The Monday Q&A: Shania Thomas on all things tattoos

Shania Thomas began tattooing in her final year of school and has been working at Flaming Art Tattoo on and off since. Photo / Logan Tutty

Every Monday, the Chronicle fires 10 questions at a Whanganui local to find out what makes them tick.

This week Logan Tutty caught up with Flaming Art Tattoo's Shania Thomas.

When were you first exposed to tattoos and what was it about them that piqued your interest?

The first time I went to a tattoo shop was when I was five years old and I went with my mum and her friend.

She got a little tattoo on her chest and I was just looking through the racks there and just thought it was so cool you could have a picture on you forever.

The concept was just crazy.

How old were you when you got your first tattoo?

Sixteen. I convinced my mum to get a tattoo, I probably shouldn't have done that.

It is a really ugly symbol on my wrist and nobody knows what it is, so probably should have rethought that one.

When did it become apparent that tattooing would become a career for you?

Probably when I got my first tattoo. It seemed like watching it that it wouldn't be hard, but it wasn't until I started doing it that I realised how hard it is.

That day I got my first tattoo I kind of knew what I was getting up to.

Do you have any funny or strange stories from some of the tattoos you have given to people?

The weirdest one I have had is just funny joke ones.

We have a friend who likes to come in and he always asks me if I'll tattoo a name into his ass cheek. But that is about as crazy as it has been.

How would you describe your personal tattoo style?

I try to be pretty versatile because we get so many different people coming in, you want to be able to do as much as you can so you can help every person.

But I like to do portraits and flowers, nice flattering tattoos. If you can nail that kind of art, it really helps with all the other art.

If you could sit down with anyone in the world and give them a tattoo, who would you choose?

I really don't know actually. It would be pretty cool if Stan Walker came into the shop and say hi.

He's local and he has some nice Māori designs. He would be a cool local celebrity to do. I think he is great. I saw him at the Rutland once and he was cool as.

If you weren't a tattoo artist, what do you think your job would be?

I would probably be a special effects artist. Something involving big movies like Lord of the Rings doing all the crazy makeup.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

When I first start tattooing, I wish I really threw myself into it. I was quite hesitant because it was quite hard. I just wish I put a bit more effort into it then. That's alright, I'm trying as hard as I can now.

What are some of your favourite things about Whanganui and how do you like to spend your spare time?

I love Whanganui. I think it is so quiet and peaceful and everyone is friendly wherever you go.

I love taking my dogs out and walking all around Castlecliff and along the river. It is so beautiful.

If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you choose?

Probably somewhere in Europe, somewhere there is some castles. Go and do some exploring. We take a lot of things for our art, a lot of it is incorporated. If you look around the store and all the designs, you see old ships and historic pieces. We get lots of people who come in who want celtic pieces, Egyptian themes, oriental Japanese. If you don't pay attention to what happened back then, your art will never be progressive. You take so much from the old.