Clara Bensimon isn’t quite sure what to do with being the subject of an interview. “I’ve never been interviewed before,” she says with a shy smile.
We sit across from each other at the Midtown Flower Child, a quick five-minute drive from the tattoo studio, Renaissance 108, where she and her mentor have recently set up shop.
Clara didn’t grow up imagining that, at 26, she’d be building a career as a tattoo artist, though she’s always had a strong awareness of her artistic abilities. Her mom, who worked across mediums – from jewelry and painting to furniture-making and clothing design, was an example of what it meant to live creatively. “She was an amazing artist, and we always painted together. She was the painter, and I was the illustrator.”
What do you think you inherited from your mom, and what do you think you developed entirely on your own?
My mom was an amazing artist, and I think that almost all my talent and ability comes from her. Whenever I’d bring her a finished piece, she’d tell me how to fix it, and it would frustrate me so much! I only wanted her to tell me how good it was. Now, I can appreciate it because she always told me the truth. She never bullshitted me, and that is why I can handle constructive criticism. She always pushed me to be better.
I believe God plays a role in my gifts, too. I have always understood God gave me a talent, and my mom and I shared that gift. I didn’t have God in my life growing up, but as I get older, it is my connection to my faith that has made me successful.
I didn’t always have the confidence in myself that I do now. In high school, I played basketball, but I didn’t flourish as an athlete. I attribute that to not having faith in myself. I didn’t understand what it meant to be great, but that failure led me to this spiritual journey, and I can do it right this time. That faith is what allows me to take risks.
Pen has always been Clara’s most used and most beloved medium, but she’s never been interested in confining herself to just one. For her, being an artist simply means being someone who creates. “The more tools you have in your belt the more you can do, and the more you can take that information and transform it into something completely different,” she explains.
She is a problem-solver at heart, naturally curious about how things work and how she can manipulate them toward her own vision. Clara says her dyslexia contributes to that perspective, allowing her to approach things from different angles and reverse-engineer them in a way that makes sense to her. She never wants to be limited to just one thing; that mindset gives her the flexibility to move between mediums and collaborate with other artists.
Tattooing might seem like an obvious extension of Clara’s artistic background, but it wasn’t immediately apparent to her. When she eventually decided to pursue it, finding the right mentor became just as important as learning the craft. Clara spent six months searching across Atlanta before meeting Cori, whose tattoo work reminded her of painting and charcoal. For Clara, who says learning from someone has always been difficult, Cori was the exception.
What about tattooing that made you want to take it seriously as an art form?
I questioned it for a long time. I don’t like needles, I don’t like blood, and I don’t have many tattoos. Everyone I talked to told me tattooing was difficult, so I knew if I was going to try it, I had to put my all in.
My mentor, Cori, had a huge part in it. If I had any other mentor, I wouldn’t be here. She really guided me and immersed me in the history of the art form. I fell in love with the tradition, the difficulty in composition, and the challenge of it. My competitive side thrived on being constantly pushed and the growth that came from it. It’s hard to be good, but that’s what keeps me going.
Cori taught me the skill and gave me the key to freedom: to be able to wake up, create, and support myself. We understand what it means to be a true creative and use our talents to create a community where people can inspire and fill each other’s cups. This is the ultimate dream.
That dream is already beginning to take shape.
Clara started apprenticing under Cori in February 2025. Now, as she transitions into tattooing full time, their dynamic is evolving but the mentorship isn’t. “She will always be
a mentor to me. She has 12 years of experience, and I just started last year. This is a lifelong partnership for us.” Clara now has a seat at Cori’s studio, Renaissance 108, at King Plow in Midtown. The studio name, meaning “rebirth”, reflects the new chapter they are creating together and is a dedication to the people they’ve lost whose memory they honor through their art.
Clara credits some of her quick progress to the artistic foundation she had already built, having graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in drawing and painting. Even so, tattooing was a whole other world. She had to rethink composition and learn to manipulate the tattoo machine across skin, matching the movement of her hand to the speed of the machine. Going from flat, smooth paper to skin – with all its lumps, bumps, and curves – required her to relearn skills she thought she already knew.
“I had to re-learn all the basics in this new medium. Cori had me practice on paper over and over and over again, then fake skin. I couldn’t progress until I mastered each of the basics – lines, shapes, shading, form, thickness, depth…”
Cori eventually had Clara tattoo herself before allowing her to work on someone else. “She said I had to mess up on myself before she could let me try to do it on someone else, so I understood what it’s like.”
When you’re tattooing someone, where do you think the line is between your artistic vision and their ownership of the piece?
I’m new to this so my answer will evolve. I’m good at making something that someone’s going to like. I’m good at interpreting things; I see what they want, and I know how to make it better in my own way. I think of it like this: their ideas are seeds; I take them, water them, and come back with a plant. It’s teamwork – their proposal and my artistic experience. I have a lot of pride in my art, and so I will make every piece uniquely special to them. There is always intention.
For Clara, that collaboration extends beyond the design itself. Tattooing is permanent, and she understands the trust clients place in the person behind the machine. “They are important to the entire process. You have to listen to what they’re saying and ask them questions to get to the root of what they want. It’s a relationship that
you build.” She says clients can feel the genuine excitement she brings to turning their ideas into something tangible, and that many of them have already come back.
Clara recently lost her mother, and her influence remains deeply woven into the way she approaches work. “Everything I do now is for her, to further my mom’s story.”
“Some of my best work comes when I’m doing a piece for the people I care about, drawing something they care about”.
Do you remember the first moment when you thought, “I can actually make this work”?
I never had a doubt in my mind. The entire idea of creating the life you want comes from being crazy enough to believe it’s going to work out and putting the work in. There needs to be faith and effort – if you have one without the other it will never happen.
She didn’t start out confident. She developed confidence–and then learned how to trust it. “Keeping your hands closed will allow you to hold on to what you have, but if you don’t open them, you will never be able to receive the gifts the universe is trying to give you”.
She calls it being “delusionally faithful”, but there is little self-deprecation behind the phrase. She knows, though, that faith doesn’t replace effort–it demands it. “Understanding you have to be better every day is how you achieve greatness.”
How do you decide when an opportunity is worth taking a risk on?
I think you should never NOT try with an opportunity. If it’s something you’re interested in and there’s a chance, then do it. If a door opens, go through it.
That willingness to say yes has shaped not only the way Clara approaches her art, but the business she is building around it.
What does it mean to go from learning the craft to building a business around it?
The most important thing is that my business is ME. Cori always talks about how artists don’t treat themselves as a business and that’s why they’re not successful. It’s not two separate entities. I AM the business – my clients come in because of the art and skills I offer. I am turning my ability into a profit. I am marketing myself, what I can do, and my experience.
For Clara, building a business is not separate from becoming an artist. It is another way of taking ownership of the creative life she has spent years learning how to build.
She does not feel alone as she builds her creative life. Her mother remains an example, and source of purpose, while Cori has given her both the tools to tattoo–and the confidence to imagine what they can build together. Now, Clara is taking those lessons with her as she builds something of her own – one drawing, one tattoo, and one new idea at a time.
Perhaps what makes Clara’s journey so compelling is that she isn’t trying to become one kind of artist. She is constantly finding new ways to express a larger
creative identity. For Clara, becoming a tattoo artist wasn’t about leaving her other artistic identities behind. It was about adding another one
Keep up with Clara’s latest work on Instagram @clara_bensimon