Krista (she/her) is the founder and owner of Witch of the West, where she also works as a resident tattoo artist. She has been tattooing for six years, beginning her career in Oregon before returning to her hometown of Fort Collins to build the studio she had always envisioned. Krista’s tattoo brand is named “SunHound Ink,” which reflects her love for the desert, the sun, and her doggie, Cassie ♡
She is an INFP, an Aquarius (sun and moon, RIP), and an Enneagram type 4. When she’s not tattooing, Krista enjoys spending time along the dusty backroads of the Southwest in her converted van - an old Beaver Creek ski shuttle. Krista lives with chronic illness and disability, which has created a unique journey for her as a tattooer and in life. She believes that tattoos can be transformative and a powerful way to reclaim our bodies.
Krista is especially drawn to ornamental work, desert and Western imagery, animals and birds of all kinds, large-scale botanicals, folk art influences, and fantasy-inspired pieces. She works primarily in black/gray, but loves to add a pop of color!
Krista prioritizes creating a safe and inclusive tattoo environment, minimizing pain, and making the whole tattoo process as comfortable as possible.
Kenzie (she/her) is a Colorado native who has been tattooing since 2022. Kenzie’s love for art and fascination with tattoos started from a very young age, which led to her eventual journey of becoming a tattoo artist. Kenzie’s illustrative black and grey style is inspired by nature, whimsy, and surrealism, with a particular interest in animals, insects, botanicals/flora, and anything macabre or witchy.
When she’s not tattooing, Kenzie enjoys cooking, music and concerts, and binge-watching reality television at home with her partner, Collin, and their small zoo of animals (Tonks, Arya, Evey, and Luna).
Kenzie is incredibly grateful to be a part of the Witch of the West team and is dedicated to creating a safe space for all bodies and walks of life to share/create art.
Ariel 麟 Lee (she/they) is a Taiwanese American Queer artist, born and raised in the dirty Jerz. Brought up by her non-English speaking grandparents and first-gen immigrant parents, Ariel's inspiration is heavily based on reconnecting with her Chinese culture while also recognizing the duality of being raised American. She takes inspiration from traditional Chinese painting, Asian-American experiences, and things she thinks are pretty :)
Her father, who had a Master's degree in Fine Art, was her first teacher and taught her to appreciate the catharsis of creating. After his death, Ariel got a number of tattoos to memorialize his legacy. It was through this that she experienced the immense power of tattoos as a way of bookmarking one’s life. She decided to try tattooing to give others that same feeling and tattooed her first person in September 2022. Since then, she has joined the humans at Witch of the West and has guested all over the country and even internationally! Ariel is so proud to be pursuing a career as a tattoo artist and fully recognizes the degree of trust and safety that is needed to honor this special practice.
Thavy (she/her) is a Colorado native and first-year tattoo artist. Thavy has always enjoyed art ever since she was a little girl and grew up drawing with her mom and painting with her nana. She had considered tattooing for awhile but finally made the leap and began apprenticing under Maddi and Krista at Witch of the West in 2023.
Her favorite thing about tattooing is being able to create a safe and inclusive experience for all bodies and helping people feel comfortable in their own skin by adorning them in beautiful art. Although it can be really challenging at times, tattooing is a very fulfilling career and she couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else.
She most enjoys tattooing flora and fauna, vintage trinkets, ornamentals, and any and all things witchy of course! Aside from tattooing, she likes to create nature-inspired art and jewelry as well as spend time with her friends, family, partner, and pets.
Thavy is so grateful for the support of the wonderful community at Witch of the West Tattoo Collective and eager to keep learning and growing along her tattoo journey.
For booking information and updates, follow Thavy’s Instagram and sign up for her newsletter.
Hannah (she/her) was born and raised in small town, corn country Iowa. Growing up she always loved drawing and creating. She was fortunate to be encouraged by her family and community, leading her to Nebraska to study art. After graduating with a BFA in Studio Art, Hannah and her partner landed here in Fort Collins. She began teaching herself stick and poke at home with her cat, Banks, as a trusty supervisor. Her background made for a gentler learning curve - she practiced on herself! After about three years of learning, she expanded her practice to include machine tattooing and updated her name to “Suffice Tattoo.”
