#kitty kems

[alicebizarre]

Tattooed on Leroy by Steve Reynolds at Tattoo Lucky 7 Steenwijk 2nd place winner at the Amsterdam tattoo expo 2014 xxxx Original image by Kitty KEMS Photography, Lady Lauren and Alice Bizarre Make Up

[alicebizarre]

Got a evil mermaid for you this halloween!! Model: Nancy Harry Photographer: Kitty KEMS Photography Makeup: Alice Bizarre Make Up (Featured in Vol 3 Part 2 of Freque Magazine!! Get now at http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/643110 )

[altgirlbotherer-blog]

Adventures in Ink with Nancy Harry.

Tonight sees the return of my “adventures in ink” series. The lifeblood of this blog is interviews with talented models and performers, talking about everything from creative inspirations to the modelling industry itself. My adventures in ink series adds to that a passion for tattoos and tattooing. It’s a special series of articles where i delve into my guest’s personal experiences with getting inked. Today is the turn of a remarkable model called Nancy Harry. A gorgeous woman first and foremost, with a collection of artwork adorning her skin that is incredible to behold. The marriage of beauty and art in Nancy modelling work is reason enough to feature her on these pages. However, add in her wonderful sense of humour, and her candour in interview, and you get this result: A truly enthralling chat with a promising talent that is set to shine. I’m thrilled and honoured i was able to work with her on this piece in these early stages of her career. I hope you all enjoy this introduction to the sublime Nancy Harry...

Welcome Nancy. It’s a joy to be able to feature you, your work, and your marvellous ink today. How are you doing? 

Hey! Thanks for having me. I'm doing very well thank you!

Being a biographer and interviewer of models, it’s your modelling that first caught my eye. Of course this blog also celebrates tattoos and tattoo art, and we’ll get to your incredible ink very soon. But first, how and why did you get into modelling? 

Well, I never wanted to do it to be honest... I didn’t think I could! I started when I was about 20, I’m 24 now. I used to be in a punk band called Drop Dead Darlin, you can still hear our music on MySpace. I was the lead singer. Anyway, we broke up and I needed something else to occupy me. I had a photographer approach me as I started getting more tattoos and asked me to shoot. It just bloomed from there then really.

You’re an incredibly tattooed model, and your look is wonderful for the alternative genre of modelling. But what came first? You’re a gorgeous woman; did you consider/participate in modelling before getting tattooed? Or did the tattoos come first and then alternative modelling became an option?

Aw thank you so much! That's really nice. I've always loved tattoos, grown up around them and wanted them since I was little. They definitely came first! I never would have thought I could have been a model. As all you see when you’re young are these beautiful women with fake boobs and blonde hair! 

You’ve definitely kept your modelling interesting, and have worked some pretty amazing shoots of varying styles. Is it important to you to keep things fresh and interesting? Is there a shoot theme or concept that you’d love to try?

I do try and keep a variety in my portfolio. I love doing different things and trying different looks. I think it's really important as a model to keep a variety of different photos, or people will just get bored! I would like to do more creative things; but I love doing any concept!

Your work with Kitty KEMS photography is a particular highlight for me when looking through your stellar portfolio. You’ve worked a number of projects with her, what’s that collaboration like?

I LOVE Kitty! She’s so lovely and talented! She really knows her stuff and can catch images amazingly! She really has a good eye and is so enthusiastic about what she does and you can tell she loves it! We work really well together and we bounce off each others ideas. We get SO excited we SQUEAL and she just loves seeing me naked sometimes... ha-ha!!! 

Your earlier work showcased another partnership that you would revisit a few times, that’s with Newport photog Xomi3 Becky. I must confess to know little of the photographer, so would you share with us your experience of working together, and what those images mean to you?

Xomi3 - Becky means a lot to me, she’s an amazing friend (and so is kitty by the way!) and Becky is actually one of the first photographers I had a proper shoot with. She brought out the confidence in me and still does now. She really backs me up always. I’ve always loved her work, it’s so unique! She also loves what she does! We haven’t seen a lot of each other lately, we’re both so busy, but I’m sure you will be seeing more from her again soon hopefully!

The cowgirl set and those oiled up ones in that black bikini are perfection. They also look like a lot of fun to shoot. Do you remember much from those shoots in particular?

Ha-ha! Yeah I especially remember the oiled up one! Becky enjoyed oiling me up! lol! It was a nice day and it was something different for my portfolio at the time so why not! The cowgirl set I loved! I think they’re really nice photos, Becky is such a talented lady! She’s even a makeup artist and did my makeup in these shots. She makes you feel so good!

You’re a Welsh girl yourself of course, and you’ve collaborated with some great up and coming photographical talent within the country, the likes of Charis Talbot etc. Is your nationality important to you, and have you got aspirations to leave Cardiff to maybe live/work in London or even America?

