Light Rae
I’ve been tattooing for 7 years. I started in February of 2017 while living in Richmond, VA and explored machine work for about a year before settling on hand-poke in 2018. I moved out to Oregon in 2019 to pursue my tattoo career and after a year in Portland I moved to Salem where I attended Ink Theory Tattoo School in 2022 and was licensed in October of that year. In school I learned more about machine tattooing and quickly fell in love with the medium. Most of my work is done with the machine now, but I still offer hand-poke as it’s my first love and can be a gentler sensory experience for some clients.
I am trauma-informed and I have experience working with a wide variety of body types, skin tones, and accessibility needs, and my practice is heavily focused on catering to folks whose needs and experiences are largely ignored by many tattoo artists. I want to create a community of trust between artist and client. Tattooing is not just about the image, it’s about the experience, the trust, and the energy that is cultivated in the moment. Your tattoo experience lasts a lifetime. I want to provide you with beautiful art and a memory to look back on with joy. Tattooing is more than the culture of pain and toxic masculinity that colonialism breeds. My studio is a safe place, your needs will be met and you will be seen.
I offer both machine and hand-poke tattoos, in flash, custom, and freehand designs.
For machine work I use a battery powered rotary machine with a bluetooth foot pedal, so no pesky cords to fiddle with. When looking for machines I prioritize being able to hear and communicate with my clients and It’s very quiet compared to most machines, there’s no overwhelming rattling that most people think of when they imagine tattoo machine sounds. For hand-poke i use bar needles attached to a tongue depressor for grip. The sound of hand-poke is a small “click click click” it can be very meditative and it causes less damage to the skin overall which results in faster healing times but does take longer overall.
Tattooing for me and my clients feels like more often than not, a therapy session and energy work.
I am claircognizant, which means I know things without knowing why. most of the time that shows up during my sessions with guidance, wisdom, and vulnerability. I channel messages easily when I’m tattooing, and can tap into my clients energy fields and give them the clarity or wisdom they need to solve a problem or move forward with confidence. I tend to attract people with very similar experiences to me, and by sharing parts of myself, I can help them by showing them a story of love or survival or tenacity or patience or whatever they need to hear in that moment.
I believe that I offer something more than just a tattoo session: I offer a healing session, shadow healing, a transmutation of pain and sorrow, and overall just a really good time!
I find a lot of my clients have very negative experiences attached to some of their tattoos, whether due to an abuse of the tattooer’s power or not being able to speak up in the session for what they really wanted. I am here to offer a juxtaposition to those kinds of experiences. I want to transmute that pain for you. I want to show you how healing and beautiful tattooing is and can be. I want to be kind to you, and ask for consent every step of the way. I want to show the world that tattooing is not just about “being tough and taking the pain”, but rather how we show up for ourselves and how much more we deserve. It’s about healing and memory and releasing trauma we store in the body. It’s about loving ourselves deeply, it’s about change, it’s about taking your power back. It’s about you.
“The body keeps the score” is a phrase that, as a tattooer, shows up time and time again. The marks we make on our bodies is a prime example. You will always remember where you got your first tattoo — who you were with, how you felt, how you feel now when you look at it. Now think of a time you scraped your knee as a kid — you probably wailed and screamed. Now, you can look down at your scar and remember that hurt and pain, but you can also remember your mom patching you up and taking care of you. You remember that care and kindness. The experiences we have are stored in our bodies for us to recall over and over again. I have tattoos that bring up my kindest memories and tattoos that bring up my worst ones. The person we choose to have ink our skin, to experience that pain and healing with, stays with us forever.
I want you to know that you have the power to make choices when you get tattooed. If something feels wrong, listen to your gut and trust yourself. I am here to facilitate that for you. If you need the stencil placed 10 different times I will never be upset about making sure your needs are met, and I will thank you for standing up for yourself in that moment. If you have an accommodation that needs to be met, you can be sure that I will do everything in my power to make you comfortable. It brings me infinite love and gratitude to be able to do this work. If you do choose to get tattooed by me, I will provide a beautiful experience and and a safe space for you to thrive and love your body in.
I am a joy bringer and an earth angel. We are all spiritual beings having a human experience.