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The Ultimate Honor: Sharing Her Art Through Tattoos
Kris Evans has enjoyed creating art for as long as she can remember. After deciding to pursue art as a career, Evans completed an associate degree in art at Lake Land College, and she now works as a tattoo artist at Vintage Karma in Tuscola.
Before working as a tattoo artist, Evans enjoyed creating paintings such as pet portraitsor murals. However, Evans said she had wanted to pursue a career as a tattoo artist for a while.
“I just think it’s so cool to have people walking around with your art on them,” Evans said. “I feel like that’s the ultimate honor, putting your art on someone’s body.”
Evans praised the art program at Lake Land, saying it was obvious that the instructors are very knowledgeable in their fields.
“Jodi and Ben make an amazing art department,” Evans said. “They have such a well-rounded program, especially for having the students for such a short amount of time. I learned a ton from them, everything from color theory to ceramics and everything in between.”
During her time at Lake Land, Evans received the Walter and Lola Stevenson Cole Endowed Scholarship and the LauraTraue Scholarship, and she said these made all the difference in her path to success.
“Receiving scholarships is what allowed me to go to school and get my associate degree, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have gone,” Evans said. “My scholarships were the difference between me being able to attend school while working full time, and not going at all.”
As for the stigma surrounding the tattoo industry, Evans said it is important to remember “Some tattoos have specific meanings, and some don’t, it just depends on the person,” Evans said. “Regardless, you can’t let people hurt your feelings. Ultimately it’s a very unique, personal experience.” Evans credited much of her success to her experience at Lake Land and offered some advice to current and future art program students.
“I love Lake Land. Honestly, I have been to a lot more expensive schools, and I got a lot more out of my time at Lake Land,” Evans said. “My advice to students, especially in the art program, would be to be receptive of critique. You wouldn’t be there if you didn’t want to be better.”
