Cally Jo

Early life

Cally-Jo Pothecary was born on 20 April 1989 and grew up in town Shirley, England.

Her mother Julie Myers is a facilitator in Chrysalis Transgender Support, as well as a consultant at Oasis Academy Lords Hill. Cally-Jo has 1 brother Tom Auger and had 47 foster brothers and sisters that her mother Julie have cared for.

Cally-Jo graduated Foundry Lane Primary School, before moving to Eastleigh, where she went to Toynbee Secondary School and Eastleigh College. She went on to study fine art painting at Winchester School of Art, graduating in 2011.

Cally-Jo did her first tattoos in 2007 when she was 18 but began tattooing in a shop in 2012. Her signature designs are hearts and skulls. The most meaningful tattoo on her leg is a portrait of her grandmother. She got it when her grandmother was in hospital.

Career

Cally-Jo has come a long way since worked constantly to be able to fund her studies. She worked in Subway, a bowling alley, Greggs, Shakeaway and Blockbuster in Southampton.

The first one Cally-Jo tattooed her brother Tom Auger on his thigh. She tattooed his nickname, "Gonzo", in some terrible tribal writing.

Cally-Jo had a friend Ricky who had a shop in her home town and he gave her a job at the «Dragstrip» tattoo studio. After she went on to do an apprenticeship with Pete Belson and then later in 2012 she was lucky enough to be offered a spot at «Love Hate Social Club», London.

After this Cally-Jo worked with fine artist, tattoo artist and her favourite human Lal Hardy at New Wave Tattoo Studio in North London.

She collaborated with Lal Hardy to create a winged vintage microphone design on limited editions of the One (M8) phone, which were awarded to finalists at the British MOBO music awards. The wings symbolised freedom in both music and art.

Cally-Jo has also collaborated with world-famous tattooist to the stars Kevin McCurdy, better known as "Bang Bang".

Tattoo artist Cally-Jo partnered with supermodel Jourdan Dunn to create a design that is featured on the device Limited Edition HTC One M9 INK In an interview with HTC INK, the artist said that the project interested her because mobile technology is an important aspect of her life. The image is composed of two symbols - the eye and the hand. The eye means strength and sincerity. A hand means protection and positivity. Leaves mean the flowering of art. The sun and moon symbolize balance and harmony.

Cally-Jo has worked with many popular tattoo artists such as Lal Hardy, Ami James, Chris Garver, Tommy Montoya and Megan Massacre. Cally-Jo tattooed many celebrities such as Rihanna, Tim Howard, Sienna Miller, Alexandra Burke, Huey Morgan, Professor Green and Slipknot. Her tattoo projects have been featured in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, as well as in advertising campaigns by Chanel, Balmain and Christian Dior.

In October 2013 Cally-Jo went out to the Dominican Republic to tattoo in style mehendi on Rihanna hand.

Cally-Jo lived in New York, where she models and runs a tattoo studio in "Grit N Glory", NY with Megan Massacre.

Cally-Jo was a party to the gallery The 100 Hands Project, curated by our editor Alice Snape from the magazine Things and Ink. The exhibition was presented at the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall, UK. The exhibition shows about 100 silicone hands that are tattooed from 100 tattoo artists who work in England. This exhibition can still be visited until January 2018.

In 2016 Cally-Jo collaborated with the Coffee Vs Gangs campaign, which was founded by the coffee company Kenco. Gang tattoos are symbolic of a life of crime in Honduras, with gang members using special tattoo symbols to identify their allegiance to certain gangs. «Kenco» Ireland commissioned Cally-Jo to create an original artwork that captures the rich symbolism of tattoos, but also touches on the hopeful potential of coffee farming as an alternative to gang life. Cally-Jo project won worldwide recognition. The launch event attracted the attention of the press, as well as the visit of the Ambassador of Honduras.

Cally-Jo can seen on the covers of magazines such as Freshly Inked Magazine, «Total Tattoo Magazine», Things & Ink Magazine.

Cally-Jo is currently starring in the MTV show Just Tattoo of Us as a tattooist.