Nurse turns love of art (and needles) into new Sioux City business

Wen, who completed an apprenticeship at a local tattoo shop, has been tattooing for roughly a year. 

“It was natural for me because I’ve been an artist for a long time. It’s just, you could say, a different medium for me,” Wen, dressed in black scrubs, said of tattooing as she sat cross-legged in her pristine neutral workspace. To her right, colorful bottles of plant-based ink sat neatly lined up on shelves beside an oval mirror and a bulletin board tacked with tattoo sketches — a shark donning an old school nurse’s cap and polka-dotted innertube, dogs depicted as astronauts, detailed dragons and intricate floral designs.

“I’m kind of a go-getter. If I see an opportunity, I will go for it; and I’ll do everything I can to make sure I meet my goals. I’m very goal-oriented and detail-oriented,” said Wen, who remarked that she never thought she would be her own boss or own her own business. “It’s awesome. And it feels good that people come in and they see that it’s clean and that it’s kind of different from other tattoo studios.”

Wen acknowledged that getting a tattoo for the first time can be intimidating. So she went above and beyond to create a spa-like atmosphere at Inkspired Atelier. She wants her clients to feel welcome, comfortable and safe in her modern studio. 

In a corner, stuffed “emotional support nuggets” rested in a basket. Wen also has a variety of stress-relief toys on hand that clients can squeeze while they’re seated in her tattoo chair. Wall hangings remind them to “inhale” and “exhale.” If a client were to pass out and stop breathing, Wen could perform CPR on them, although she would rather not have to resort to that. 

“It feels like cat scratches. That’s what I usually tell people,” said Wen, who has spent seven or eight hours at a time tattooing a client. “I always prep them before — ‘Make sure you take some Tylenol. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep. Make sure you eat. You don’t want to do this on an empty stomach. Make sure you hydrate yourself.’ It’s basically nursing stuff.”  

Art as therapy 

Growing up in Union, New Jersey, Wen loved to paint with oils, acrylics and watercolors and draw with pastels, charcoal and ink pen. When she was in high school, her peers even suggested she become a tattoo artist. 

“That was kind of frowned upon at the time, though. My teacher would be like, ‘No. She’s going to do something better than be a tattoo artist,'” Wen recalled. “From there, I kind of lost my way, I felt like, because a lot of people were like, ‘You can’t make money with art.’ That was where my passion mostly was.” 

Wen left fast-paced Jersey for a more rural setting — Iowa City, where she studied psychology and art at the University of Iowa. While she was attending college, Wen also met her future husband, Yuan, who is from Siouxland. The couple married and moved to the Sioux City metro. 

“I ended up doing nursing here,” said Wen, who also worked as a CNA at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. “I was at Mercy for five years as a nurse and, then, now, I’ve been at (UnityPoint Health) St. Luke’s for three years. I don’t know if I want to let go of nursing yet, because that’s still a part of me.” 

Nursing allows Wen to think critically and help people, while being part of a team. She currently works parttime in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit, or PACU, at St. Luke’s. Wen also has experience working in the ICU. All throughout her nursing career, she continued to make art, which she successfully sold online. Wen discovered tattooing was “a kind of therapy” for her. After finishing her shift at the hospital, she would go to her apprenticeship at the tattoo shop. 

“It was kind of nice. It was just me relaxing and talking with people,” said Wen, who noted that there’s more to tattooing than “ink into the skin.” “You have to know your fundamentals. You have to know what looks right.” 

Some tattoo artists are “really heavy handed” and go deep into the skin, according to Wen. She said that’s not necessary, as “the dermis is not that deep.” 

“If you go like, basically, a nickel width, just a little bit into the skin, that’s all you need. That’s something that’s really important. You don’t have to go that deep. It’s kind of like surgery,” she said chuckling. 

Challenging stigma

One of Wen’s business aims is to “challenge stigmas surrounding the tattoo industry.” She encourages anyone thinking about getting inked to do their research and really get to know their tattoo artist. 

“You can ask other people, ‘Hey, what do you think about this place?'” she said. “It’s kind of scary not knowing what kind of tattoo artist you’re going into. And, then, you come out and it looks terrible. Make sure that you look at their art, come see their place and know what it’s like before you decide on something that’s going to be permanently on your body.”

Since some people have an allergic reaction to red ink, Wen said it’s important to discuss skin sensitivities with your tattoo artist. She said the pain associated with a tattoo depends on the area of the body that is being tattooed. 

“A lot of people say the back hurts, like on the spine. I’ve had people say the back of the arm near the armpit area is very tender. I’ve had quite a few people say the hand kind of hurts, if you do a whole hand tattoo,” she said.  

Wen said it’s true that tattoos can fade and blur over time. As one ages, she said skin changes and loses elasticity. However, how artists make their tattoos also plays a role, she said.

“Some needles are bigger than others. They always say, once you put a line down on a tattoo, it’ll get like twice as big as time goes on. That’s why I like to use fine line tattoos. It’s just kind of common sense with age, honestly. It’s what happens,” she said. 

Wen has a knack for tattooing flowers and she loves to use color. However, she said she’s probably best known for her stipple shading abilities. This tattooing technique uses dots to create shading. 

“People like that style and I like it, too,” she said. “It’s really nice.” 

Going forward, Wen said she plans to offer paramedical tattooing. She hopes to be able to replicate the areola on a woman’s reconstructed breast and camouflage scars and other skin imperfections.

“That’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, just because I’m in the medical field. I see people with mastectomies. I see them with scars,” she said. “That’s something that I would love to do for people — just making them feel comfortable in their own body and not feel out of place because of what happened to them.”