Meet Lora Bird | Resident Artist and Owner of Nest Art Collective

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

Hi Lora, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Compassion. I really think that no matter what I do in life, or how far I take this business, the most important thing to me is meeting people where they’re at to make sure they have the best possible experience. Understanding that every single human you meet is really going through it right now is the key to building that relationship with clients. Making any possible accommodations, meeting someone in the middle if they’re struggling, and responding with kindness even after you yourself had a really bad day sometimes feels like all we can do to make the world a little easier to live in. I sincerely think that shedding any attitude and being open, honest, and compassionate with clients is why I am where I am today. I meet my humans where they’re at, and they meet me.

What should our readers know about your business?
Nest is literally my child, an idea I had not long after I began tattooing. It became clear to me early on in my career that I craved safety ad privacy for my tender mental health while working. I think it’s so important to treat tattooing as a sacred act, and each client deserves to feel as comfortable as possible in an already uncomfortable situation. The magic of tattooing is that it can be so healing. It can allow the person to reclaim parts of their own physical experience that may have been taken from them due to illness, assault, or other trauma. It is a pain that they’re in control of, and I want to give them as much control as possible. It’s so important to have a great relationship with your tattooer, be able to ask questions, feel vulnerable but safe, and take as much time as you need to get through the procedure. Everyone that works at Nest has their own unique experience to bring to the table, and we are all committed to bettering ourselves as artists and honoring the vulnerability that each client brings to us.

Getting here was not easy. I began working at 15 to support myself, and exited the service industry after a decade of having two or more jobs at any time. Tattooing has been such a lifesaver for me. While it seems glamorous and fun, I have never worked harder for anything in my life. In addition to learning this skill, overcoming the anxiety that comes with it, and always pushing to learn and do more, there are cultural and industrial norms that are pushing back all along the way. I think of learning to tattoo as Sisyphus physically climbing the mountain, and all the negative junk that comes along with being a young, AFAB tattooer as the boulder.

I’ve learned countless lessons along the way, the top 3 most important being:
1. Overcoming anxiety. It’s always worth it to do the hard and scary thing, even if it’s more work than you’re sure you can handle.
2. Setting boundaries. Protecting yourself is hard, and as women we are often ask to make exceptions or bend the rules, sacrificing our own comfort to make room for others. Tattooing has taught me that I deserve to take up my space and be comfortable while I’m working. I’m still working to extend this to my every day life outside of my booth.
3. Community and compassion are the most important. I literally couldn’t be here without my fabulous clients, and they wouldn’t know about me if I wasn’t extremely open and honest with them all the time. It’s been so rewarding to allow myself to become soft and vulnerable. In return, all the amazing humans in my life have stepped forward and returned the favor and been so supportive and lovely to me as I move through this journey.

I want the world to know that our brand IS compassion. If you walk into a tattoo shop and feel uncomfortable, you can leave. If your artist makes you feel weird, you can leave. If you don’t feel comfortable enough to ask questions about a procedure that’s happening to YOUR body, you can leave! You have the right to feel safe and secure while you’re getting art. If something that is done because of tradition makes you feel icky, you’re allowed to ask why and challenge those norms. We all should be every day.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I always recommend Casa Bonita, the Denver Film Society, Meow Wolf, Red Rocks, and Bishop’s Castle to people when they visit! If you’re looking for great food in Denver, I recommend Fire on the Mountain, Atomic Cowboy, Pepper Asian Bistro, Parisi, La Cocinita, and the Spice Room. For shopping, I love all the spots along South Broadway, Ritualcravt, Fashionation, and BookBar. If you want a list of cool old cemeteries in Colorado let me know. I want to give that information privately to ensure the spaces and nature that surrounds them are treated respectfully, but I love cemeteries.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The wonderful group of Nesties (Nest+Besties) that has gathered together to make the collective possible! In no particular order, Izzy Bump, Krista Bratvold, Lilith Cuoio, Russ Apell, Mikayla Riles, Quin Galloway, Sadie Trigg, Kylie Patterson, Jake Boes, and Emerald Boes are absolutely the backbone of this idea.

I can dream all I want, but this amazing group of artists and geniuses has blended together in such a magical way. I adore them all individually and as a collective and am so grateful to have a team behind me that I can trust so fully. I could gush for hours about why they’re all so great, but feel free to check out their arts and practices on Instagram to really see how the magic of this place has been formed out of their hard work and compassion.

Instagram: instagram.com/nest.art.co

Facebook: Nest Art Collective

Other: Izzy Bump : instagram.com/isabump Lilith Cuoio: instagram.com/lilztatz Kritsa Bratvold: instagram.com/kristamarietattoos Mikayla Riles: instagram.com/mikriles Russ Apell: instagram.com/erratic_era Quin Galloway: instagram.com/stinkerinkin Sadie Trigg: instagram.com/satchel.ink Kylie Patterson: instagram.com/luminaryesthetics Jake and Emerald Boes (HORRID Magazine): instagram.com/horridmag Lora Bird: instagram.com/honestbird

Image Credits
All were taken by the artists themselves.