about me
Hey there! My name is Kalula, and I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria.
My career path was never a clear one, and I didn’t necessarily have a direct plan into the job I have now.
In 2005 I graduated high school with an average enter score and a reasonable amount of work in my folio, from completing 5 art subjects. With no idea of what I wanted to do, I decided to not rush into a uni course.
After a few years of down time and travel, I went to what was called Brighton Bay, Art, Design & Photography Program. Which was like a year 13 of folio preparation, it covered most creative platforms and added to my enter score. A challenging year, but a lot of growth in many ways, I decided I wanted to try and get into illustration, particularly children’s books.
After that I completed a Diploma in Illustration. Which was a pivotal time in my career and was when I started to establish my own style.
Through networking I was able to score an apprenticeship as a tattoo artist, working with a machine. I learnt a lot about the culture of tattoo studios and how the industry works, during this time it wasn’t as female friendly as it is now.
I left and decided to go back to the drawing board, pun intended, and throw myself into freelance illustration.
This was a great time to market myself and create a client base.
As a little side hustle I still worked with tattooing, minus the machine and experimented with stick and poke. This then quickly gained traction and I was lucky enough to score a chair at Fine Line Tattoos in 2016.
Read on to get an insight into both the drawing and tattooing sides of my career:
Tattooing…
Tattooing friends just as a social hoot quickly turned to a full time job. I have been given great opportunities along the way, Cholo from Fine Line Tattoos really took me under his wing and help set off my career.
Being self taught in a newly popular medium, has helped me gain a unique style within the industry. I like to work with custom pieces for each client based on their brief or vision and the delicate result of stick and poke with its connections to an ancient art form.
I find that being a female artist in the tattoo industry is an amazing thing. I get to really empathise with my clients from a female energy. I enjoy hearing their stories and making connections with people of all walks of life.
There is no better feeling than seeing a client leaving the shop with a big smile on their face!
Illustration…
I started drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil, I have always been attracted to creating, and find it to be an essential part of life.
My dad, an artist himself, made me draw every day for at least half an hour. Through tantrums and tears I learned a valuable lesson about consistency and putting in the time to see growth in craft.
Before tattooing was my main squeeze, I spent most of my days working on portraits, obsessed with faces, I would work hours and hours on the one drawing.
As well as working with realism I would pick up jobs along the way with logo design, murals and commissions. Saying yes to each opportunity that came my way, gave me a lust for using new mediums and increasing the range of style within my port folio.