Ali is the creator of the Instagram community @jews.withtattoos After starting the page she quickly gained a following, and as people started requesting guidance on finding Jewish tattoo artists, she created a spreadsheet to help artists and clients connect. You can find that spreadsheet linked to the above mentioned Instagram page, Jews With Tatto…

One of the perks of being a tattoo artist is the freedom of movement one can take advantage of. There are shops everywhere these days. Conceivably, that means that as a tattooist you can go anywhere and temporarily live and work there. I've known of people who didn't live in any one place but just continuously went from guest spot to guest spot for…

How do I go and tattoo when I feel meh? Because I, and many of us, maybe all of us feel "meh" a lot in the face of responsibility. You can love your job very much, have it be the perfect fit for you and still feel like doing nothing when you wake up. So how do I get over the malaise and do it anyway? How do I output creatively when I feel empty? I …

I met Skeeter Barker at her queer community yoga classes in the Mission circa 2007 or 8, and fell in love with her immediately. A strong, heavily tattooed, older butch in loose fitting cargo shorts and tank, with sparkling eyes, glasses, a British accent, and a gentle yet firm style of teaching, she was unlike any other yoga teacher I'd met before.…

Sit with me while I admit a deep dark little tattoo artist secret. I have feelings about it when my long term clients go to someone else. I don't know if this term has been used before, but I say Polytattery refers to clients getting work done by several tattoo artists in the same time period. It can be awkward for us both if you don't say anything…

White ink has been around as long as I have been tattooing, but I am getting way more questions about it in the last few years than ever before. In this episode I will answer all of the most frequently asked questions I get about white ink tattoos: how white ink works, why people may want to get them, other applications of white ink in tattoo art, …

Ayden Love is a total Love. I met Ayden in my tattooing studio when a good friend of mine brought her to get tattooed by me. I put a matching set of tattoos on the two of them. One for "Daddy" and one for "babygirl". And if you know me, you know how happy that made me. I love ritual. I love relationships. I love overt power exchange. I love tattoos…

This episode is equally meant for those who want to know the nitty gritty of tattoo healing and care and those who just like to hear me drone on in the background. Here I describe both, first, what I call the old school traditional way of caring for a fresh tattoo and second, the wet method. I get into the products I like to have my clients use, in…

This episode is the result of my recent excitement about a few tattoos I've put my whole soul into. I've been looking for my personal tattoo style for so long, and considering that maybe I never need to find a niche, that doing it all was my thing (not unlike Beyoncé), that I was a little astounded when I realized that doing "weird" detailed color …

I started this podcast to show off the absolute gems of humans I get to tattoo and interact with on a regular basis. I am a very very very lucky person. Karin is one of those people. I have been tattooing big gorgeous detailed artful realistic flowers on her for about two years. Our conversations range from the personal/political to the intimately …

For me, turning the big 4-0 comes with its share of introspection. But today's episode is rather the other side of the moon (or the coin) of last week's episode, "Ep. 65: A Few, Namely Five, Reasons I Love Being A Tattoo Artist". Today I tell you five reasons being a self employed tattoo artist can be challenging. I'd say these are the most annoyin…

I pushed through my hormonal sh*tstorm to come at you with some gratitude. Namely five reasons I love being a tattoo artist. For the full discussion listen of course, and for the short summary peep below: 1. The connections/conversations with my clients. 2. Self determined schedule. 3. Honing my craft, every day into forever. 4. I get to create the…

Have you ever felt the stir of a familiar yet unplaceable memory, or the pull of a connection that transcends your current life? Well, strap in, because we're embarking on an odyssey into past life regression hypnosis, just a little skill I picked up in the past few weeks. I will tell you what Past Life Regression is, how it can help a human discov…

The world of queer tattoo artists is pretty small; made smaller by the internet. From starting to follow her on IG, I have always felt a kinship with Caitlin Cordell, as her statements -- political and social, in instagram stories and captions always felt resonant to me. And her tattoo art is captivating. The thing I didn't know about Caitlin is ho…

I've found that in the face of overwhelming global chaos, it's the small, steadfast beacons in our lives that offer us much-needed stability. As the world is crumbling around us, as people are being brutally murdered in several genocides in several countries, I find myself pretty f'n down. Sometimes I stop and breathe in the middle of a freak out, …

Caitlin Hackett is a soft spoken (though not shy), very very talented, freshly minted tattoo artist at Old Crow Tattoo in Oakland, CA, who has already lived a whole career in the tough world of fine art. Life brought changes, as it does, and Caitlin moved into learning how to tattoo in early 2023. I met Caitlin last year at her shop where she was s…

Don't forget to stop and smell the puppies. Just a little ramble on the topic of appreciating the journey, not just the destination. Slower, my friend. You can connect with me, Micah Riot, as well as see my tattoo art on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/micahriot/ Micah's website is www.micahriot.com The podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout but tr…

