46 AMERICANWAY
JANUARY 1 2009
L A I N K
andworking at his own shop, Six Feet Un-
der.KimandHannaharedistinguishedvet-
eranswhohail fromChicago and specialize
inbold, colorful illustrativeworks.
“Faces andfigures are really fun; they of-
fer a lot of possibilities for light and color
and form. They become design elements in
themselves,”Hannah says.
Kim agrees. “This season, I got to do
a really funky Medusa head with a lot of
bright colors, verymuchmy style.”
he show, currently in its second
season, has heightened the de-
mand for theseartists’ services,but
thequalityofwork theydoand the
chemistry between them is their definition
of success.
AsIsitdownwithKat inheroffice,which
in contrast with the shop is a quiet sanctu-
ary, it’s quickly apparent that though she
has striking modelesque features, it’s her
warm, conversational nature that makes
her immediatelyappealing.
“I have these tattoo journals that I keep,
andafterI tattoosomeone, Iwritea littlebit
about them,” she says. “I’m trying to teach
myself to really listen and take as much
from the situationandwriteabout it.”
As we discuss the intimacy that goes
alongwith giving someone a tattoo, she al-
lowsme toflip throughoneof the journals.
“Theyare like littlebibles,”Kat says.
Eachone is handwrittenwith something
like aquill pen, whichmake sense as I scan
heroffice, adecidedlysingularplaceofbusi-
ness that resembles Beethoven’s lair. The
classical music playing in the background,
candles everywhere, and journals and
books lining the shelves makeme realize I
am standing ina trueartist’s studio.
Kat isextremelyclose toher family, and it
was her grandmotherwho turnedher on to
the arts and introducedher to theworks of
Ludwig vanBeethoven, which she immedi-
ately fell in lovewith. Exposed to thepunk-
rock scene as a teenager, she still counts
music as her number one inspiration. And
asmusical inspirations go, the natural me-
dium between Beethoven and Sid Vicious
canbe found in classic rock.
“To me, AC/DC is probably the world’s
best band,” she says. “They created a style,
which is
[
oneof
]
thehardest things todoas
anartist. So Igave the shopa lightning-bolt
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