International tattoo artist Mario Gregor finds home in Northland

Tattooist Mario Gregor and fibre artist Ceara Lile have set up a private studio in Kerikeri. Photo / Jenny Ling

Northland’s natural beauty and diverse flora and fauna have drawn an artistic couple to the region.

After more than a decade of tattooing in Aotearoa and overseas, most recently in Featherston, internationally recognised tattoo artist Mario Gregor and his partner Ceara Lile have set up a private studio in Kerikeri.

Gregor, from former Czechoslovakia, is known for his vibrant colour tattoos of native birds, flowers, and human and animal portraits, while Lile works as a fibre artist, using natural pigment from plants to print leaf patterns onto silken wool.

The creative couple decided to open the studio after a motorbike trip around the Far North in 2018.

Lile also has ties to the North; her grandparents lived in Mangonui during their retirement, and she spent many happy holidays with them as a child.

One of Mario Gregor’s vibrant tattoos etched onto a Northlander’s skin.

“That’s why we wanted to come back – and for the warmth,” Gregor said.

“When I moved to New Zealand, I told myself I didn’t move to an island to live far away from the sea.”

Born in Czechoslovakia during the communist regime, Gregor initially studied mechanical engineering because of societal expectations.

Artists Ceara Lile and Mario Gregor are loving life in Northland. Photo / Jenny Ling

It wasn’t until he moved to New Zealand in 2005, initially to pick fruit in Hawke’s Bay, that he began to follow his passion – art.

Gregor started tattooing in 2012 and in 2015 opened The Gallery Custom Tattoo in Wellington.

That was followed by a studio in Featherston where the couple worked side-by-side; Gregor tattooing, and Lile selling her range of eco-friendly fashion pieces.

Since he started tattooing, Gregor has amassed numerous international and domestic awards, including best new artist and popular vote awards in Singapore, best black and grey realistic tattoo in Christchurch, and best colour large tattoo in Tauranga.

Mario Gregor is well known for his vibrant colour tattoos of native birds, flowers and portraits.

He has also attended tattoo conventions around the world including Vietnam, China, the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The pair moved to Kerikeri in April.

The studio - called Konstantin Studio in honour of Gregor’s grandfather in Slovakia - is touted as a “calm, creative environment where clients enjoy one-on-one, full-day tattoo experiences in a peaceful setting”.

“There are so many birds around; it’s exciting to be more self-sufficient in finding my own references,” Gregor said.

Gregor is doing more portraits as customers want images of their loved ones inked onto their skin, while Lile is creating stitched collages and wall hangings.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said.

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and animal welfare issues.