About Us
Jennifer Billig
I was a printmaking major and art history minor at Pratt Institute in New York. I started tattooing the week I graduated first in NY and NJ and then in Boulder CO. During those years I traveled extensively, tattooing as a guest artist at select studios and conventions in the US, Europe and Australia.
In 1998 I opened Atlas Tattoo studio in Portland OR with Dan Gilsdorf and Jerry Ware. I left Atlas in 2007 but continue to return for guest appearances.
When my spouse and I moved to Arkansas in 2007 I started taking horticulture classes at the University of Arkansas and began graduate school in 2011, earning my MS in Horticulture in 2017 with a research focus on sustainable apple orchard management. We currently live in Santa Fe, NM, where I worked for Mark Vigil at Four Star Tattoo from 2014-2022. Simultaneously I embarked on a farm project with my friend Barb Odell, who lives on three and a half acres in Villanueva, NM. We have grafted and planted around 100 fruit trees and maintain a significant vegetable and cut flower garden.
My tattoo work focuses on, but is certainly not limited to, botanical tattoo themes, as I spend a lot of time observing and being inspired by the natural world. Variety is surely the spice of life, so I appreciate having the opportunity to tattoo other subject matter in many styles and consider myself more of a generalist than a specialist in my tattooing. I thoroughly enjoy the personal connections made with clients, and value the collaborative nature of tattooing.
Altura is designed especially to be a safe, comfortable, and non-threatening space for women and queer folx. I welcome all people into this space, male, female, and non-binary, on the condition that nobody is disrespected or made uncomfortable! I look forward to designing and creating your dream custom tattoo- no project is too big or too small!
Additional interests of mine include painting both pet portraits and botanical subjects, textile work that includes natural dyeing and repurposing of existing textiles, and various culinary pursuits including making miso, wine, mead, sourdough, and all manner of fermented foods!