Meet Kate Angeles | Tattoo Artist

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

Hi Kate, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I try not to push myself so hard. I feel like that mindset helps me. I do meditation every day before work, it helps me to focus on that day. I try to tattoo no more than 15 days per month. When I am off, I get into nature, hikes, get back to myself. Nature is my energy source and where I recharge. Over time, as my business has grown, I have less time but I still make time for my morning practice which helps set me up every day.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I love to do botanical art: plants, leaves, flowers, vines. I love doing freehand single-needle projects. I like doing single needles because it is great for soft shading, details, and healing. I am proud I can do a full sleeve in one session. My work is mostly feminine, elegant, simple.

In the beginning, the struggle is finding your style and what you want to do. Then, when I first started tattooing in LA, the pandemic happened, so that was hard. Also, at that time, my English was very bad, which made everything more difficult. Thankfully, I’m much better now, especially writing. When I travel to other cities for work, trying to find the right shop to work out of can be a challenge. Overall, the biggest challenge right now as an artist is managing the business: Instagram, marketing, email.

My friend taught me many years ago in Russia which is where I started tattooing. When I moved to the United States, I had an apprenticeship with Nora Ink at Sashatattooing Gallery in Highland Park. I work out of PW Gallery in Culver City.

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?
For eating and drinking, I would focus more on the eating! 🙂 My favorite chef is Jordan Kahn so we would go to Destroyer for lunch one day and Meteora for dinner another. Other favorite places in the city: Moo’s BBQ (DTLA), NoName Schwarma (Glendale), Khinkali House (Glendale), Bhan Kanom Thai for mango sticky rice (Thai Town), The Arthur J for steaks in Manhattan Beach, OyBar in the valley, I live near Griffith Park so we would go for a hike as well. Go to one of the beaches. Maybe go to the Palisades one night to walk around and grab dinner. I also love events at the Hollywood Cemetery so if there was a movie showing, that would be awesome as well!

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?
Yana Laguta (ohh.yana IG) taught me single needle, I got a tattoo from her, she’s a huge inspiration in this single needle world and now she’s my friend. 🙂

Website: https://www.inkangelestattoo.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ink_angeles/