Katie Gray is the owner and an artist at The Helm. Born in Chico, CA she quicky gained a deep desire to pursue her artistic talents in the critically vibrant city of San Francisco at the early age of 15. From there, she attained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz where she focused on painting and sculpture. She then went on to attain a Master’s Degree in sculpture from the California College of The Arts in 2009. Since then, her background as a multidisciplinary artist pushed her to explore the wider confines of tattooing. Post-grad, she has been in the world of tattooing, working in world renowned shops such as Blackheart in San Francisco, and New York Adorned in NYC. She maintains a bi-costal and international presence in the tattooing circuit and enjoys working with folks from various backgrounds, cultures and demographics. She identifies with the LGBTQIA+ community and hopes to continue carving out space for underrepresented people in the practice of tattooing. Her focus is primarily on fineline/mixed-line weight black and grey (or limited color) American Traditional works with Japanese, Tibetan and geometric influences. Though, she is open and capable of so much more. The most important part of tattooing for her is being able to build trust and community with clients, especially when it leads to a tattoo journey that spans over the years. She has been featured in multiple publications such as Tattoo Life Magazine, Tattoodo and Juxtapoz for both her tattooing and fine art practices, as well as featured in an episode of The Tattoo Shop with Ami James and Chris Nunez. More importantly, she continually strives to learn, explore and grow not only as an artist, but as a human and looks forward to continuing professional relationships with current clients, as well and fostering beginnings with new clientele.