other_names article_title name image_size
beverly bean vyvyn lazonga
 vyvyn lazonga 250 px
vyvyn lazonga

vyvyn lazonga , born beverly bean , is a tattoo artist who began her career in seattle in the early 1970s and was trained by danny danzl .
she was one of the first women to work for herself in the industry , not her husband or another male shop owner .
she worked in san francisco and was tattooed by ed hardy in the 70 's .
she won the award for best tattooed female in 1978 for his work .
later she was fortunate enough to meet horiyoshi ii at one of lyle tuttle 's parties before returning in 1989 to open her studio in seattle .
vyvyn lazonga has been a tattoo icon for more than 30 years .
she was one of the first female artists in the world who went out on her own and did n't work for her husband or partner ; she worked for herself and her art .
she broke many boundaries , challenged the tattoo/artistic norm , and continues to create amazing custom body art today .
she has , along with madame chinchilla , advocated the use of tattoos to cover mastectomy scars as an aid to recovery .
