A Special Brand of Meaningful Lucrative Work for Artists

As addressed in Part 2 of my new book RELAUNCH!, making the changes needed to renew a sense of meaning at mid-career can be challenging. Should it be a totally new career, or a different job or some simple change in the job you are doing?

I thought about this last week when I had the opportunity to interview a tattoo artist who specializes in working on patients who've had disfiguring surgeries. Her role is to create tattoos that cover, or artistically create parts of the body. The idea is to restore an artistically pleasing body image to someone who no longer has a positive sense of the way they look. She works with cancer survivors who have had mastectomies and breast reconstruction who no longer have a nipple. She tattoos on a new one in 3D which gives the appearance of the original. She also creates tattoos that tastefully cover scars and burns, and even varicose veins.

Most of us think of tattoos in a conventional sense and tattoo artists sometimes are sometimes viewed with a negative stereotype. On the other hand tattooing is now in the mainstream and medical or paramedical tattooing is a newly emerging and in-demand specialty. For an artist or artistically talented person in mid-career who is feeling unfulfilled and underpaid in their work, transitioning to a specialized tattoo artist could be an attractive option.  It doesn't require a complete change of occupation, but rather a shift of emphasis. The artistic talent and skills are already transferable. It will usually require apprenticeship type training and possibly licensing or certification depending upon state requirements. Further supervised experience in medical tattooing would be needed to become proficient to work independently. Some schools also offer courses in this area. Since this work is mainly learned on the job, there is likely to be a salary while training. It's not a quick and easy change, but it can fit for someone who already has artistic skills and wants to boost their opportunity for meaningful and satisfying work that can also be quite lucrative. The best way to find more information is by contacting local tattoo artists who specialize in medical work, or through the offices of plastic surgeons and dermatologists.