SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - Inside Toothpick: Redefining Tattoo Culture as Fine Art

Episode Date: April 21, 2026

Send us a text and chime in!In this episode of the Signals News Podcast, host Elicia Morigeau sits down with Bella Chewning, the creative mind behind Toothpick Art Studio. Located in Prescott, Toothpick is more than a tattoo studio. Instead, it’s a multi-disciplinary art space where creativity, community, and fine art come together. Bella shares how the studio brings tattooing into the world of fine art while welcoming artists and beginners alike.#toothpick #bellachewning #podcast #prescott #tattoo #artstudioCheck out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Signals News podcast. Today in studio, I have Bella Chuning. And you are the creative mind behind Toothpick, which, you know, I'm like, what a cool name. Tell me all about it because I don't want to mess this up. So you tell me what is toothpick. Okay. So we just opened in September. We're down on Garden and Grove in Prescott, which is by Prescott College and O'Reilly's. So we're a multidisciplinary art. studio. And really our focus is creating a community space where people can explore their creativity. They can collaborate with other artists. And we're bringing tattooing under the umbrella of fine art. So that's what toothpick is. Which if you, some of these tattoos that you see, I mean, I've seen people like, I mean, looking at yours, the detail, the creativity of putting, like one way it says, word and then you turn it this way and it turns into something completely different. What else would

it be besides fine art? I mean, it's just... Yeah. I mean, I think just like any art form, I kind of equate it to similar to ceramics. There's ceramics that are just super fun and functional and like the cup that you're going to get from Starbucks or whatever, you know, just something quick and fun and easy and functional. And then there are ceramics that are unbelievable to look at and they're truly works of art. That's how tattooing is. So there's everything under the sun.

But those of us who work at Toothpick, we are all fine artists in other capacities outside of tattooing. So we bring that same kind of passion and dedication to tattooing. doing. We're not the only ones who do that. There's a lot of tattoos out there who treat it like fine art and who study it and who spend years, you know, perfecting the craft. Dimensions and loveism. Yeah. Yeah. And the design and all of that. So that's why we consider it a fine art, but we wanted to create a space that reflected that, that it is just on par with all of the other fine arts that we do within the space. So we have classes about tattooing, but we also

have classes about painting and drawing and mosaic and printmaking and all the things we love. So tell me when, just to kind of paint a picture for everybody, when you walk through the front door of toothpick, what do you see? So right when you walk in, we have our retail and gallery space, which is really just a collection of our studio artists' work and also all of our awesome friends and kind of like this stable of local artists that we have here and artisans and craftspeople. So we have everything from locally made candles, we have locally made knives, all the way to fine art paintings and photography. And then as you walk into the space, you'll come in.

into our classroom. So our classroom feels very much like a living room slash bookstore slash cozy space. I saw a picture of it. It looks like everybody's living room like, okay, kids, arts and crafts time, gather around. Yeah, we want people to feel comfortable. So it's lots of comfortable seating, free coffee, tea, books to read, art books to look at, that kind of stuff. But that space is a flex space. So the furniture flexes around so that we can teach classes in that space as well. And then around the outside of the space, we have five private artist studios. I use one of those studios. And then we rent the other four to local female artists who do their own private practice in those studios. And a lot of those people are our instructors and the artists that sell in our

retail space as well. Yeah. And you do your tattooing right there in the, like, is it in the living room? Is it? Yeah. So I have a private studio within the space, just like the other four artists. And I tattoo out of that space. I see my clients there.

And I also, you know, write and draw and do my full kind of creative practice out of that space. Yeah. That's very cool. So when I think of a tattoo place, I think of you walk through the front door and there's just, you know, beds and chairs everywhere, you know, like the tattoo beds that you can sit on. I mean, full on beds, but, you know, tattoo beds. And I don't see a lot of privacy or, you know, it's, and some do, but just the ones I've seen, it's kind of, you know, but you have your own room where you can take people into. And it's, it's, because it's such an intimate thing, you know, getting your. tattoo and to have it just kind of laying out in front of everybody. Some people don't have a problem with that. But I would be like, okay, who's walking around? I just want this to be, this is my moment. If I want to share it with people, I can. But this is, you know. Yeah, it definitely can be really intimate and just vulnerable, I would say. That's a better word. Yeah. And I think whether that's because it's in a vulnerable location on the body or because maybe it's a memorial

piece or whatever. You might be moving through big emotions. So I have done before I opened toothpick, I had traveled to tattoo and I had tattooed in spaces in other cities and states that had private rooms. And I just really found that that worked really well for me. The energy of a tattoo, a tattoo, a tree. traditional tattoo shop is great. It's like super high energy.

