Meet Danielle Wooldridge

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

Hi Danielle, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
There is presently a collective yearning to outwardly express one’s relationship and devotion to higher powers, ancestors, and what lays beyond the veil, through adorning the body with permanent art. There are many people who desire to be more intentional with adorning themselves with tattoos but often times just haven’t been exposed to the type of tattooing that guides them in embedding their prayers or honoring their ancestors and spiritual guides. When people see certain symbols that hold particular vibrations, it speaks in a universal language that touches people and inspires a celebration of their own unique spiritual walk. They often don’t even need to know on a cognitive level the meaning of what they are looking at. The connection to the vibration of certain symbols is evoked from something deeper. Then you offer a space that feels safe and create a container that feels sacred, people open and pour out their inner truths with a level of trust that typically isn’t afforded to strangers. The biggest lesson I have learned from these experiences is that most people want to be seen, from the inside out, and it’s in between that safe space and the gratitude of a person’s spirit where beautiful visual prayers are created and coded, and protective talismans are constructed. It’s in that safe space where people feel seen in their light that strange magic can happen.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What excites me everyday is that I get to speak with people’s hearts. The trust that is given to me by my clients is every single time a great a honor. In the artistic process of creating my art, people open and share their spiritual journeys, new found truths, unspoken guides, and personal tribulations they have overcome to arrive where they are. I get to weave people’s prayers into symbols and art, but not just on paper or canvas. On skin! I permanently mark people’s skin with the often silent burdens and gifts they are courageously carrying with silent integrity. Then during the active process of the final stages of the creation, actually tattooing the body, these beautiful people open with even more vulnerability about who they are and what is often difficult to share with even their families sometimes. My art is categorized as visual, yes, but it is also performance. I am always ‘on’ when I am with a client, holding a safe space, moving with care and empathy for the energetic body that has become an open portal to receive and seal deep prayers. What many simply call tattooing or body art is an active ceremony for me, where Spirit is always honored. It is more than art. What I co-create with my clients is sacred and fragile.

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?
Definitely a yoga class! Right now I live in Long Beach and there are plenty of amazing yoga spots, especially the donation-based yoga on the bluff created by Dharma Shakti, the founder of Yogalution. We would also definitely get Thai food at Chiang Rai afterwards. Then depending on the weather, either a hike in Palos Verdes or a drive into Topanga. It would also be worth the trek across town to Pasadena where I am currently a resident artist at 444SVT, since in my opinion food is really the best thing to explore if you are visiting LA, and Pasadena has what I have discovered to be the best spot for Hot Pot. So after gifting my best friend a tattoo, we are going for soup and tea to reset the nervous system and nourish the gut… which is the best way kickstart the healing process after a long tattoo ceremony!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout goes to Dillon Forte and Svietliy, two powerful tattooers I have worked next to during my career the past few years. Both have curated spaces for tattooing that are sacred containers for people to come and safely open. At different points in the past 6 years, they have both extended me invitations to work in these spaces and offer tattoo with intention and prayer, and a ton of smoke!

I will forever be deeply grateful to both Dillon and Svietliy for the honor.

Instagram: @tweedandsoot

Image Credits
Roz Kumari of Kumari Visionz | IG : @kumarivisionz (profile picture only)