When I saw Bella's e-mail I felt a sparkle. About a month later she entered the studio for our in- person consultation and color test. Ten minutes in I knew we would become friends. Sometimes people have just the sense of humor that feels like a warm steamy shower on a cool day, and quirks you immediately adore. Add some Eastern European roots for …

Are you a reader? I hope so. This episode is all about every book I read in 2023. There were 22 of them and here are my mini reviews. I tell you details. Whether I read the book or listened to it, how I found it, whether I loved it or left it. There was a lot of poignant coming of age novels with queer POC female protagonists, a lot of memoirs, mos…

A little personal update for you, since the start to my year has been a little frazzled with a lack of my usual routine due to too many fun plans. In this episode I talk about my early year travels and then some hopes for the coming year: Sayler's apprenticeship, my reading plans, my big birthday, my sticker making career, and my wishes to get bett…

As the year wraps up I like to look back upon it with grateful eyes. I like to look back through the photos in my phone (piling up in the tens of thousands), and remember the people I have met and the work I did on most of the new people I'd met. I like to appreciate all of the ways in which this year was sweet to me, all the things that happened t…

This is Ink Medicine's second to last episode of the year! And I interview Amy Zager. I've been hearing her name and seeing her work for years, and finally we meet. Amy does incredibly bright and colorful and dynamic work (think Lisa Frank in the 90's!). I see her work on my clients and I see my clients in her chair. We have complimentary styles th…

If you have ever wished to know more about me, Micah Riot, your wishes have come true. My best friend of fifteen years, Andi Smiles, takes over the podcast, hosts this episode and interviews me for a change. And honestly y'all, it was one of my very favorite nights in recent memory. It's intense and beautiful to hear your best friend tell you how t…

This is the second half of the best ever conversation I had with James-Olivia Chu Hillman, whom I had the absolute honor to meet through the wild ass internet. They share with me how they became a personal trainer having never worked out before, how they feel about beauty and aging, and aging beauty; how they want to transform their body of tattoo …

Here we are. In Episode 52, on just about the one year anniversary of Ink Medicine Podcast, when I get the chance to interview one of my spiritual mentors about gender as fruit, spicy food and how it relates to being kinky, wearing strap-ons, being cerebral vs. being embodied, identity labels and various perspectives on them, being a beautiful bouq…

Happy Anniversary to me and Mama Aya! In November of 2021 I flew to Tulum, Mexico to have one of the most profound experiences of my life. I had been learning about Ayahuasca and yearning to drink her medicine for a decade by that point. I wanted to have my first experience and I knew that it had to find me. I had to be patient. In late September o…

From early shop flash days to custom work only and currently back to flash, I am staying with my own stuff. I love to do pieces that span the body, take time, and make you love yourself more. As tattoo artists, and just humans, as everything shifts around us, we have to figure out how to stay afloat. The tattoo industry, social media and economy ar…

Our talks took us from the tattoo shop of ten plus years ago, where we created powerful imagery to reflect her biggest losses and loves, through a painful battle with terminal illness, and now, a tireless fight to reunite with her kidnapped son, Zahrar. Earlier this year I finally reconnected with this dear client and friend, whose indomitable spir…

In this episode I, Micah Riot, talk to you about the profound connections and sense of community forged through the intimate act of tattooing. I can tell you from my own experiences, the bond created during those hours of shared vulnerability, artistic creation, and mutual trust is as indelible as the tattoos themselves. From the excitement of atte…

Today, I'm presenting you with a conversation with Megan Lowe, a Bay Area dancer, choreographer, performer, aerialist, singer, songwriter, filmmaker, teacher, and administrator of Chinese and Irish descent. A couple of weeks ago, my partner and I attended a Megan Lowe Dances performance. It was at the ODC Theater and it was called Gathering Pieces …

After tattooing for fifteen years, I have noticed that often people feel like their reasons for getting tattooed are somehow less valid than others'. (Or sometimes more valid.) People often feel like they are "uncool" or "dorky" for having their reasons. I am here to say that we are all just trying to feel at home in our bodies. One way we do that …

Sayler came into my life about a year and a half ago though I'd been hearing her name for much much longer than that. This fall we are starting the journey of her tattoo apprenticeship and we are both as ready as can be. I've been waiting for her for a while. Well not her exactly... but someone just like her. Curious, layered, brilliant, committed …

I've been talking about color tests with my clients because lately I have had a few folks with deeper skin tones wanting colorful abstract pieces and a few with autoimmune conditions who wanted to dip just a toe into the experience of getting tattooed to see how their skin would react. Listen in if you want to know why someone might want a color te…