But that's not how I make art well. That's not how I practice well. I need more solitude and I also need more like of a private energy and space. And I knew other tattooers who felt that same way. So yeah, I think if we were just a tattoo shop, or traditional space like that, we probably would put a bunch of chairs in the classroom and use the small rooms for storage and things like that. But we kind of wanted to flip that because we wanted everyone to be able to have their

own private spaces and then energetically when we want to come together, we can come into the classroom space together. But we can also pull apart and have our own space. Well, and how is that? because you think you've got, you know, you have the ceramic people, you've got paintings, you've got tattoo artists, you've got people just there to read books. You get those groups of people together. How does that blend?

How do they mesh well? Is it, you know? It's so awesome. Like, it makes me so happy. Surprisingly, I think the through line is that everyone is interested in something creative. They're interested in some sort of. expression, whether that's looking at someone else's expression or, you know, channeling their own expression. And that seems to be enough to create community. We see literally all sorts of

people, all the people in our space, between classes, between people coming to see our artists, coming to events, whatever it might be. And And they just kind of meld. It's really beautiful. Your face lit up so much when you talked about that. It was that you could tell how much, how important that is to you. I was looking at some of the classes that you guys have with, you know,

figure drawing and you have yoga and just crocheting. Like just drop in and crochet. Like, okay, let's do that. Just so many cool, I don't even know how to pronounce that. The way of tea, though, is what it is. And that's just cool. Like, it's such a cool place. And what frustrates me is I live here. And I don't, you know, we went to Sedona. We walked and we looked in every little shop because it's, you know, we're tourists. I never treat Prescott as a tourist. And we really should because how many of us would stumble onto something special like your, you know, like toothpick that maybe you're not even looking for that, but just window shopping. You just walk in. And, I think we need to explore these places, you know, better because we're missing out on some of these things, you know, that we don't even realize they're out there. I would agree. I'm from here. And I think, yeah, those of us who are from here and who have been here a long time, it's funny, we almost miss out on a lot of the newness that Prescott has to offer because we go to the same restaurants and the same stores and the same hikes or whatever. Yeah.

But we have seen the community has really come out for us in a really big way. And a lot of word of mouth is already spreading. We only opened in September. So we're new. But we're really happy with the reception. Well, when we were talking earlier, because I'm old school, you know, I'm getting older or whatever. But back in my day, you know, you see somebody with visible tattoos. and how are you ever going to get a job and how are you ever going to like people are just going to you know you see the t-shirts i have a

tattoo and a job you know so things have really changed in the last few years probably i don't know what what are your thoughts on that just of being accepted and it's okay now to have tattoos right so yeah i think it's more okay definitely but um obviously there are still preconceptions or misconceptions or stigmas that come along with the industry. And that's partly because of the industry. The industry for a long time didn't do anything to help itself break out of those molds. When I started getting tattooed, I think about 17 years ago, one of the things that was keeping the industry back was the people who maybe looked like me, maybe we wanted to dip our toe

in expressing ourselves through tattoos, but the spaces that were available to go and get body art were not spaces that we were comfortable in. And I don't know if you can relate to that, but I think a lot of speaking from my own perspective, a lot of women can relate to that. That is not the case now. So there are places that all sorts of people can come and feel comfortable getting their art, their expression, whatever it might be, put on them permanently.

Just like you might go to a salon and get your hair done, just like you might go get your nails done, your microblading, whatever it might be. If you were, if women were scared and uncomfortable to walk into a hair salon, they probably wouldn't do it as often. So we're wearing ponutels all the time. Yeah. Well, and it was funny because I used to tell my kids like, okay, if you get a tattoo today, that is on you for life. And when you're 60 years old, you're going to have this tattoo that, and, you know, I think about it now, it's like, one, who cares?

But two, it's like you have something that is so special to you. And it doesn't matter. You want to be able to have that and to have it to be yours. And I've always told them, oh, when you're 60, you're going to regret it. You're going to regret it when you're six years old. Tell us your story about your woman that you're working with right now and her telling her story. Yeah. So I work with a lot of clients who are 60 years old, 70, 80.

