Daily Inspiration: Meet Alexis Coger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Coger.

Hi Alexis, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’ve been drawing and very into art my whole life, and started taking drawing more seriously around the time I was in 4-5th grade. By the time I was 15 I knew I wanted to do tattoos. Shops told me I was too young to work with them so when I turned 18 I went to a local shop and that’s where my tattoo career began. I worked at this shop for about 3.5 years learning as much as I could. I then moved to a shop in a different, larger city about 30 min from my hometown to gain more experience working with more artists. I worked there for about 7 months before I got the opportunity to move to Arizona and work for Living Canvas Tattoos.

I’ve wanted to move out west since I was 18 and after last winter I knew I didn’t want to live in Michigan any longer. I got a message from the shop owner, Mark Walters asking if I’d be interested in moving to Arizona to work for his shop. After speaking with him I decided that it was my sign I needed to finally make the big decision to move across the country. I moved to Arizona at the end of April not knowing anyone or having any clientele but was very welcomed into this shop and have got to work with so many amazing clients.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I feel like I was very lucky with my career. When I started tattooing, I was still in high school so a lot of people I knew from school, as well as my parents and parents’ friends, were all very supportive I had a great clientele starting out and it just kept growing by word of mouth the farther I got in my career.

I lost friends along the way or people just showed their true colors because they expect things to be free because they know me, but I’ve also met so many great people. Last summer (summer 2021) I broke my wrist in a long-boarding accident so I wasn’t able to work for about 3 months. But I bounced back quickly and it made me realize how much I love and appreciate this job.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a tattoo artist. I am pretty well rounded but I am a Fineline and black and grey artist. I take the time to understand what the client wants and deliver that to them.

I am always patient and listen to my clients and help guide them to what would work best to make their vision come to life. I’ve been told many times that people can tell I take the time to connect with the work I’m doing to fully deliver what the client I asked for.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up I was always drawing or outside. By the time I got to high school, I was a cheerleader so in high school, if I wasn’t cheerleading, I was at home drawing. I was constantly drawing on my friends and getting in trouble in class for drawing on my friends and teachers were always telling me I needed to peruse tattooing. I was very artistic and athletic. For about 7 or 8 years in a row, I participated in “chalk the block” in st joe, mi with my aunt.

It was a whole weekend event, drawing a chalk mural on a road that would be blocked off once a year where pro and amateur artists from all around the country would come. When I would be done drawing on the road for the day, I would go jump in Lake Michigan, since the road was right on the beach. Growing up that was my favorite weekend of the year.

Contact Info:

• Website: Livingcanvastattoos.com
• Instagram: @AlexisMarijke.art