Finding her canvas

The steady buzz of a tattoo machine fills Soulfire Tattoo as Olivia "Liv" Desor leans over another piece, carefully wiping away fresh ink before studying the lines one more time.

For the Fort St. John artist, tattooing may still be new, but creating art certainly isn't. Long before she picked up a tattoo machine, Liv spent years sketching, painting and experimenting with everything from acrylics and oils to alcohol-based markers. Art was always part of who she was. Tattooing simply gave her another way to share it.

Making that jump from paper to skin, however, came with a learning curve. Unlike a painting, tattoos don't offer many second chances.

"If you screw up, it's stuck, right?" she said. "So I guess that's the most challenging part of it."

It's a challenge she's embraced over the past year as an apprentice under Cody Morin at Soulfire Tattoo, building confidence one client at a time while continuing to develop the style she hopes will eventually define her work.

If someone walked through the door tomorrow and asked her to create her dream tattoo, she already knows exactly what she'd choose. A realistic black-and-grey skull.

"I can draw like that, so I want to be able to tattoo like that," she said.

That goal has slowly started becoming reality. One of the larger pieces she's completed so far pushed her well outside her comfort zone, combining the detail and realism she's been working toward while forcing her to trust the skills she'd been developing.

"Honestly, this one was kind of scary to do," she said. "It was one of the first ones I did that was bigger and more detailed, but it turned out really well."

Another piece, a colour tattoo completed on one of her best friends, remains one of her favourites. It also taught her plenty about patience and restraint, lessons every apprentice learns while discovering how different skin responds to ink.

Those lessons have come in an environment she says has allowed her to develop naturally.

"It's just a very chill environment," she said. "I'm allowed to grow however I want."

That freedom has allowed Liv to focus less on trying to become another artist and more on becoming herself.

While the artwork continues to improve, she says it isn't always the tattoos she'll remember most, It's the people. Every appointment comes with a different story. Some clients arrive with a design they've admired for years. Others are marking a milestone, honouring someone they've lost or celebrating a new chapter in their lives.

For Liv, becoming part of those moments has become one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

Working in the Peace Region has only added to that experience.

"It’s such a small, close-knit community," she said. "You talk to people and you'll mention someone's name and they'll say, 'Oh, I went to school with them.' It's just crazy to make connections like that. It's fun."

Only a year into tattooing, Liv knows she's still learning.

There are larger pieces she wants to tackle, realistic work she hopes to become known for and techniques she'll continue refining with every client who sits in her chair. But watching her work, it's clear she isn't simply learning how to tattoo.

She's continuing a journey that started years ago with a pencil and a sketchbook.

The canvas has changed, but the artist hasn't.