Meet Ivanna Olivas | Tattoo artist &welder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ivanna Olivas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ivanna, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Work life balance is such a hard task for me. Being a tattoo artist means you are working 24/7. Constantly drawing for clients and booking people in is daily. I gave up my life completely to tattoo. My friendships, relationships and family were all affected. I’m very happy to be at shield maiden tattoo where I am in control of what I am doing 24/7. I am still in the process of learning how to manage myself, I am still overworking most days. Catching up on work on early mornings is what I am transitioning to. This helps me leave my afternoons to do last minute drawings if needed, doodle for myself, or just take the night off. Being on grind mode all day is preferred and finally when I’m home I can spend time with my loving partner, pets, friends or family. It is so important to have 1 day to do nothing. I like to give myself sundays for family and partner time . Mondays are work from home days and grind out a lot of drawings. If I can avoid booking myself 1-2 days a month then I have some space for myself to start painting again.
I want to be booked out for months, this will help me with a better life work balance. please feel free to always send me your ideas!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am still on a journey on finding my niche with tattooing. I enjoy black and grey,nature,creepy, black work and ornamental. I hope to keep a broad art style! It keeps my day to day very interesting. I am very proud of myself for not giving up. There has been many times in my career where I wanted to quit and work at a plant nursery. Becoming a tattoo artist was a dream since I was 14 years old and I wasn’t going to stop until i reached my goal. I constantly worked on my portfolio when I was in high school. I made all of my school projects/PowerPoints/presentations about tattooing. I read about tattoo history and this is what kept me in school. Many teachers knew my plans and I’m so lucky to have support from them. Years later I’ve tattooed 2 of my favorite teachers! I took many classes related to economics, anatomy, and art. I rarely had art. Classes but i would go to local studios in boulder to keep learning. Once I was 18 i visited many shops in the area until I found somewhere to be. During the first 3 years In the industry I worked 2-3 jobs to help support myself while being a full time apprentice. I lived Pay check to pay check but as long as I kept progressing it was worth it. Once I started tattooing I was finally able to have a break from multiple jobs and in all honesty being committed to one thing is very difficult for me. I like to work. I enjoy getting further and further into my future. I unfortunately went through a long period of being overworked and overwhelmed. Even then I managed to send myself to welding school for 9 months to avoid burn out while burning myself out. Although it made me have 14 hour days Welding gave me something new to learn that would also help me in my tattooing career. Everything I do is to fulfill all of my crazy dreams. Being a tattoo artist is a lifestyle and I hope to learn how to manage my personal/ and work life better. I over came discouragement while learning from anyone I could. I was fortunate to be introduced to many amazing artists throughout my apprenticeship. I got great advice from an artist that constantly was creating. he would paint almost every single day. I aspire to be like him. He told me to always put art first. You only become a better artist the more you create. Along the way I learned that I can devote myself to art but I must leave room for myself. I went through a lot of hard ships the past few years and I’ve had to make many decisions to make myself a priority. I lost friendships I hope I can get back someday. For now I know I am important and all I can do is my best each day. I want the world to know that I am a safe place for you. I will always hear you out. I will listen to your story, make you laugh, help you heal, and be your friend. I’ve felt lonely most of my life and I love connecting with my clients and hearing the latest tea. I want my clients to adorn their bodies and learn to love themselves every time they see a new decoration on their beautiful body.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I was born and raised in Boulder. Most of my favorite places are because of my childhood. I would say Going on a hike is number one. There’s a beautiful crazy long hike a few hours away, if they would like the challenge. It is called Hanging lake. That would lead us into staying in the mountains a day or two and then going to Strawberry hot springs would be ideal. It is such a beautiful outdoor hot spring! It is worth the drive and a good activity after a day of hiking.I would also Take them to oddities stores. I recently went to The Learned Lemur. It also has a tattoo shop upstairs but they have super cool oddities ! After looking at dead things, going to a plant store with more dead thing is next. There is so many plant nurseries but a fun one I like is The Terrorium Shop. You can build a little or large terrarium. They have may bugs, bone, crystals, and of course plants. During the slow days I would have a day indoors/ home to paint and do some crafts. As well as visit my favorite dispensary’s one is magnolia rd. I wouldn’t let them leave without seeing Pearl st mall and ‘the view’’.I love to visit into the wind every time I’m at pearl street, although is a store for kids there are sooo many amazing toys. Lastly Finding a concert to go to would be amazing, especially if it is a redrocks show! I then would Convince them to let me tattoo them on the last day . Unfortunately through the trip I would still work a few days. or manage emails. My work never ends but it would give them time to explore on their own aswell !

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to shout out Jaycie baca. She is an amazing piercer! Jaycie is my closest friend and someone who has supported me since I’ve started. She helped me get an apprenticeship, stuck through the good and bad times. We have the same life goals and having a friend that understands you inside and out makes such a difference in life. Personal and work life! She means the world to me and I wouldn’t be where I am without her. We continue to day dream about our life goals. We are both very ambitious and want to get better at what we do all of the time.
Jaycie has been in the industry for 9 years. She works extremely hard to be the best at what she does. She’s taught me the importance of continuing. She is not just a piercer. She is a gemologist, an esthetician, permanent makeup artist , and a ray of sunshine. She also makes rave clothing / accessories with her dear friends , company is called Moonfox outpost.
Thanking my mom to never shutting down my ideas when I was a teen and would tell me she’s happy if I’m happy. She would go with me to shops when I was a minor to ask questions and try to get me a front desk job. She was with me when shops gave me feed back and when some shut me down completely. She also took me to conventions to continue helping me research everything I could about the industry.
It makes a difference when you just want to see your loved ones happy.

Website: https://www.shieldmaidentattoo.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/inkvanna?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

Image Credits
All tattoos are done by me. One drawing is a digital and the other is a graphite drawing by me