Today we’d like to introduce you to Arville Persons.
Hi Arville, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been an artist and have had a deep love and appreciation for tattoos and the transformation of the body. In 2016, while I was in college, I decided I was ready for my first tattoo. When I asked my mom if she would pay for it, she lovingly told me I’d have to figure it out for myself. So I did. I bought my own needles and ink and gave myself my first tattoo.
Fast forward a few months: I had taken a leave of absence from college and, again thanks to my mom, stumbled across a tattoo studio and an artist who would eventually give me my first professional tattoo and take me on as her apprentice.
I spent five years in that studio cultivating my craft before opening my own private practice in 2022. Nine years later, I still have a deep love for the work I do, work that continues to evolve and grow alongside me every day.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been so many bumps in the road along the way. I believe being an entrepreneur is, in many ways, a spiritual experience. The success and flow of my work have always been a direct reflection of my own spiritual, mental, and physical cultivation of self.
There have been so many twists and turns, from working multiple jobs and growing my business during COVID, to opening my own storefront, starting an S-Corp and eventually dissolving it. I’ve lost friends and gained friends. I’ve experienced my physical health crumbling in ways that forced me to confront parts of myself and my life that were no longer in alignment. I’ve had to learn the difference between being motivated by a dream and being motivated by the desire to run from pain.
This work has been a constant spiral from within to without and back again, each return refining me further into the person I am today. I’m deeply grateful for the journey, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been tattooing since 2017, creating custom tattoos through a collaborative and intuitive process. My work focuses on designs that flow with the body while reflecting the personal stories of the people wearing them. This can look like marking transitions, celebrating moments of joy, bringing dreams into physical form, or reclaiming parts of the body through coverups, reworks, and scar transformation.
I’m deeply influenced by the alchemical process of transformation and our ability as humans to transmute our deepest emotions and rewrite the narratives of our lives.
To me, tattooing is a literal manifestation of death and rebirth. Clients come to me with the intention of being permanently marked by my art, art created through collaboration and shaped by their stories of pain, joy, loss, discovery, and becoming. To tell those stories authentically, I have to surrender to intuition and artistic flow. When I try to overthink the process, that flow stops.
I’m also a certified death doula and published author, and I’ve begun weaving those parts of myself more intentionally into my offerings. At the center of all of my work is presence: being deeply present in the space I hold with my clients as they transition into new chapters of their lives, shed what is no longer coming with them, and give form to what is emerging next.
It’s an honor to be a part of that process of integration and transformation.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Surrender has been the biggest lesson in my journey as both an artist and entrepreneur. I’ve learned to surrender to the flow that comes from true authenticity and to trust that, when I’m in alignment with myself, what is meant for me will find me.
That has required completely rewriting my understanding of hard work. I’m learning that things are allowed to be easeful. That doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges, but when I’m aligned, the hard things can become opportunities for curiosity, play, and growth rather than the kind of suffering I once associated with working hard.
I’m constantly surrendering to the unknown, making leaps into places I’ve never been before with trust that I’ll be able to navigate whatever I encounter with grace. The more I trust that ability, the more magic I seem to encounter in my life.
Flow isn’t linear. By releasing my attachment to knowing exactly how things are supposed to unfold, I’ve found myself reaching my dreams in ways that are faster, more playful, and far more mysterious than anything I could have planned.
Pricing:
- $25o hr
- $1600 Day Rate
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cosmoslostherhead.com
- Instagram: @cosmosbodyaltar