Shannon Home (doesn't she sound so cozy?) creates illustrative blackwork tattoos for the odd and peculiar, with a style that lands at the intersection of fairy tales and ghost stories. Her work is mostly, almost entirely black ink. It is intricate, contrasting, stark, and absolutely stunning. Shannon and I connected on Instagram when I randomly cam…

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to reconsider something in the industry I always took as a given. A new friend was telling me about her fabulous tattoo artist, someone I'd like to see as well and mentioned that the artist does not take tips. I was surprised, then thoughtful, then in action. Effective immediately I no longer accept tips for my w…

Tristan Crane would like to be a heavily tattooed person. They would love to have a collection of tattoos from all of their favorite queer iconic tattooists all around the globe, but besides money and time Tristan is currently limited by a chronic auto immune condition. Psoriasis affects about 125 million people world wide, or about 2 to 3 percent …

I haven't done one of these in a little while so I thought I would, since my next interview just isn't ready for your ears yet! On this episode I will: 1. celebrate my first ever giveaway, share the reviews that won (incidentally) and what those folks wish to have as their prizes. 2. give you a little preview of what's to come this fall on the Pod.…

Everyone who has visible tattoos has heard "Does it hurt?" from both curious strangers and close friends and family alike. In fact we hear that question more than any other. As a tattoo artist I also get "where does it hurt the most?" just as often. In this episode of Ink Medicine I attempt to answer that question, as well as offer tips on how to m…

I met Natasha many years ago when she came to me as a client. The next time I saw her was at Old Crow, under the tutelage of Hannah Wolf (link to Hannah's episode on Ink Medicine below). Very recently Natasha opened her private studio in the heart of the Dogpatch neighborhood, two blocks from the best coffee in town. I met her there on a sunny Sund…

I couldn't be more grateful for the surge of reviews that's been pouring in lately, and yes, you have two ish more weeks to get yours in. For every ten reviews I will pull one random winner. The more reviews the more winners! The rewards? One-hour of tattoo time with yours truly or a unique piece of jewelry, co-designed with your input. You could i…

Meet Kinky Barbie, the queer, kinky, polyam, switch, witchy bundle of snakes in a thong, who embodies her life on her own terms. Barbie lays out her journey with body modification and her perspective on it as a form of self-care. You'll hear some of the sparkliest stories from our ten plus year long friendship. Polyamory, growing up in the South, s…

Do you have to be great at drawing to become a successful tattoo artist? Spoiler alert: No, you don't! Let's unravel this commonly asked question, as I, Micah Riot, share my personal journey art journey from being a kid taking casual painting classes to becoming a professional tattoo artist with no formal art school education. 1. Art skills can be …

Judy Jaramillo Argumedo first came to me in 2009, when I was just out of my apprenticeship and starting out my career. Fourteen years later I am tattooing this powerhouse of a woman regularly. During these years she has become the principal of a school, after decades of being a teacher. Out in the world she is known for visiting the homes of her st…

Count down with me as I, your host, Micah Riot, spill the ink on some of the biggest Tattoo Artist Pet Peeves. Well... for me, anyway. I can't speak for all of us. Number ten is that one time somebody asked me to make change for the cash they brought to pay with. Sorry, I don't keep a stocked register. I can see why you thought I might, but I don't…

Carina and I started working on a larger project last week. Almost right as we started working together, she told me she used to tattoo. I had so many questions but held them all so we could have that conversation on the record. I love tattooing so much and am always curious about people's journeys in (and out) of this life. If you are also curious…

Listen in as I share some personal updates regarding decisions I've made. I'll also be taking you through a heartfelt review from one of our listeners that deeply moved me and further affirmed why I am so proud of this podcasting journey I've been undertaking for the past eight months. The second half of the episode takes us on an exploration of th…

Part Two is live! This is the second half of my deep AF conversation with my new tattoo bestie (don't worry, Wolf, you are still my OG tattoo bestie!) Sarah Sun (https://www.instagram.com/sun.medicine/ ) of Balm Tattooing ((https://www.instagram.com/balmtattooing/ ). We tell each other stories of notable tattoo clients and sessions (with privacy in…

Some weeks ago I posted about a podcast episode I just released. Sarah commented. I didn’t know who she was so I went to look at her profile and immediately became obsessed with her positionality, her perspective and her art. I wanted to know anything and everything she was willing to share about her life and career. It is rare that I encounter tat…

Here is a little reference episode for all you newbs to getting tattooed. I will tell you how to plan the week of your appointment, and what to eat, how to dress, what to bring the day of. If you want this kind of info, I am so very happy to provide. You can connect with me, Micah Riot, as well as see my tattoo art on Instagram at https://www.insta…

I was asked and I shall answer! This episode is about my journey to having my own business, or more accurately, my own shop. Up until very recently most tattoo artists were self employed and renting chairs at shops. California law changed and now most people "renting chairs" are employees of the business. For me it was a long and fairly organic pro…