Kat Von D Opens Up About Losing Interest in Tattooing

In the span of a few years, Kat Von D went from being one of the most prominent tattoo artists in Los Angeles to the most prominent resident of the small town of Vevay, Indiana. The LA Ink star recently reflected on her tattooing career that rocketed her to stardom over a decade ago and defined her relationship with the art form today.

"I'm not as thrilled about it as I was in my twenties per se, but I still love it and I still want to be able to do it," Von D remarked in an interview with music producer Alex Crescioni. "I just know I don't want to do it as a job."

Toward the end of her time in Los Angeles, she stopped charging clients for her work when they'd stop in at her High Voltage Tattoo studio. At that point, with her hands in other business ventures, tattooing was less of a moneymaking venture for her and more of a passion for which she was willing to forgo payment.

"The last decade of my career, I was just tattooing people I loved, or friends of friends, or if somebody had a moving story," she said. "But I stopped making it a means a long time ago."

After she became a household name thanks to her show LA Ink, she realized that tattooing someone who came to her as a result of her TV fame was a very different experience than someone who wanted to visit for her art and for a genuine connection.

"I think there's a dynamic shift that happens once you're on TV doing it," she said honestly. "There's a certain expectation that people have from you when you're getting tattooed. How do I explain it? Like people aren't really coming to get a tattoo per se but have an experience, and that's just a lot of pressure that takes away from the process for me."

Von D has teased the idea of opening up a studio in Vevay, but in such a small town, she confessed it more desperately needs important establishments like restaurants.