Meet Marilee Henson | Tattoo Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marilee Henson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marilee, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think I measure my success by how comfortable my clients are. I want to treat my clients the way i would want to be treated by a service professional. Repeat clients and good relationships are the most important to me. I don’t want someone getting tattooed by me to be nervous or scared.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art is mostly inspired by nature with a fun neo traditional and illustrative style. I think my color saturation is an attention grabber to most clients. I’m always looking forward to travel opportunities and meeting new people I tattoo.

At the beginning of my career I started work at 12 noon and wouldn’t leave the shop most times until 1-2 a.m. It was exhausting. I worked 5-7 days a week. I eventually shifted to a 12-9 schedule and would be doing anywhere from 2-7 tattoos a day. The more I drew and started developing in my career I dropped down to 1-2 tattoos a day. Now I typically do one larger tattoo a day, really focus on my client and their tattoo and I work 4 days a week to make sure I’m prepared for the week and that I’ve put in the right amount of time and effort into designs. Nothing was easy but it was all worth it. I just want my clients to know I care.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well I’d tell them to visit in September/October so we could go to the Texas state fair. I would also take them to Ddong Go for Korean food and Beto and sons for some Tex Mex and their nitro margaritas. I’d also take them to Cedarhill State Park and then at some point probably to Third Eye Gallery for a tattoo. That only makes sense. Im a laid back person so fun things for me are nature trails, aquariums and museums. A calm environment with some nature and then some good food.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Any client that has ever trusted me to tattoo them

Website: https://www.guttergoblintattoosyou.com

Instagram: https://the.gutter.goblin