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The Artist Behind Hickorybrandy: Fine Line Tattoos on Vancouver Island
- Nov 18, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2025
There’s something sacred about the moment a person chooses to mark their skin.
It’s a pause in the noise of daily life, a reclamation of self, a soft exhale
Finding Home Again: My Story as a Vancouver Island Fineline Tattoo Artist
Do you remember a time you didn't feel at home? Where inspiration draws thin and the air itself becomes unfamiliar? Then this story could be for you.
People ask me all of the time while I'm tattooing them "How did you get into this?" and I usually reply with something cheeky like "I'm just not good at anything else." The real answer is that I always knew I was going to be a tattoo artist. This is how I found my way back home and how that journey shapes every botanical, animal and lady face design I tattoo today.
Growing Up in Tattoo Shops
My first memories of a tattoo shop was with my mom. She was a piercer in Kelowna in the early 2000's at a shop called Primal Instincts. If you're a Kelownite you've probably found yourself there since there were barely 3 tattoo shops in the city at that point. After school I would head straight to the tattoo studio and wait for her shift to end. I remember humming to the sound of her grinding jewelry, the ink soaked sink in the back that they cleaned their tubes in, the endless rows of flash on the walls; I even remember the day my mom picked a couple for herself and came home with these David Bolt fairies and demons on her arms.
"Mini me" is what the grumbly old tattoo artists would call me since I looked like a spitting image of my mother. They always seemed to make me giggle. I loved seeing the unfiltered version of people, the smell of the disinfectants and even the cactus in a pot that looked like a man was pulling his pants down and the cactus would just keep.. growing. If you know what I mean.
Even when my mom worked at a half sex shop half piercing/tattoo shop in Nanaimo and I saw people doing heroin in the back alleys and saw bathroom walls covered in polaroid nudes that the owner took of his clients, I still felt inspired. I knew from a young age that I fucking loved how low brow, grimy and brutally honest tattoos could make people. I wanted to see the vulnerable and honest sides in everyone and I felt and still do feel that tattooing brings that out.
Looking back I can see that I never really had a choice. Tattooing chose me
The Desert Sun Never Felt Like Home
Kelowna was good to me. I was a fish growing up and large bodies of water have been my true North. For some reason it never quite fit though. Also its way too damn hot. The day I knew I was going to leave for good; I was sitting in the shade, went to use my phone and even my phone said it was too hot out to exist.
My Scottish blood boiled up in the hot summers and I longed for something different so as soon as I finished my tattoo apprenticeship in my 20's, I left.
The UK and the Good ol' Coronavirus
My desire for change took me to Edinburgh, Scotland. A place that felt strangely familiar. It was misty, rainy, mossy and the ocean wind blew through the ships sails so similar to home like it was Vancouver Island's long lost cousin.
One of the biggest reasons (besides my heritage) I made the move to the UK was to get my back tattooed by Claudia De Sabe, a world renowned artist who specializes in neo-Japanese lady figures. To be tattooed by one of your biggest inspirations is such a bucket list item that I was lucky enough to fulfill. Something in me cracked open on my many train journeys through England and Scotland. Even through the rain the world became so much clearer.
Then Covid happened. Life shifted, the world stopped and I moved back to Canada.
Calgary, The Big Sky Can Eat You Whole
There's actually nothing wrong with the city but I remember the first panic that tightened my chest when I saw the vast prairie nothingness when you look to the East. I would search the Bow River for signs of comfort but the best I got was a glimmer. The inhospitable winters would burn your skin to any metal door that you are naive enough to touch with a bare hand, even from the inside.
Those aren't the real reasons I left though. I truly found friendship in those I worked with at Haven. and I loved the sunny winter days but I always felt a shallow empty pit in my heart. I left because of a broken heart and I knew the only way I could heal it was to be with my support: my family, my closest friends and the ocean.
I knew if I stayed in a place that didn't feel like me my art would become small and honestly so would I.
Coming Home to Vancouver Island
So I came back. Back to where I graduated high school Back to where my family is. Back to where the morning mist gets burned off by the sun and the wind blows the sea air through the cedars. Back to a place that makes my nervous system exhale and has let my vision become clear again.
This is home and this is where my art could grow. This is where I could grow.
How Vancouver Island Changed My Art
Paper and pencil has always been my escape. It was an escape in Kelowna, Scotland and in Calgary. Here it doesn't feel that way, it feels like I'm finally exploring the places of my brain that I was scared to explore. There is more room for play and big inspiration again and I feel connected with the part of myself that truly fell in love with design.
I know now if I need to ground myself I can get lost in the forest paths or visit the ocean tide pools. I can come back to my art with the peace I found and it can flow onto paper and skin. Every tattoo I make feels like a little grounding charm for someone living in a very loud and hungry world.
Why I tattoo What I Tattoo
Nature is my biggest muse. I like to think I filter it through the feminine strength I've discovered in myself over the years.
Things you will typically find in my tattoos are:
Florals and botanicals in all forms
Bugs like moths and butterflies
Animals like spiders, snakes and birds
Women figures and lady faces
All of them have a softness. They are fine lined but impactful with their scientific illustration, gongbi and block print inspiration roots. You may notice traits of neo Japanese and neo traditional elements to my designs but it seems more subtle compared to the heavily illustrated themes throughout my tattoo portfolio.
These concepts shape me as an artist and maybe even as a person but the real reason I choose them is because they never go out of style. In a world dictated by trends tattoos feel like one place that should stay sacred. The theme should be to feel yourself, be empowered and have the symbols that represent you and your journey and I feel these subjects hold that power.
If you're new here... I'm Hickorybrandy
I'm a fine line Vancouver Island tattoo artist in the Cowichan Valley, Duncan B.C., Canada
I believe tattoos should feel like home, even if you're still finding yours.
If you'd like more behind the scenes, tattoo stories, botanical sketches or misty Vancouver Island life, you can follow along here:
I'm just here creating art in my foggy little corner of the world and I love sharing it with you.
Ready to chat about your next tattoo?
Feel free to book a no obligation consultation here!