Who Did Your Ink?: Nikki Weis commits to permanent change with work by local artist Camilla D'errico

Who Did Your Ink? is the Straight’s weekly feature, where we ask badass Vancouverites about the talented artists, indelible stories, and, at times, questionable antics behind their most treasured tattoos.

What's your name? Nikki Weis.

What do you do?  I'm an RMT (registered massage therapist) and I work in a bike shop part-time (Dunbar Cycles on Broadway across from Mountain Equipment Co-op). I've been an RMT for about one-and-a-half years and I love it.

The reason for the part-time bike shop job is because of my mountain-biking obsession. This job allows me to talk about bikes all day and get paid for it. Plus, I've made a bunch of new riding buddies.

Who did your ink?  Cohen Floch. We dated for about two-and-a-half years, and in that time, I acquired a bunch of his work which I love. The first tattoo I ever got from him was the Camilla D'errico piece, actually. That's how we initially met.

I've also been tattooed by Aaron Bell of Slave to the Needle in Seattle, and various other artists around Vancouver and the U.S., including both Jeremy Riley and Logan Morrison of Tattoo Union on Main and Broadway.

My latest tattoo experience was with Katie Shocrylas of Rain City Tattoo (1077 West Broadway). She's very well known in the tattoo world for her unique style (she's got 85,000 followers on Instagram), so I was lucky to get in with her. I'm very happy with how the avocado tattoo she did for me turned out.

Why did you choose these artists to do your tattoos?  I chose Cohen Floch to do my Camilla D'errico tattoo because I really liked his style and I thought that he'd be able to do a beautiful job of it. It turns out I was right. I had it done in February of 2012.

Is there any meaning behind it?  At the time, I was going through a lot. That year was particularly stressful and I was in the midst of a mutual breakup with my boyfriend of five-and-a-half years.

I felt a push to get more tattoos... I think because I felt like I was in a time of transition and reinvention of myself, so I wanted permanent change.

I chose the Camilla De'errico piece because I loved the image and I really like her work. I thought "Canadian Tiger" would make a beautiful tattoo.  

Who's your favourite local tattoo artist?  Jeremy Riley, Logan Morrison, Katie Shocrylas, Eckel, Dejan Furlan, and Ryan Halter.

What's next on your ink list?  I'd love to get a big thigh piece from Eckel. He does beautiful work.  

Camilla D’errico will be conducting a free artist demonstration at Opus Art Supplies (1360 Johnston Street, Granville Island) this Saturday (August 20) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Attendees will practise techniques from D’errico’s new how-to-paint book, Pop Painting, and learn about the pop surrealist art movement.

Registration for the event is required. For more information about the demonstration, or to reserve a spot, click here.