Every tattoo I did in February!

Every tattoo I did in February!

A Tattoo Artist’s Monthly Recap: Tattoos, Travel & Studio Life in Toronto

Hello everyone!

For anyone new here, I’m Lu, a floral tattoo artist based in Toronto, and this is my monthly studio recap where I share recent tattoos, life updates, and things inspiring my work 🙂...
 
Well if January was the longest month in existence then February was the shortest! Anyone else agree? I feel like I sent my last newsletter out just a couple days ago, but nope, we are already fully into March, and the clocks change this weekend! Wild.
 
So February was a big month for me, anyone that's been reading my last few newsletters will know that I was ticking of a big 'bucket list' item last month... taking the train across Canada!!!!
 
Well it lived up to my expectations! I could literally write a whole newsletter just about how amazing it was. Maybe I'll make a seperate blog post about it???? Let me know if you'd like to read the full story of my adventure?
 
But, to keep this newsletter a sensible length, let me just say that between the incredible views of this whole country, the (actually amazing) food, and the brilliant people onboard, I don't think I could have had a better experience. 
 
If anyone is thinking of doing it you 100% should. Especially if you're solo travelling! There was lots of people doing the trip solo and always someone to chat to (and never any pressure, if you just wanted quiet time too). Some tips.... it's much cheaper to do it in the winter months, the berths are a great deal (and very comfy), and there's usually good discounts around Thanksgiving!!! And no this is not an ad, lol.
 
One of the best things about the trip is that there is no wi-fi onboard and very little cell service, so being forced to switch off from the internet like that was a real gift.

 And then another amazing thing happened when I got to Vancouver.... I got to meet baby Ava for the first time!!
 
She's my friend's Lewis and Kirstyn's beautiful little girl, and she loves art just like her Aunty Lu!!!!!
 
Side note: I didn't know that babies love to look at high contrast things, and apparently this rose print of mine is one of her favourite things to stare out (yes I'm very proud).

Hopefully she likes her new drawing just as much! I made her this sweet piece for her nursery. She's a November baby so I included her birth flowers of peony and chrysanthemum and also daisies for their meaning of childhood innocence 🥰...

And one last best thing was getting to hang out with my oldest bestest friend Martin (yes that's a technical term). I miss this guy so much, he lives in Houston now so I don't get to see him often, but he made the trip up to meet Ava too 🥰.

Loki loves him too...

And that's enough about me for now, let's get into all the wonderful people I've tattooed this month at my Toronto tattoo studio!!!

Ps. My books will open next month on 8-10th May for summer bookings, don't forget to add it to your calendar!

Tattoos I Created in February...

Alyssa // Hammerhead Shark Tattoo

I was so so happy to finish Alyssa's hammerhead shark tattoo, one of my favourite large scale tattoo projects, at the beginning of February!!! Isn't it epic! Such a statement piece. The front peony and the outlines are fully healed from back in August. And the front flower is also a cover up! There are more angles in this IG post, but I forgot to add a 'before' photo in the carousel (I think I forgot it was a cover up tbh 😂).

Hammerhead shark tattoo with peony flower created by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.
Hammerhead shark tattoo with peony flower created in my Toronto tattoo studio. The peony and outlines were fully healed from a previous session before we finished this bold statement piece.

Becca // Peony Half Sleeve Extension

Becca wanted to extend the peony I did for her in January 2025 into a half sleeve!I really love the spider webs we incorporated into this floral tattoo sleeve extension. I've just realised I haven't posted Becca's tattoo on IG (tbf I've been absolutely atrocious at posting on social media this month so it's not really that much of a surprise 🙃) but I'll post more angles soon so keep an eye out!

Peony floral tattoo half sleeve with spiderweb details by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

Peony floral tattoo sleeve extension with spiderweb elements, continuing a botanical tattoo I started for Becca last year.

 

Audrey // Healed Chest Piece

Audrey came by for another tattoo (which she wants to keep to herself, which is always totally fine with me!) and I got to see her glorious chest piece two years settled in!!! How pretty is this 🥰...

Two year healed chest tattoo by Toronto floral tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.
Audrey's chest piece two years healed.

Jen // Matching Smoking Girl Tattoo

Does Jen's tattoo feel familiar?? That's because I did the same piece last month on her bestie Jo!!! I love a matching tattoo 🥰.

It was so great to finally meet and tattoo Jen, I'd heard great things about her from Jo and it was so nice to put a face to the name 🙂.

