The artist entered the professional world outside the artistic world, as a professional in the field of psychology, but later she decided to take a gap year and try new things. It was there that she participated in a giveaway on Instagram, winning the prize for a two-day tattoo workshop and a tattoo machine. From then on, she never stopped and has had a career that spans three years.


Three years ago, the world was experiencing the painful time of the Covid-19 pandemic that changed many people's lives, and as Mary told The Portugal News “a lot of things were put into perspective”, particularly in her profession. It was after finishing her master's thesis that Mary in the Sky decided to stop for a year and focus on other areas, with tattoos being the winner.


Maria Monteiro chose the name Mary in the Sky as her stage name for the song by the British group The Beatles, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Her stage name was used on several platforms, including film reviews and book reviews. I feel “very clear that it would be Mary in the Sky”, the artistic name to be adopted.


Getting tattoos with film frames is for Mary a way of connecting people with the same tastes, as there are certain “themes [tattooed] that are repeated a lot.” The tattoos that Mary in the Sky gets, as she revealed to The Portugal News, transcend the aesthetic part of the tattoo, becoming something more emotional that the artist likes. Currently, around 90% of Mary in the Sky's work involves tattooing film frames, to the taste of her clients.


A safe space

The artist, who already has her studio, wants her space to be a safe and comfortable place for everyone, particularly queer people. To The Portugal News, Mary in the Sky states “I wanted to be able to offer a space where no one felt like they had to apologise for something.” The artist also adds that she feels it is increasingly important to create safe spaces, where all differences can be accepted.


How to schedule

On Mary in the Sky's Instagram profile, @maryintheskyy, you can find a form where people can enter their data and ideas, so that a quote can be sent, without any commitment.

The form contains diaries for Portugal and London, where Mary in the Sky also appears as a guest once a month.

Author

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos