Local Art Showcase #6/ Jen Danger

Homegrown tattoo and canvas artist proves that Danger can be a good thing!

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

A GIANT snake slithers through a mound of cracked skulls on the left side of her rib cage. There's a self-inked Jem (as in '...and the Holograms') slogan that covers one of her ankles, and a pair of suspect cats perched upon her collarbone. Even her inner bottom lip has been coated in tattoo ink, but she refuses to tell I Heart what it says!

Though Jen Danger, 27, may resemble a living canvas of dazing needle work, she's also the artist. Not necessarily behind the very designs that are gradually immersing her flesh, but the Edmonton-born 'n' raised tattooist (& painter) has left her own mark on dozens of satisfied patrons over the last few years.

"Every person has a story," said Jen, who currently works out of Capital Tattoo, and has since 2007. "Tattooing is a way to have their stories live on...to remember the good, the bad. It is the biggest honour to be chosen to tattoo someone."

Danger--who admittedly harbours an innocent fixation for Vertigo graphic novels and zombie movies--trained under the guidance of Jess Wright and Devin Stacy, and has taken intermittent inkspiration (new word I made up!) from varied artists like Hannah Aitchison, Nikko Hurtado, Joseph Michael Linsner, Tara McPherson, and Edmonton's own Chrisco Labrenz.

But their influence can only do so much, which is where Jen's inborn imagination comes into play. Bold colours and graphic interpretations differentiate not only her custom tats, but the paintings she tends to on the side.

"When I'm not tattooing, I'm painting," she confessed. "Painting is my biggest love. I've always been an artist, it's always been a huge part of my life."

Jen's arbitrary personality is just as unrivalled as the portraits she paints, the drawings she sketches, the tattoos she...tattoos. She tells I Heart that she unevenly divides her spare time between avidly collecting action figures, shooting off guns at the neighbourhood range, shoe shopping in Vegas, planning trips to outta town comic book conventions, and hating "sports and weird body piercings."

Oh, and her favourite colour? Rainbow!




That could explain all the colours she bleeds figuratively into her paintings, and literally into her tattoo customers, who keep coming back for more. Take a look at some of her expertise (above) and you can't exactly blame 'em.

If you're interested in seeing more of Jen's artwork or purchasing any of it, click here. And if you're looking for some new custom ink, then visit Ms. Danger at Capital Tattoo (7240-101 Ave./ 780-465-6611), or check out the shop's booth this summer at Capital Ex, or this fall at the Alberta Bound Tattoo Convention.

And don't be afraid of a lil' Danger!





JEN DANGER PHOTO COURTESY OF GINGERLILY PHOTOGRAPHY
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Comments

  1. I luv the paintings, the girl seems like the same in each one. I don't have tatoos but these are pretty cool

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  2. Inkspiration, eh? Nicely coined, Tiedemann, nicely coined. :)

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  3. Jen is the most amazing tattoo artist Ive ever met in my life! Im so happy to be her client! :) Thanks Jen!!!

    Stacy White :)

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  4. Jen is Amazing artist and a wonderful person, so happy to know her.
    (jen you rock the you know what)


    -Jenn k.

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  5. Thanks Drea...I love inventing new words!! And Jen is very talented, with both the needle and the paint brush.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the ghostbusters tatty, would love to get something like that myself

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