I think 90 is the oldest person that I've tattooed. Really? She's a hundred years old yet. Not yet, not yet. But, you know, I have this one client who's, she had a few tattoos when I met her when she was already in her 60s, but we're working on two sleeves for her because she, yeah, it's amazing. But she found somewhere that she feels comfortable.

and she found people that she feels comfortable doing that with and with me. And that was the opening that she needed to feel like she could express herself through art. And not everyone, you know, I remind myself every day that it's a privilege and I'm really grateful that I can make things and I can draw and I can express myself in that way. some people need to hire an artist to help them express themselves. So that's what I'm working on with her and she's amazing. But I have a lot of clients like that who are in the age range when I feel like maybe 20 years ago, they would have never walked in to a tattoo shop, you know, off the street. Because you know who hangs out there.

Like hoodlums and crazy. And I mean, honestly, that might have been true, too. Like, that's the other, I think in our industry, we have to be accountable and admit that that was probably true for a really long time. But about 20 years ago, women started coming into this industry in a big way. And I think anytime that that happens, things shift. You know, men design it for men. Yeah. They don't probably not even on purpose.

It's just how it's done, right? And it was serving them. Yeah. It was serving them well for maybe a century or so in this country. But yeah, I think now that there are a lot of female artists, we're seeing a lot more female clients. And we're seeing a lot more people of all ages. figuring out that it's okay for them to look how they want and do what they want. And you're seeing, you know, family tattoos where it's like, oh, we're, you know,

every time we go on a trip or, you know, our big family, we get a little something. That's so normal now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. I love it.

Never going to get a job. You've got that turtle on your ankle. Yeah. It's ever going to happen for you. Yeah. And I don't think that's as true anymore. You know, I tattoo doctors and all sorts of high-level professionals. It's okay now.

I think it's totally okay. You wouldn't even see it on somebody working in a grocery store. It was like if you had tattoos, you had to keep them covered. And it's just acceptable. You know, I was telling you the story when I first met my business partner for Cheer. she was a jam for her whole aeronautical place and, I mean, big, level job. And she took off her jacket one day and I saw tattoos. I was like, oh, my gosh, how did she, how was she able to get a job with these tattoos on?

Yeah. It's okay, guys. And, you know, some people may have judged her. Yeah, I'm sure. And some, I think some people still judge me. And that's okay. I really, I mean, at this point, I feel like. Life is short, people.

That's okay. And also, I think. So I think part of self-expression is it's almost weeding out. You know, if there are people who might see me or someone even more heavily tattooed than me and they might jump to certain conclusions or not have a conversation with me or not take me seriously, that's okay and I'm not for them and neither is toothpick

really and that's okay but I think there's a whole lot more people who might see someone like me and might be interested in what these pieces mean to me or

they might at least not judge me for how I look and I think we all need to do a lot more of that. Yeah. Like I said, life is short.

And, you know, I regret a lot of the things I used to tell my kids when they were younger because it was like, it was just the stigma back then. And now I'm like, you know, but they're making up for it. My kids are getting tattoos all the time. Yeah. And, yeah, I didn't grow up in a tattoo household. I didn't know any adults who had tattoos. The first time I saw tattooed people was on TV.

and I fell in love with it. You just, were you doing something else or how did you become a tattoo artist? Yeah, so I started tattooing people when I was 19, but it was for fun. It was because I loved tattoos and I just wanted to do it. And I was already an artist. I was going to art school. and there were a handful of us who were interested in tattooing too. So technically I started tattooing back then, but I didn't see it as a serious career path.

I grew up in a family that, and I feel really grateful for this, even though I ended up where I am, but I grew up in a family that was very interested in education and career and, you know, the path that was kind of laid out for us was college career kind of mindset. So that's what I did. You know, I followed that path. It does give you some discipline and everything as you get on those things. Totally. I don't think a lot of the skills sets that I gathered over that decade of working

professionally in different capacities. Not that tattooing isn't working professionally, but working in a traditional... It doesn't feel like a job. I bet it's awesome. It doesn't. But toothpick and what I'm what I've created with toothpick, what I'm trying to create, couldn't have happened without all of my job, job experience. So I'm grateful for both.

You know, I worked in, I worked for anthropology and J.Crew and managed retail stores and worked for nonprofits and worked for government and all sorts of things. And they all led you to toothpick. Yeah. Last thing I'm going to ask you is, why toothpick? Where does that name come from? The name? It's a long story.

