Conversations with Lourdes Stephanie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lourdes Stephanie.

Lourdes, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up being the youngest and only girl out of my siblings made me spend lots of alone time. All that alone time lead me to run my imagination wild. My creativity and artistry stem all the way back to my childhood. As I got older, my passion for creating grew. I always knew that when I got older I would work in a creative field, I just knew it was my calling. However, I would’ve never thought it would be tattooing! Negative circumstances during my high school years led me to struggle and drop out of school. I felt like I let my mother down, the guilt weighed on me. I was lost and depressed with life and didn’t know in which way to turn.

Until one day I attended a Friday the 13th event at a tattoo shop that was owned by a woman. Immediately it inspired me to want to learn how to tattoo. I spent a year saving up on my Starbucks barista change to buy my tattoo equipment. I invested my time and money into learning the craft from sanitation to the science of tattooing. I used youtube as my leverage (youtube university). I soaked up as much knowledge from other professional artists. With consistency, pure focus, and passion, I am now here as a self-taught afro-Latina traveling tattoo artist from The Bronx, New York successfully living her dreams.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Indeed getting to where I’m at was not as smooth sailing as it may seem from the outside looking in. I went through all types of emotions at the start of my journey. I can’t count how many times I almost thought of giving up.

The biggest mistake that I would do is to compare myself to other artist work until I realized that everybody moves at their own pace. Every artist is unique, there’s no right way to do art, however you create art as your ART. That’s the beauty of being an artist.

When I first started I would get so nervous before a tattoo appointment with a new client. The thought of marking their skin for life and if they are going to like it would literally make me tremble with anxiety. I would do meditation breathing exercises and chant “fear no fear” before every tattoo to calm my nerves. I overcame my fears by becoming more aware of my thoughts. I learned that our mind/ego is our biggest enemy. Why? Because the mind is lost and stuck in this maze of ignorance. It often lives in a state of fear and insecurity seeking its wholeness.

It only sees through judgment and endless thinking. Becoming aware of this lead me to transform fear into confidence by seeing beyond the mind/thoughts and stopping taking them too seriously. We need to all know we are not our minds! Meditation was and is my best friend and greatest tool! Keeping your confidence high, you can achieve anything you set your mind to!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a full-time Creative Artist/ Traveling Tattoo Artist. Tattooing out of my private studio in the South Bronx, NY.

All while traveling around America to tattoo at Tattoo Art festivals. Specializing in varieties of styles like fandom cartoon art/anime, illustrative color, stipple shading, Neo-traditional, mystical & trippy vibes. I have a huge passion for color work, the mixtures, and brightness of colors, saturations, and contrast just do something to my soul. My style is not the usual go-to, as people often call it weird it sets me apart from the usual basic tattoos go-to. Many people shy away from colored tattoos due to their doubts about how good they’ll look on their skin. I like to explore my creativity and create my tattoos uniquely for my client.

I also love to do other crafts like painting, digital art, graphic design, resin art, photography, baking & much more.

I’m proud of reaching my level of success at a young age, afro-Latina from the “ghetto” Bronx, an immigrant widowed parent, and a full house. I didn’t grow up with all the luxuries of life. The way the system is designed where I’m from is not set up for us to reach high levels of success. To say that I am living my dreams, traveling the world, being my own boss, and doing what I love is true success to me. That alone set me apart from the norm highlighted in the tattoo industry which has always been a white male dominating the industry. I am proud to be a part of a huge revolution happening in the tattoo industry for all my artsy girlies and men of all ethnicities, orientations, cultures, and backgrounds.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I learned throughout my journey is to trust and enjoy the process. You can’t rush greatness. When starting a new endeavor you need to understand the two Ps… Patience and perseverance! You will be tested, you will be discouraged, and you will have feelings of giving up.

However, you need to remind yourself in those times to keep your eye on the prize/goal which is the freedom to do what you love and are passionate about. You must trust that you are in alignment with your greatest purpose and that you will reach all that you are destined to be in divine timing. The universe doesn’t work against you, it works for you!

Contact Info:

• Website: Projectsorad.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/soradink?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100049360726956
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/soradsteph?lang=en
• Other: https://linktr.ee/soradsteph?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=3f297f09-5701-4a7f-927d-c3c7d630cc22