PANAMA CITY — Hannah Jones, a local tattoo artist, draws inspiration from traditional and historic tattoo designs, as well as vintage Zeigfield Follies girls and occult symbolism. However, it was the divine inspiration that first drew her to tattooing.
My dad was a mechanic and bought and sold many cars. I remember seeing a Jesus portrait tattoo on a customer’s arm when I was around 7 or so, and just being enthralled with the idea of art on someone’s skin,” she said in a statement provided by Bay Arts Alliance. I was raised very conservatively, and tattoos seemed completely foreign to me.
Jones’s work can be seen in the Center for the Arts exhibit “The Art of Tattooists”, at 19 E. Fourth Street, Panama City. The show, on display in the Miller Gallery through Aug. 29, also features the work of artists Derrick Nail, Zachary Ian Garden and Justin Pelletier. The admission is free.
Jones was born and raised in Panama City and has been painting and drawing since childhood. She has been to many places, but she is always back in her native city. Now, she works for Timepiece Tattoos in Panama City.
“I never took any classes in school, but I always remained interested by classical artists and Renaissance artists and sculptors. I’ve been a tattooer for about four or five years now,” she said, adding, “I love the older actresses from the silent era, and the dark undertones of their makeup and costumes are very inspiring.”
Jones stated that tattooing has a lot of tradition and repetition. Even the “flash” art she produces has been drawn and re-drawn by tattooers for centuries, which each new hand adding something of themselves to the piece. (Tattoo flash is a design usually printed out and displayed on the walls or in binders at a tattoo shop to give walk-in customers ideas for tattoos.)
“It is important to redraw each piece and change it according to your artistic preference. Everything I draw has its own personality, even if it’s a slight replication,” Jones said.
Jones uses traditional tattooing techniques taught by mentors for her flash sheets, as well as watercolor painting. For her multimedia art she lets her intuition guide her.
“Whether it’s dripping paint here or adding a smudge there. I try to express my emotion in my art as best as I can,” she said. “I don’t even know what my style is, but I would say it’s a mix of a little bit of everything I was ever taught. Everyone who has ever given me artistic wisdom has a different technique for the same process, and it’s useful to pay attention to the little details.”
Jones has been familiar with the Center for the Arts in the past and has attended shows there. This is her first exhibit at the Center for the Arts.
“I find it heavily intimidating, but I’m looking forward to participating. I feel like it’s a necessary step for most young artists,” Jones said of the show. I look forward to showing a little bit of my tattoo history through your eyes.”
Her work ranges from ink-drawn portraiture to complete-color full-color paintings.
“Most of the pieces are from the start of my tattoo career to my current place in tattooing through my flash sheets and paintings,” she said.
The Center for the Arts is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m, Saturdays. To protect staff members and visitors, COVID-19 requires that all visitors wear masks within the building. Total building capacity will be 50 visitors, and groups will be restricted to ten people.
For more information about exhibits, classes and upcoming events at the Center, visit PCCenterForTheArts.com.
