked at a flower shop, which sounds like it would be cool, but the people were awful. Then I was a chiropractic assistant, which I liked for a few years, but it was a total creative wasteland. During that time, I got my first tattoo (I was 25, a late bloomer), and I just sort of fell in love with old school tattoos. I started doodling tattoo ideas in my down time, things I might get one day, or just ideas I thought were interesting. Then one night I was talking to my mom and having my usual what-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life existential crisis, and I found myself saying, “The only thing I love is tattoos.” It hadn’t ever occurred to me before then that tattooing was a job I could pursue. Artsy family history aside, we were pretty straight-laced, and like I said, I’d never really thought of myself as an artist. But by then I was 27, and I decided that if tattoos were really the only thing I loved, it was worth a shot.
I kept quiet about my idea for a while, but every night after work I would sit with my husband while he watched TV and I would draw. Kevin has a BFA and has been a graphic designer and art director, and he was really awesome and supportive from the beginning. He gave me the idea of putting together a portfolio so I’d have something to show when I was looking for an apprenticeship. I spent about a year drawing, painting, and building up my courage, all the time researching tattoo artists whose work I admired. This was in the myspace days, and I found a lot of artists that way. Meanwhile, I started to tell people I knew about what I’d been up to, and one of the patients at the office where I worked told me about Esther and her private studio, Butterfat Studios, which was in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago at the time (now it’s in Logan Square). I looked up Esther’s work and loved it, and I also loved the idea of learning from a woman. By the time I was ready to contact artists, Esther had a note on her website that she was traveling outside the U.S., so I put her on the back burner and got in touch with a bunch of other people first. Some of them ignored me, a couple were nasty, and a few were really awesome to me but didn’t want to take on an apprentice. I was particularly discouraged by the time I checked Esther’s website again and saw that she was back in town. I already had an email to her sitting in my outbox, so I sent it off. She got back to me a couple days later, liked what I had to say and the examples I’d sent of my paintings, and she invited me to meet her for coffee and talk over the possibility of an apprenticeship. We started by just trying it out, and after about a month we made it official.
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Furies Magazine: Do you prefer to be called a tattooer or tattoo artist?
Evie Yapelli: I usually call myself a tattoo artist, mainly because I think that’s the term people are more familiar with.
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Furies Magazine: What is your favorite style to tattoo? / What inspires you/your work?
Evie Yapelli: Without question, my biggest influence is the Classic American style of tattooing. I’m totally charmed by bright, bold, sailor tattoos. My own style isn’t purely old school, though, it’s also heavily influenced by vintage illustration, and I love visual puns and things that are cute. Vintage greeting cards and ads are a really great resource for me, because they have a hokey sense of humor that I’m really into, like anthropomorphic animals and food mascots.
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Furies Magazine: Any piece of advice for that Tattoo Virgin?
Evie Yapelli: Find an artist whose work you love, bring them your idea, and be open to their knowledge and input.
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Furies Magazine: Any piece of advice for aspiring tattoo artists?
Evie Yapelli: If you don’t truly love it in and of itself, don’t bother. If you do love it and know it’s what you want, don’t listen to people who say you shouldn’t do it. I don’t really believe in paying for apprenticeships, not because it isn’t something valuable, but because the situations I’ve seen involve teachers who just want the money and will take on anyone whether they see potential or not. Find a master who’s as invested in you as you are in them, and respect the commitment they’re making. In the best case scenario, this is a lifelong relationship, and anyone worth learning from has heard a lot of assholes say they want to apprentice, and has probably been burned by a few of them. Don’t take it personally, just stick around and keep showing up.
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Furies Magazine: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Evie Yapelli: I have no idea. Less than a year ago I saw myself being at Butterfat for my entire career. Then my husband’s boss told him that their company was moving to Southern California, and my life suddenly felt pretty up in the air. It was a really hard decision to make, but eventually we saw that it wasn’t just an amazing opportunity for him, but for me too, and for so many reasons. So in ten years, I really can’t say where I’ll be, but I absolutely see myself continuing to tattoo. And, if I don’t end up back in Chicago, continuing to be a regular guest artist there at the very least.
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Furies Magazine: Evie is working to find a home base in her current home area, Southern California. Meanwhile, you can find her work and contact her at any of these links:
furiesmag.wordpress.com 