Nationality isn't really a big thing for me... I know the Welsh are very proud of being Welsh. I am proud, if I didn’t say I was my Dad would kill me! lol But it’s not about nationality is it? Cardiff is my home and I love it, it’s a really nice place to live, but I would like to fly away - not to London - I couldn’t handle that! But I have plans to travel America and different places, I would like to move away but I’ll always come home in the end.

I could talk about your modelling all day long Nancy, but I want to move on to your ink very soon. Before we leave modelling though, I have to talk about your zombie inspired shoot with Carly Turner and makeup artist Jodie Gibson. It looks like such a cool shoot to be part of. What was it like to be involved in, and did it take long to be made up like that?

Ha-ha! That was a wicked day! You forgot to mention this shoot was for the jewellery company ''Drown Soda'' that is run by an awesome lady named Nat. She is my flappy fanny friend <3 ha-ha we always hurl abuse at each other with love hearts at the end! The makeup didn’t take long! Jodie is very talented and did it so well! Carly is just awesome! She’s got such a good eye for photography, I was very chuffed to be asked to do this shoot by Nat, I am now one of the models for Drown Soda and it's fucking awesome!! Plus it was very messy and I got to scare people on the way home! Ha! Thanks to Saffy for putting in the contact lenses too! I'm rubbish!

We move on now to your wonderful ink Nancy. Can I ask what your relationship was with tattoos growing up? Did people around you have them? Did you see them on people in bands you liked? What was your introduction to the art form, and what did you think of tattoos and tattooing before you got your first one?

Well, my Dad has a lot of tattoos himself - his old school ones! My brothers have a few tattoos and even my Mam has one! So I have always been around them. Of course music has an influence, I love punk and ska and grew up on ska music, so seeing the skinheads and punks with tattoos made me love them more!- I was a bit silly and got my first tattoo under the age of 18... which is very naughty!!! My first one is covered now and not because I regretted it but because I wanted something else as part of a big tattoo there. I love tattoos and what they mean to people, and it’s just getting better and better each time! 

Carrying on from that last question, what was your first tattoo of, and what did it eventually get covered up with?

Ha-ha, as I said I was under 18, tut tut! It was a tribal tramp-stamp at the bottom of my back... so bad... I know. lol but we have all done silly things! I have covered it with my huge angel wings on my back.

What do you remember from your first tattoo appointment? Were you nervous at all?

Yeah I was scared to shit! I don’t remember much really though - my memory is shit. I just remember my Mam holding my hand nearly puking herself Ha-ha.

Did you begin getting pieces with an eventual goal in mind? Did you intend to get the coverage you have currently, or did you just keep adding over time?

Well as soon as I started building up my sleeve when I was 18 I just knew this is what I loved. I’ve always planned my tattoos carefully. I didn’t want any on my legs at first but this soon changes when you get more ideas! So yeah I’ve been getting tattooed since I was 18 - love it!

What do your pieces mean to you? Are you someone that gets tattoos for emotional or sentimental reasons, or do you purely enjoy using your skin as a canvas for beautiful art work?

I do have some sentimental tattoos; I can’t say they all are. I love having beautiful artwork on me, I think the main thing is - all my tattoos do mean something to me as they are a part of me and they’re all things I love and am passionate about. I even try to have a tattoo in every place I travel, like I have ''I left my heart in Vegas” tattooed on me from celebrating my 21st in Las Vegas! And Mexico tattooed on me from... well guess where! Ha!

Is there a certain style or era of tattooing that most of your designs conform to? Or are you quite eclectic in your ink choices?

I love any style, but my fav and what I keep on me is black and grey - realistic. I LOVE my portraits by Matt Gardiner at End of the line tattoo studio. He’s so good! I do have a splash of colour here and there, but I think that’s where my tattoos pop!

You mention your portraits, and it’s clear you’re a big fan of portraiture tattoos Nancy. Could you share with us some of the faces you have adorning your body?

Of course I will! My first portrait was my grrl Debbie Harry <3 I love Blondie and grew up listening to them! Then I have Johnny Depp from Cry baby, who doesn’t love Johnny Depp?! My most favourite though, is Sid James on my thigh! He is my man <3 I grew up watching Carry On films - I also had Barbara Windsor tattooed above him Ha-ha. There are so many I have and getting more! Who else have I got...? Oh yeah! I have Ace Ventura! I love Jim Carrey! <3 and Sid Vicious! He was my favourite Pistol <3

Pain is very relative when it comes to tattoos of course. Do you have much of an issue with the pain of getting a piece done now? You’ve been tattooed most places, which did you find the most uncomfortable?