Do you want it? I think I do. I think I want it. So, so when I think of. people in media with a toothpick in their mouth. I love this image. It feels very iconic of like cool, you know, kind of doesn't care what people think. But when I think of that image, I think of Clint Eastwood and James Dean, right?

John Wayne. Yeah. Yeah. Who I love all of them. But they're all men. Yeah. And so then I started to, when I realized that I started to look into, okay, is there any iconography of people who aren't men with a toothpick, using a toothpick? And it literally doesn't exist, like at all through the ages.

So then the question came to me of, well, why not? You know, this is a functional, practical. It's a tool, right? And even that is not for us and certainly not in public. No. Don't show it, you know. If you need to find one and you go into the restroom, you shut the door. Right.

So it reminds me of tattooing in that capacity. It's that question of why not me? Why not us? Why can't we You know, it goes back to why can't we use this functional object like a toothpick in public Why can't we have tattoos? Why can't we give tattoos? Why can't we have a space that's made up of all women who, you know, are changing the narrative around what that means?

That's what it's about. I'm glad you told the story because that is it's such, it's perfect. It's just perfect. Thanks. Bella, I could talk to you for days. So I've really enjoyed, you know, talking to you and talking with you and learning a, you know, little peek into your life and in your studio. And again, you're on, you said Garden and Grove. Yeah, right by Prescott College.

And your website is toothpickpressket.com. And you can check your classes, the collaborators. If they wanted to book a tattoo session with you, how do they do that? Is it on the website as well? Yeah, so you kind of can go through the website for everything, for our art classes, our events. We have some really great fundraisers coming up that are going to be in our space, some arts-based fundraisers, so you can see those on our website. And also for any tattoo booking or artist consultations, or if you're looking to purchase fine art,

all of that can be done through our website. Our email address is on there. Our phone number's on there. You can also find us on Instagram if you're an Instagram person, but the website kind of houses everything. If you drop your email address on our website to sign up for our newsletter, we only send out about one or two emails a month. So it's not like a big commitment. Don't worry, guys. It's not like it's not forever.

But it's just the good info and it'll go right to your inbox so you don't have to remember to check. This was awesome. Yeah. Just walk inside. Go check out the living room. Yes, come see us. Look at a book. Yeah.

If our open sign is on, we don't have open hours because we're artists and, you know, we can't. What a wonderful life. Sometimes I'm busy. We're open when we're open. But our open sign is bright and it shows to the road. So if you see it on, come see us. You see it on. Go ahead and pull over.

If not, we're just said we're busy being creative because they can't be bothered. We have to. I have stuff to, when the moment hits, I'm going to get it out. It's awesome. What I be an artist? I suck it, painting. I suck at everything. Come take a class.

I should. Yeah. I should. We have classes for true beginners, like people who've never held a brush before and all the way up from there. At Christmas, we bought, you know, just the fake can get. I shouldn't say fake, but they're cheap, whatever, you know, five for 10 bucks or whatever. And we just had our paints out. And I have very creative people in my family.

So they're just, you know, painting. And I'm over here just, I'm thinking it's just like colors of a sunset, not trying to make anything but other, just colors of a sunset. And it's so calming. And so like you can't mess it up. You can't do it wrong. And if you happen to, I don't like that, just add more orange and, you know, make the sunset brighter over here. So I should take a class because I need that center. I need that just.

I'm not thinking about anything else. Yeah. We all do. Like, truly, we all need that. And, you know, you could just go on YouTube and go alone at home and take a little class on YouTube or watch how to paint or whatever. But it feels really good to try something new next to someone else who's trying something new and be in a room of people who all signed up to do the same thing. It's that vulnerability we were talking about earlier. It's like it's putting yourself out there just a little bit,

but the reward is so, so good. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, like I said, Bella, I could talk to you for hours and hours and hours. So maybe I'll just come take a class with you guys. Yeah, come to. I'd love to hang out with you some more.

So, again, that's toothpickpressket.com. Book a tattoo. If you've been thinking about doing it, just consult with, you know, you know, Bella and talk it out. And, you know, it just because they book with you, doesn't mean it has to be done, right? Like, come and let's chat about it. Let's at least give her, give a moment to check it out. Yeah. Come see us. Yeah. What a cool place. What a cool little life you have. Thank you. Again, toothpickpressket.com. And you guys, thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Thanks.