Shy is a talented girl currently living in England. Russian, French, Italian and German blood flows in her veins. She has a great passion for music, perhaps also thanks to her boyfriend, member of the While She Sleeps band (@whileshesleeps), and of course she is a tattoo fan as she tells us in this interview!
Would you like to introduce yourself to our readers? Where are you from? How old are you?
Hi! I’m Shy, I’m 22 years old and I’m originally from Germany but decided to move to the U.K. about a year ago to live with my boyfriend and because I really love it here.
When did your passion for tattoos start?
My interest in tattoos started when I was about 16, I think, but I really got into it when I first got tattooed at the age of 18. It was very spontaneous and I’m going to be honest with you, I just wanted to have a tattoo at that point and didn’t really put much thought into it, what kind of style I like and how many tattoos I even wanted. Once I got tattooed, I instantly wanted another one. I guess it’s like that with almost everyone.
Would you describe the tattoo on your sleeve for us? Who is the artist?
Most of my tattoos are done by Pablo Lillo, an amazing tattoo artist from Barcelona. It’s a funny story because I initially went to the LTW Tattoo Studio in Barcelona to get a tattoo covered up that I didn’t really like anymore. They introduced me to Pablo and he started drawing stuff on my arm to make the tattoo look a little cooler and a little more Traditional as it was more of a one line tattoo beforehand and I started getting into traditional tattoos at that point.
I was blown away by how amazing he made it look in just a few seconds and instantly said “YUP I want that”.
And after some time I booked in for another appointment with him without any plans or ideas. I looked through his sketch book and really fell in love with one design which is now on my forearm. And that’s kind of how the rest of the tattoos on my sleeve came along. I just book in for an appointment whenever I’m in Barcelona and fully trust Pablo with the designs and I absolutely love every single tattoo he did on me. The bee on my sleeve is done by the lovely Doro Hoffmann from Hamburg, Germany, and the web on my elbow is done by the talented Billy from Sheffield, U.K.
Is there a meaning linked to your tattoos or do you like the aesthetic side of them?
I’d like to answer this question by saying “why get a tattoo that has a meaning when you can get a tattoo that looks sick”.
What is the image you want to reflect of yourself by your IG page? You are a multi language girl, aren’t you? How come?
I didn’t really have a specific goal in mind when I started my Instagram. I really just got it for fun, to post pictures and share my thoughts. Having said that I’ve recently started opening up about the chronic diseases I suffer from. I’ve realized just how powerful it can be to share my experiences not only for myself as a form of therapy, but it seems to have a huge impact on others in similar situations as mine to find some comfort in the fact that they’re not alone, to learn and to connect with others in the same pain. That’s what I’ve been sticking to over the years and people seem to like it! I do like tattoos, music and languages a lot though so I’d say my profile is mainly focused on that.
Languages have always excited me so much that is probably because my mom is German/Russian and my dad is French/Italian. Growing up we went to France and Italy every year and we even moved to France once. Only for a year though. Later on I decided to go to Barcelona for a year to learn the language and enjoy life. I’d love to learn more languages like Russian and Mandarin at some point!
What are your interests and what do you like to do in your free time? You love dancing, don’t you?
I’ve recently started to learn to play the drums! My boyfriend got me my own drum kit and I’ve been enjoying it so much. I’ve tried to learn to play the guitar and the piano once but nothing was as much fun as drumming is to me. It’s like therapy! Dancing is definitely another hobby of mine. I have been professionally dancing for a few years when I was younger and absolutely regret that I stopped. Would love to get back into it this year but I also really enjoy just laying in bed all day at times haha.
And for sure you are a fan of While She Sleeps, is it correct?
That’s my boyfriend’s band so yes, I’m their biggest fan! Not only because it’s my boyfriend’s band but also because the music they make is so down my street. It’s the perfect mixture of punk, metal and spacey sounds.
What are your plans for the next future?
I’m the CEO of spontaneity and really do not plan ahead. I take every day as it comes. If I wake up wanting to become a chef one day, I become a chef. If I wake up wanting to go to Greece one day, I go to Greece.