Hannah’s inspiration comes from bones, nature, flora, fauna, art nouveau, and folk art. She also dabbles in a variety of creative avenues including jewelry making, wood burning, and cutting her own hair, and she loves a miniature of any kind!
Hannah joined Witch of the West at the beginning of 2025, after being a regular guest artist at the studio. Getting to tattoo folks in a safe, inclusive, and comfortable space with a group of like-minded folks has been a dream of Hannah’s since her tattoo journey began.
Julia 子雅 (she/her) is a queer Taiwanese-American and midwest native, who has been handpoke tattooing for over six years. She is fully self-taught, and learned to tattoo by practicing on friends and family. Raised in close connection to the outdoors, Julia’s work is heavily inspired by found nature objects and her desire to navigate her Asian-American diasporic identity through tattoo work.
Julia finds joy in tattooing objects collected from the natural world, such as sticks, leaves, rocks, or wildflowers. She also feels drawn to subject matter that evokes nostalgia, and likes to work with objects found at specific places or moments in life. She specializes in fineline minimalism and patchwork compositions.
In her practice, Julia strives to create a safe and empowered space for everybody, deeply valuing open communication, informed consent, and a trauma-informed approach to client relationships. Her practice revolves around being gentle and honest, and these are also the reasons why she continues to love the handpoke, or machine-free, method. She is honored to share her art through the ancient and body-affirming practice of tattooing.
Julia graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a BFA in graphic design in 2023, and transitioned into tattooing full-time from her private studio that spring. After working solo in Bloomington, Indiana for 3 years, Julia is excited to join the artists at Witch of the West Tattoo and begin her journey within a collective.
Born under the big Texas sky and shaped by a life lived in eight different places, Allison Shuckman (she/her) has always been a wanderer with anything that could make a mark in hand. Her art journey began with doodles that couldn’t be contained to paper. In high school she began practicing henna with friends. After studying graphic design in college, she followed the pull of something a little more magical — tattooing.
Now a self-taught tattoo artist with over three years of professional experience, Allison creates fine-line, ornamental, and illustrative tattoos infused with intention and heart. Her inspiration flows from the stars above, the rhythm of the earth below, antique treasures, soulful travels, and the wonderful humans they meet along the way.
She believes tattooing is body magic— a co-creative ritual meant to amplify your natural beauty and connect you to your most authentic self. Whether the design is deeply meaningful or playfully weird, it’s all made with purpose and love.
When not in the studio, you’ll likely find her chasing bodies of water (she’s pretty sure they were a mermaid in a past life), flowing through yoga, dancing to live music, petting dogs, or planning her next adventure. She strives to create a safe, welcoming space where clients feel seen, comfortable, and truly themselves.
Mason (she/her) is a Midwest-grown artist from St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up with a love of crafting, dancing, recycling, and the great outdoors. The joy of creating and learning about new art mediums has always followed her wherever life has taken her. After receiving her BFA in sculpture, she moved to Colorado and began her tattoo journey in 2022.
Her favorite thing to tattoo is black linework, playing with wiggly line weight and negative space. She loves organic, drippy, abstract shapes that hint at botanicals, critters, and other things from the natural world. Inspired by the ever-changing human form and mother earth, she has no interest in straight lines or perfect circles and loves to create designs meant to complement the body's individual topography. She believes that part of tattoos’ magic is that they get to live and grow with us, providing adornment, armor, or serving as an act of bodily reclamation.
Mason is very excited to be joining the wonderful witches at Witch of the West and the welcoming and safe studio environment they foster. She considers it an honor that people would choose her art to live on them forever. Choosing to get a tattoo is the ultimate form of showing artists support and patronage, and she is very grateful to be part of so many humans’ journeys.