Meet Devon Rae | Tattoo Artist

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

Hi Devon, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
That you have to go to college to have a successful career. That might sound obvious coming from a tattoo artist; I have a degree in Illustration and while I did gain skills and experience that I use in my tattoo practice, I definitely didn’t need to go to Art School and spend as much money as I did. I was paying for the name of the school on my degree; If I had to do it over again I would stick with community college classes and not worry about credits or a degree, and just take art classes, maybe a business class or two.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve always had an art practice; it’s never been that consistent, but it’s always been there. Sometimes I struggle with feeling like I don’t have the proper skill set to implement my ideas, and sometimes I just don’t feel creative or inspired to make anything at all. In 2017 I was diagnosed with brain cancer in my right frontal lobe, which is the part of your brain that affects creativity and executive functioning/abstract thinking. Knowing this while going to art school gave me a severe complex about the quality and legitimacy of my work. It was classic imposter syndrome. Even seven years later I still get in my head about my art, but now that drawing and design is a main part of my job it’s easier for me to put those feelings aside for my clients. I am still working on finding the right strategy or routine to have a consistent personal practice at home, but balancing work, life, hobbies, and health has been a huge challenge for me lately. What I’m really trying to focus on right now is “living like an artist”- going on Artist Dates (IYKYK) and making being creative outside of tattooing more fun for me again.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I was born and raised in Orange County, so it’s taken me a while to come around and actually appreciate it, but here’s what I would do in no particular order:

-I would love to take the train to San Juan Capistrano for high tea and champagne at The Tea House. It’s right next to the train tracks and you can dress up super cute if you want to- this is what I made my friends do with me for my birthday this year and it was such a cute girly vibe.
-We would have to have at least one beach day. I’m not very fond of the open ocean so my idea is always to go to Balboa Island and sit on the sand in the harbor. Sure, the water there is probably not the cleanest, but you can jump off the public docks and sometimes you can find spots that aren’t too crowded and just stand in the water and chat with a can of whatever in your hand. We would HAVE to get a frozen banana at some point and walk the perimeter of the island to look at nice houses.
-Currently I live near the Orange Circle (or the Plaza) and would definitely want to do a thrifting/antiquing day. I just got really good at this and my main tip is to keep an eye out for stalls that are having sales- sometime they’re like, 75% off, which in girl math is basically free.
-I work in Down Town Santa Ana at Cryptid Ink (4th and Broadway) and have a few favorite spots there now too- Kaizen Shabu is the best hot pot I’ve ever had and Vacation Bar has nice cocktails and really good pizza. 4th Street Market is always great (I love the Deli Station) and right across the street is maybe my favorite thing to eat right now- Hammer Burger; very reasonably priced, very tasty smash burgers.
-I am a member at The Pottery Studio in Costa Mesa so I would use a guest pass to take my friend there for some inner-child healing. I love hand building with clay and just seeing what happens when someone who hasn’t done it before is given free rein. There’s a Japanese market nearby, Mitsuwa, that has a food court with really amazing beef tongue and I always like to take a juice or boba tea back to the ceramic studio with me.

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 don’t want to sound cheesy, but my husband is the biggest creative inspiration I have in my life. He’s mainly a musician who dabbles in other mediums and it’s been so inspiring to watch him grow and change as our lives progress together. He’s always maintained some kind of consistent creative practice, with the exception of some tumultuous times, but seeing him get come out the other side more inspired and better than ever has been a gift and I aspire to be like him every day. I’ve never met another artist both as confident and as open to sharing as he is- we talk about creativity struggles a lot and have helped each other through some pretty intense blocks. My husband was ultimately the one who pushed me to get into tattooing when I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my degree. I had a lot of shame around “wasting” my time and money going to school and already feeling behind in life, but he saw my potential and steered me toward my dream career.

Instagram: @eyesaliva