ABOUT

Hey there. I'm MacKenzie. I'm a tattooer at Sacred Grounds Tattoos and Piercings in Pensacola, Florida. I recently finished my apprenticeship in February of 2024 and am now beyond excited to officially start year one of tattooing. I apprenticed at Sacred Grounds under Johnny Mumbles from September 2022 to February 2024.

So how did I get here? Well, to make a very long story short, I fell into illustrating back in 2018 as a way to escape the not so good thoughts running around in my noggin. I drew for hours and hours every day and night, for years. Drawing that much turned into creating merch that I started producing and selling online, at comicon conventions, local markets, art fairs, with wholesale retailers etc. 

In 2020, Covid hit, and I wasn't able to sell at any in-person events and I knew I wanted my art to be more than just merch, because it was more than that to me. I starting studying American Traditional tattoo flash in addition to getting tattooed by artists I loved. I was constantly getting asked by people who loved my work if I was a tattooer. I never told anyone, except a handful of people that I was working on a portfolio for years. By October of 2022, I had built a portfolio I was ready to ask for an apprenticeship with and in September of that year I was accepted as an apprentice at Sacred Grounds. I spent the first several months cleaning, setting up, breaking down, making and placing stencils, getting familiar with how a shop ran, crying my eyes out etc.

It wasn't until August of 2023 that I started learning how to do anything with a machine outside of cleaning and setup/breakdown. I owe a lot of my knowledge to Johnny and a handful of other tattooers in my local community. Shoutout to Carrie, Victoria and Samanah, I will be forever grateful for you three. 

So, it's taken me a long time to get here, but I have my seat at the table now and I'm here to stay. AND I would be absolutely honored to tattoo you.