Cara Lee Houston, TX

My name is Cara, and I tattoo out of Advent Tattoo in Houston, TX! I have a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science and worked as a veterinary assistant for several years before switching careers. Now I’m known as the resident cat lady tattoo artist, and I love tattooing anything that’s animal or nature related!

Who/where do you get your inspiration from?

I get a lot of inspiration from just seeing other artists out there doing awesome work! I also like experimenting with different types of mediums to fuel my creativity and learn new techniques that I can apply back to tattooing.

What advice would you give to someone about getting his or her first tattoo? (A

tattoo virgin) Do your research beforehand to find an artist you like and can trust. After that, just try not to overthink it; as long as you like it, that’s all that matters!

Who are your favorite

artists? My mentor, Mike Woods, will always be an obvious one for me. His high-contrast color work is so bright and vivid it’s phenomenal. Mike Stockings is another unbelievable artist with his expert use of light source and color theory.

CARA LEE

1.5 Years

Tattooing

Houston, TX

Location

Independent Artist

Advent Tattoo

Shop

Animal portraits Neotraditional

Specialty

@caraleeart

Instagram

caratattoos

@yahoo.com Lastly, Aaron Springs is a fellow Houston artist I really admire. I love how much feeling/ personality he’s able to convey in his illustrations.

What was most intimidating when going into the tattoo

industry? I was really worried that I wouldn’t be taken seriously because of not having tattoos or being a woman in the industry. But I was determined to prove myself and show that I was willing to work for it. Luckily, I work with a super awesome group of artists, and the tattoo world has been very welcoming in my experience.

What has been the most surprising aspect

of tattooing? How personal the experience is between artists and clients. The fact that people trust me to put my art on them forever is so humbling. I’ve been so lucky to find literally the best clients that I was surprised to have grown so close to.

What is the most important advice you can give someone new to the art of tattooing?

The art of tattooing is a cruel bitch… it’s way harder than it looks. Focus on progress over perfection, and never stop learning! ✕