It’s been a while since we’ve done our artist of the month and it felt fitting that this month we would feature this artist. As an avid tattoo enthusiast, it’s becoming a hard choice to choose who does your ink when New Zealand is producing some of the best work around the globe.
When someone mentions they want a Mandala tattoo there are a few names that stick out, but one, in particular, is Abbey Manson who is based out of Alley Cat Tattoo in Invercargill. It’s impressive to see how intricate her lines, dot work and geometric shapes are that come together to create a memorable piece that leaves a lasting impression. To fully understand how she got to be this good, you have to wind-back time to when she was a 16-year-old creating designs for a local tattooist. It then sparked an interest to take this more seriously and when she turned 18, her mum became her first test subject which resulted in a Mandala piece on her shoulder.
She was then mentored by Craig Harris out of Frost Bite tattoo who helped take her talents to the next level. It wasn’t long before word spread and she had built up her own clientele, which then led into the opportunity to work with Dillon Forte a world-renowned tattooist based out of the States.
If you’re following closely you’ll know that Abbey does travel around the country, doing guest spots in many of New Zealand greatest tattoo studios like ‘Shipshape Tattoo’ the home of Matt Jordan and features at many of the local tattoo conventions like the Wellington Tattoo Convention coming up on the 31st of this month.
All of her work is hand-drawn and created closely with her clients to ensure that they get the perfect tattoo. So if you’re planning on your next tattoo why not check out her Instagram, get inspired and book her in.
What makes this more special for us is that she’s part of our team and being able to partner with an artist pushing the boundaries of Mandala and tattoos as a whole to the next level is a real honour.
So we hope this short article helps inspire you for your next tattoo and who you might use for your next piece!
Check her out here.