Also I love that they chose one of my 'smoking girls' for their matching tattoo.

Smoking girl tattoo design by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

Matching tattoos for best friends Jen and Jo.

Josh // Tattoo Cover Up Project

Josh and I are gradually covering up a whole bunch of work he has been getting laser removal on, and I'm so stoked with how this project is coming along. Transforming tattoos people no longer love through tattoo cover ups is one of my favourite parts of being a tattoo artist. It's awful having something on your body that you don't like, and changing that is a great honour for me.

 His skin reacts particular badly to laser so we have a fair bit of scar tissue to deal with but it's going so well!! Look at how his hawk has healed!

Hawk tattoo cover up project by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

Progress on Josh’s tattoo cover up project. Transforming tattoos people no longer love into something meaningful is one of my favourite parts of tattooing.

Jenny // Sleeve Project

I got to start this really meaningful project for Jenny this month. She was an absolutely champ getting through all these outlines and I am so so excited to add some background mandalas and the details to her sleeve. 

Tattooing super meaningful pieces like Jenny's is such a great honour, and I'm always immensely grateful to clients that feel like they can trust me with projects like this 💖.

Floral tattoo sleeve outlines by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

The beginning of Jenny’s meaningful sleeve project. We started with the outlines and will add mandala elements and details in future sessions.

 

Emily // Backpiece Progress

Talking of large-scale projects! Emily and I made some good progress on her backpiece!!! Fingers crossed just one more session to get before this one is all done!!!! I love how it's coming along so far!

Floral backpiece tattoo in progress by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

Progress on Emily’s large floral backpiece tattoo. Large scale botanical tattoos like this are some of my favourite projects to work on.

Sara // Freehand Peony Tattoo

Sara actually came in for a different idea than this (in a completely different spot) and this was her back up idea!

I've tattooed Sara a bunch over the years and she trusts me to freehand her tattoos, so we didn't have anything drawn up in advance for this session. Our original plan was to rework and extend an older piece of hers that she doesn't love, but after we freehanded an idea I had the sense she wasn't 100% in love with it, so we pivoted and did this glorious peony instead (which she new she also wanted). And we'll come back to her other project in the future 🙂. 

Usually doing a full 180 on what we're doing on the day of a tattoo appointment would completely throw me (I have too much anxiety for that, lol) but thankfully we had discussed a back up option so we were golden! And look how GD cool this is...

Oh and the other tattoo here is 3 years healed too!!!

Freehand peony tattoo by Toronto floral tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

A freehand peony tattoo created during Sara’s session. We pivoted from our original idea and designed this floral piece directly on the skin.

Crystal // Backpiece Progress

I also got a good session in on Crystal backpiece this month, and we should also just have one session left to finish this one up!!! So much fun....

Large floral backpiece tattoo in progress by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin

Another session of progress on Crystal’s floral backpiece tattoo. We’re almost finished with this large scale piece.

 

Susan // Flowers Through Rock Tattoo

Susan came to me with this really awesome idea of having flowers blooming through rock, and I love how this one turned out. Once again I am yet to post this on IG so I've chosen an angle that shows off as much of this piece as possible but you'll be able to see the whole thing once I post more photos on my IG 🙃. It's super pretty...

Floral tattoo design with flowers growing through rock by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

Susan’s beautiful concept of flowers blooming through rock. I love meaningful botanical tattoo ideas like this.

Wanita // Floral Butt Piece

My final tattoo in February was finishing up Wanita's glorious butt piece!!!! I have loved working on this project so much, it suits her perfectly, because she's a total badass. Again you can't see everything in this one photo, but I took a video that I think will be PG enough for IG so you'll see more soon. 

Next to a super pretty piece by my friend @jayinkytatzz.

Also love this originally started as a plan for one flower and grew to flow right across her back, funny how that happens 😂...

Large floral tattoo flowing across lower back and hip by Toronto tattoo artist Lu Loram-Martin.

Wanita’s floral tattoo project started as a single flower and grew into a bold piece flowing across her lower back.

If you'd like to see more examples of my work you can explore my floral tattoo portfolio HERE.

In other news

In February I…

  • Have still been hibernating 😂 other than my train trip obviously.
  • Opened my books and booked up my spring tattoo appointments. I'm so excited for the projects lined up! My books will next open on 8-10th May for summer appointments. If you want to know more about that, check out my info page HERE 🙂.
  • Watched the Canadian olympic hockey games (I'm not gunna lie, my interest in hockey may be purely due to Heated Rivalry 😂💀) but watching the games on the train with everyone was an amazing experience, luckily we had service for most of the two finals (although we know the outcome 😢).
  • Stacy found me the silk Oat lavender creamer for my matchas at the studio! This could be a (wonderful) problem 😂.

