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Kat Von D
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Kat Von D is an American tattoo artist and television personality. She is best known for her work as a featured tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show Miami Ink. A subsequent TLC series starring Von D, LA Ink, premiered August 7, 2007 in the United States and November 11, 2007 in the UK.
Biography
Born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Von D moved to the United States when she was four, settling in Colton, California. Her father Rene von Drachenberg and mother Sylvia Galeano were both born in Argentina. She speaks fluent Spanish and English.
Growing up in the Inland Empire, she got her first tattoo at age 14, a Old English "J" on her ankle, a memento of a past love. In early 1996, her friends asked her to pick up the machine and work on them (her first effort was a Misfits skull with a homemade rig). In 1998, she began working in her first professional shop, Sin City Tattoo. This was a great period of growth in her work and led to her eventually moving to True Tattoo for a chance to work with Clay Decker and Chris Garver. This afforded her the opportunity to live and work in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Developing career
In 2006, Von D joined the Miami Ink shop in Miami, Florida during the shop's first season of their reality television show of the same name on TLC. The premise of her entering the cast was to help the shop out when Darren Brass was out of action with a broken arm. She brought such a good dynamic to the shop that the producers asked her to stay on for more seasons. However, in 2007, at the end of season two, she was fired from the Miami shop after a series of escalating personal differences with fellow tattoo artist and shop owner Ami James. This happened to fit in with a plan by the show's producer to create a spin off show in her home town, Los Angeles. Von D opened up her own tattoo shop in Hollywood, High Voltage Tattoo, where her spin off show LA Ink is filmed and, as of 2008, is in its second season.
Von D is known for portraits and realistic art with an emphasis on black-and-gray. She has tattooed celebrities including A. B. Quintanilla, Matt Skiba, Eric Balfour, Mike Vallely, Bam Margera, Ville Valo, Steve-O, Frank Iero, Jeffree Star, Scott Ian, Sebastian Bach, Margaret Cho, Eve, Bleeding Through, The Misfits, Brody Dalle, Kerry King, Anthrax, The Mars Volta, Jenna Jameson, Jared Leto and the members of Emerson Drive.
On December 14, 2007, she set a world record of creating 400 tattoos in a 24 hour period and is the current record holder.
Outside tattooing
Besides her tattoo career, Von D has also appeared in a version of HIM's music video for "Killing Loneliness". She has appeared on such shows as ''Tom Green's House Tonight, Late Night with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and The Ellen Degeneres Show''.
She is also sponsored by the soda company Jones Soda and has worked with Vitamin Angels, a non-profit organization that fights child blindness caused by vitamin deficiencies.
Kat Von D has collaborated with professional skaters Bam Margera, Chad Muska, and Mike Vallely on their new skateboard deck graphics.
Von D started Musink, which is a collaboration between famous bands and tattooers alike. In February 2008 Musink opened for the first time at the Orange County fairgrounds.
Personal life
Von D split with tattoo artist husband Oliver Peck in April 2007.
In September 2007, Von D confirmed that she is dating Whitestarr drummer Alex "Orbi" Orbison.
In March 2008, Alex "Orbi" Orbison announced that he and Von D had split up on his MySpace page. At the same time, Von D announced her new relationship with Motley Crue bass player Nikki Sixx, stating, "I never thought I'd fall in love like this - he owns my heart."
External links
Kat Von D at Highvoltagetattoo.com
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Kat Von D
