Welcome! I'm Emily Ann Ní Dhriscoll DeMarco. Please call me Em. If we were in-person together, I’d offer you a mug of herbal tea. My pronouns are they/them/she/her.
I make tattoos at the White Willow studio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I learned the craft of tattooing under the mentorship and guidance of Nathan Mould. My two-year apprenticeship began in September of 2017, when we laid out a back piece together. Many many hours of my apprenticeship involved tandem tattooing Nathan's designs (which means we tattooed one person at the same time). I am endlessly appreciative of Nathan, and each of the folks we worked with, to have gotten such a vast and varied amount of experience during my tattoo apprenticeship.
Tattoo can be a radical act of self-care, a deeply important personal undertaking, and a reclamation of sovereignty over our own bodies. I've been on my plant path studying herbalism for 14 years, and my work is heavily informed by plants/fungi of all kinds -- including our medicinal & poisonous companions. Other influences include moth-eaten folk costume and handiworks. The Thorny Path. Folk ornament, customs and craft. Folklore and legends from the garden and woods.
Before tattoo, I worked as a carpenter, seamstress, bread baker. I was an Indymedia radio reporter, then an investigative journalist. I’ve built 30-foot snow globes, investigated Pennsylvania’s amusement parks, and stitched mascot costumes. I freelanced for years as a comics journalist. (Which means I reported stories in the form of comics, not reporting on the comics industry.) Although I no longer work as a journalist/bread baker/and so on, you can see some of my archived comics journalism stories here and my print/radio stories here. Each of those twists and turns along my path continue to deeply inform my process/the work that I do as a tattooer.
I always wear earplugs at shows.
Currently, my tattoo booking priorities are pieces from my design book. I don't send out my designs in advance, but you can view my currently available designs archived on my Instagram page, @em_atropa, labelled "flash/booking." That collection includes repeatable designs, including: palms/palm-sized pieces, embroidery, lace, weaving, mourning & hairwork designs, and folk art of all kinds. My book also includes one-of-a-kind pieces, such as: moon & sun figures, botanicals with folk art/ornament, half & full sleeves, chest pieces, tops of hands, backs, etc. These one-of-a-kind pieces are available until a deposit is made for that specific design. The design book is always growing :)
If you're interested in booking tattoo work with me, please answer the following questions in your initial email to ematropatattoo@gmail.com. Please keep all answers/photos on the same email thread:
1. What is your preferred full name (first & last)?
2. What are your pronouns?
3. Have you had tattoo work done in the past? / Are you heavily tattooed?
4. What is your phone number? / Is texting and/or a phone call okay?
5. Are you local to Pittsburgh, PA? If not, where would you be traveling from?
6. If you are thinking of a larger project (full sleeve, half sleeve, chest piece, back, legs, etc) please send over photos of the area(s) you would like to have tattooed. Please have a friend take the photo so they are not distorted and not taken from a 'selfie' angle. Include a photo from a front, side, and back angles of the area; use your camera app to circle the area you'd like tattooed. Please note if there are tattoos that you do not want covered up, business lines, etc. Feel free to censor the photos as you see fit. Feel free to censor the photos as you see fit. If you are getting a small/medium piece, no need to send photos -- it's often easiest to figure out placement and sizing in-person :)
7. If you are requesting a custom project, please send 4-6 picture examples of my designs from instagram @em_atropa that you like. Feel free to let me know (no more than a few words) specifically what you like about those pieces. Please do not send references of other tattooers work :) Please do not send images labelled "tandem project" or "tandem Nathan Mould piece" etc, as these tattoos are designed by Nathan and tattooed in tandem by both of us simultaneously.
PLEASE NOTE: Deposits are non-refundable and are only applied to the original agreed upon project. All deposits are for the agreed upon project; changes may result in forfeiture of your deposit. Additionally, deposits will only be returned in extremely special situations. Please think before you commit.
If you need to reschedule your appointment, your deposit will continue to be applied to your rescheduled date, provided that you give 48 hours advance notice. If you are a no-show or cancel without 48 hours notice, you will need to put down another deposit to reschedule.
Thanks for visiting!