Forever Inked Tattoo’s Kelara Roberts voted best tattoo artist on Sunshine Coast

Kelara Roberts first picked up a tattoo gun more than a decade ago but was told the industry wasn’t a place for women. Now she’s been voted as the best artist on the Sunshine Coast.

A popular tattoo artist with more than a decade of experience in the industry has been voted as the best on the Sunshine Coast.

Forever Inked Tattoo’s Kelara Roberts shot to the top of the leaderboard at the last minute out of a whopping 47 artists in the running.

The Sunshine Coast Daily put a call out on its Facebook page to find the region’s best and our readers answered the call, with hundreds sharing why their artists deserved the crown.

However Ms Roberts’ loyal clients rallied behind her, leading her to receiving more than 20 per cent of the final vote.

Kelara Roberts of Forever Inked Tattoo was voted the best tattoo artist on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: Patrick Woods.

She said she was “blown away” after learning she had won the title.

“It’s definitely a crazy thing that so many people have put my name forward,” she said.

“I did not expect it at all.”

The industry veteran first picked up a tattoo gun more than 10 years ago and said it quickly became her favourite thing to do.

“I got into tattooing originally just for a bit of fun, I didn’t really think anything of it,” she said.

“I drew for years and years and ended up buying a machine off eBay and taught myself how to put it together.

“I then realised it was something I really wanted to do professionally.”

Ms Roberts’ experience eventually led her to opening her own private studio at Mountain Creek about a year and a half ago, which she said fit in perfectly with having four kids.

“I needed something that was really going to suit me as a mum, so having my own little space gave me the freedom to come in when I needed to and leave early to go get the kids from school,” she said.

“I wanted it to be more of a one-on-one personal interactions with my clients as well, to feel like they can be comfortable when they come in to get tattooed.”

However Ms Roberts’ dreams to open Forever Inked Tattoo may never have come true after she was turned down from her first gig.

Kelara Roberts of Forever Inked Tattoo was voted the best tattoo artist on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“I was originally one of the first female tattooists on the Sunshine Coast as well,” she said.

“He basically turned me away at the start and said ‘I don’t hire women, this isn’t an industry for women’.

“So I persevered for about three months, showed up to his shop everyday, cleaned everything and was being really stubborn and not going anywhere.

“He ended up giving me an apprenticeship.”

While she believes not every tattoo needs to have a deeper meaning, Ms Roberts said she enjoyed being apart of a special moment with her clients.

“I do a lot of self harm scar covering as well, and the mastectomy covering is definitely one I do as well just to try and help ladies feel a little bit more confident about themselves after going through such a traumatic experience,” she said.

“I don’t feel like my work’s work, like I absolutely love being able to do what I do for people.”

Ms Roberts said it was important to her to give her clients the best experience possible.

“(A good tattoo artist is) someone that listens to what their client wants and not try to change their mind or persuade them to get something that suits the tattoo artist, not the client,” she said.

“I think that’s what’s so good is that every day I’m doing something completely different.”