One thing I always say - if someone says a tattoo doesn’t hurt at all then they’re fucking lying! lol! Shit it hurts! Women are usually better with pain, having a high pain threshold... but still it hurts! Tattoo pain is bearable, and some of my tattoos, like the ones on my face, didn’t hurt so much but it was more the pressure on my head than anything. The worst pain for a tattoo I have ever felt is having my palms done- fuck me! They’re not even finished! I’m trying to work my way back to getting them done - but it wont be too soon... Ha-ha! But I’m pretty good at sitting still for a tattoo, I try not to flinch and I have been told I’m pretty good. 

I love how your entire body is a voyage of discovery Nancy, there’s a sense of story as your eyes travel around your figure. Do you see your tattoos as somewhat of a journey through your life, charting times and places where you got certain designs?

Behave! Ha-ha! But yeah you have that spot on! My tattoos are a journey through my life so far, and some of the places I’ve been - they will keep going, until I run out of room!

I could ask about every piece you have on your body Nancy, but I’m sure you get asked all the time about them. Do you enjoy that kind of attention and inquisitiveness? Or does it get boring?

It does get a bit tedious being asked the same questions alllll the time, but I understand that it’s not the norm for everyone out there. I don’t loose my rag or anything - im always polite. I’m not though to the ones who try to preach to me about what it’ll look like when I’m older and all that shit! lol! 

I’m a sucker for foot tattoos and yours is gorgeous, I’m also mad about the butterfly you have on your throat. But what pieces are you most proud of Nancy? Asking about your favourite may not be the right question, but which piece looks the best in your eyes?

Awww thank you. This is such a hard question - I think all my tattoos look beautiful. But I think I’d choose all of my throat piece. They’re beautiful pieces and my butterfly just pops out! I have writing under my chin too that says ''Coming Home'' and that means a lot to me. It’s a song by City and Colour and as I said in one of my answers earlier, I go away but I’ll always be coming home.

What would you say are the most common misconceptions about people who have the amount of tattoo coverage you do?

Well, it seems that people get offended by the fact I’m a heavily tattooed GIRL, and with the model photos I get all sorts - I get girls who don’t know me calling me a slag, I get people saying I’m on benefits with kids because of my tattoos, or I’m going to hell, etc. It’s fucking crazy! I know everyone judges a book by it’s cover but how can you assume what a person is like by a tattoo? Anyway - I can rant all day about that! It can be upsetting but I’ve just gotten used to it, and to be honest I don’t give a shit what people think of me.

Do you think tattooing and modelling are becoming linked more and more? The “alternative” movement has seen a clamour for highly tattooed models, but do you ever see heavily tattooed models breaking into the mainstream and high fashion?

Deffo! It’s sad to say but it’s almost becoming more of a fashion statement now, which sucks, and it’s certainly moved into mainstream and glamour - fake tits and tats is what it’s about now. Each to their own I suppose but I just think it’s sad that it’s gone that way... 

Are you always thinking about your next piece Nancy? Do you have plans for what you’ll get next, and where it could possibly go?

I’m always planning what I’m having, I’ve planned all my free space now! I do my boyfriend's head in sometimes I think, cos I’m always going on about what I’m getting next. He's actually doing some pieces for me soon, when he gets time, so looking forward to that! I have got some booked in the next few months. I always take pics and post them on facebook.

Is there anywhere on your body that you wouldn’t consider tattooing?

Bottom of my foot? Bumhole? Ha-ha fuck that!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions Nancy, I’ve really enjoyed your modelling work since I was first introduced to it, and as I’ve said before your body art is an added dimension to that. I wonder if I could leave with a few final questions. Would you be so kind as to share with us what is most important to you when getting a tattoo? Is design everything, or does placement also play an important part? 

It's no worries, thanks for your time too! And thanks for the lovely compliments. The design has to be right! I need to have a tattooist I trust and the right style for me! Placement is important, but I don’t have to think symmetrical, which makes things a bit easier! He-he

What do you look for in your tattooists? 

I look at their work and I ask about who has had work done by them, if they’re horrible people I wont go to them. They’re personality is a big thing for me - I couldn’t handle going into a shop full of pretentious depressing people with a shit atmosphere. It’s a scary thing going into a tattoo shop for the first time for anyone!

Do you have any words of warning or things to consider for those thinking of going under the needle? 

Do your research and at the end of the day it’s your decision don’t listen to anyone else.

It was wonderful working with Nancy to produce this piece. I really do feel she has great things ahead of her in whatever she puts her mind to. A down to earth talent with a thoroughly professional approach. I’ll be keeping a close eye on her career from this point on, and she’s always welcome on this blog. For more info about Nancy and to keep up to date with her life and work, head to the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Harry/308116558456?fref=ts

  All images used were provided by Nancy, and are the magnificent work of Kitty KEMS photography.