I've been reading...

My reading voracity has slowed significantly from last month, since I've completed the Game Changers series, and I read way less on the train than I expected, but some highlights were...

  • Girls Girls Girls // Shoshanna Von Blackensee - A great debut novel, it's fictional but influenced by the author's own experience in the 90's San Fransisco lesbian scene, a good read.
  • Half His Age // Jenette McCurdy - I also think this is a great fictional debut! From what I've seen in GoodReads reviews this is a polarising book. It is intentionally uncomfortable and gross, don't go into this one thinking it's going to be a light hearted read. 
  • The Irresistible Urge to Fall for your Enemy // Brigette Knightly - I enjoyed this waaay more than I expected 😂. It's actually really funny. Might be a new comfort read for me. It's also more mature than I thought it would be, I was expecting it to be more YA orientated but it's more mature than that. I don't mean in spiciness so much, but more in the themes & characters themselves. Just a light-hearted fun read.
If you want to see everything I read check my Good Reads 🙂.
 

I've been watching...

  • I rewatched Heated Rivalry with Kirstyn in Vancouver as she had been too busy being a Mama to watch it yet, and I think it was a real bonding moment for us 😂 and yes now she's obsessed too
  • Bridgerton S4 - I feel like this was similar to last season in that the first leg was not particularly good, and then it got a little better in the second part? 
  • The Studio - I really enjoyed this as a lighthearted watch, really well made!
  • The People We Meet on Vacation - unfortunately sort of disappointing, like it had so much potential, but then the chemistry wasn't there or something? 

And back to my Oscar nominations watching, I hit Frankenstein, Train Dreams and F1 this month. I still have The Secret Agent to watch, but here's my ranking so far...

  • Bugonia
  • Hamnet
  • Train Dreams - I really enjoyed this, terribly sad, and probably a mistake to watch it in my bunk on the train where everyone could here me cry
  • One Battle After Another (I think this will actually win though)
  • Frankenstein - ranked for the costume and set design, it was very long and I was quite bored, sorry Guillermo, love you.
  • Sinners
  • Sentimental value
  • F1 - Um, did someone pay off the voting committee because????? I mean it was entertaining enough but a best picture nom???? And all the brand dropping 🙃 we needed an Ad alert 😂, tell me if I missed something here.
  • Marty Supreme (I still hate this)

I've been listening to…

  • She Knows Too Much // Thundercat (ft. Mac Miller) - We're so blessed to be getting more Mac Miller music this long after he left us, man was prolific, and a new full Thundercat album is coming out way! I love that the first single he dropped was Mac's feature.
  • Reneé Rapp // Bite Me - Great album. I feel like I missed out on her! She was basically all I listened to on the train, she's like a mix of Kehlani Adele and Sabrina Carpenter. Love it
  • Wet Leg // Moisturizer - I'm finally branching out from the HR soundtrack and listening to more from some of the artists and I love this album.
 

I've being drinking (matcha update):

  • Nutbar (Leslieville Toronto) - They have their own nut milk which I really enjoyed. It's slightly sweet so that works for me, but I really love adding vanilla to my matcha and they don't have typical syrups / sweetners there.
  • Lostlands Cafe (Jasper) - If you're ever in Jasper this is a super sweet cafe near the station. Really lovely staff!
  • Blackmill Bakery (Fort Langley) - Again if you're ever in the area. The strongest matcha that I have ever been served, and I'm good with that. They also had lavender syrup and I love a floral matcha, amazing baked good too!

I'm looking forward too…

  • My littles coming to visit me!!! They will be here for a whole week in May, I can't wait. We're going to have so much fun. If anyone has any suggestions for what to do with a 4 and 7 year old in Toronto let me know!
  • I'm going home to the UK in April to visit my family and celebrate my Nan's 89th birthday with her 🥰.
  • Going to see the Paul MacCartney photography exhibition at the AGO at some point 🖤.
  • New bookmarks and stickers I've finally ordered for my clients! They should be arriving soon!

And that's all the news I have for now. If you're interested in getting a tattoo with me in Toronto, you can find information about booking an appointment on my website. Have a wonderful rest of your March!!!

Lu

 

 

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