Miss Peggy Brown is Bristol’s premiere magic realism tattoo artist, creating hand-drawn ornamental motifs and imaginary flowers that flow around the body.

As part of the private studio Cosmic Garden in Bristol, Peggy has cultivated a calming, creative artistic studio from which she can make her incredible magic realism tattoos.

We had a chat with Peggy about her experience in the tattoo industry, her essential supplies, being patient with yourself, and how Cosmic Garden sits within the thriving Bristol tattoo scene!

How long have you been tattooing for, and how did you get started?

It all started with the first tattoo I ever got myself. Back then there weren’t many tattoo artists around, or social media, and I had been waiting a couple of months for my appointment with this guy.  He showed me on the day a little pastel drawing of my design, and it was magical to see that drawing becoming a tattoo! It wasn’t as painful as I thought and I loved that I could cherish it forever.

It was an experience which left me with beautiful artwork on my body. I felt instantly cooler about myself (even though the tattoo was in a hidden area) and it massively helped me find my self-image and who I was later down the line. It was a creative trade with some kind of energy exchange which was very rewarding in the end. Now I have been tattooing for 13 years and I can say it’s not only a job, it’s a lifestyle I am very grateful for. I am glad it found me this way!

I knew I wanted to design something when I grew up, I just didn’t know I’d get the privilege to design human bodies and skin!

Why do you go by Miss Peggy Brown in particular?

I always wanted to be recognised though my art not really through my face or name so it felt really good and right to be able to create this persona who can be the artist I always wanted to be. I felt rebellious by doing it and I think it was a healthy manifestation and dream come true… There is actually a song called Peggy Brown, by Myslovitz, who were my favourite Polish band when I was growing up.  Inspired by the song, Miss Peggy Brown was born! I have been using this nickname for nearly 20 years now, doing firstly art and now tattooing.

How would you describe your style of tattoo to someone who hadn’t seen your work?

I like to put my style of tattooing into the category of “magic realism”.  I love nature, and I love using the flow of the body to complement it. I like adding into my work things like swirls, clouds and botanical ornamental motifs, imaginary flowers, and all magical mystical things. It exists but it doesn’t really exist. It can represent anything you like.

I also love doing big scale work. I love adding eyes and little sparkle of magic dust around, and my favourite thing ever is when I can fit a smiley face there too (I get asked for that quite a lot!) My tattoos are fitted onto you, so very often they will wrap around the body. I use bold outlines and high contrast, with different shading techniques for different gradients to bring it all to life.

How has your style developed since you began tattooing?

I didn’t know I had a style - or that I can freehand tattoos - until the day I actually tried! I was struggling with the stencil and my customer put enough trust in me to give it go. It instantly felt right, anxiety about the stencil was gone, and it was a very freeing feeling. I finally felt like I was on a right path so I started doing it more often, working with the human body shape more and exploring bigger scale work. It felt like I could fit anything anywhere because I could just draw it in!

Free-handing is an amazing skill but I struggled in the beginning because, as with everything, it requires practice. Because you don’t have a reference drawing, you need to learn to see the final tattoo in your head.

I also end up without any drawings of actual tattoos I was doing for some time. I had a picture of course of the tattoo, but I quickly realised that I need to find some ways of actually having a drawing of the tattoo I did too. My style keeps developing with every customer who puts their trust in me and my vision, especially with bigger scale work, when you have people keep coming back to you to continue this journey.

I have clients from all around the world and most of them are giving me absolute freedom to do whatever I feel would fit the space best. It’s an amazing feeling but it’s also very scary sometimes because you know you’ve always got to do your best work!

Are there any other motifs or styles you’d like to develop in the future?

I was always obsessed with sacred geometry and tribal tattoos as much as I was with black illustrative ornamental work, so being able to freehand some more technical patterns and objects would be an amazing thing to learn in the future! I would love to be able to fully freehand machine tattoos straight to the skin at some point in my career as well, and have a proper go at lettering too.

With this trade I kind of looking forward to getting wiser with every year rather than older. I feel like people are really rushing into everything these days, but life isn’t about who is going to die first; we should also try to experience this life a little bit slower and more peacefully. I hope in the future I will just resonate with more and more inspiring people and create more and more magical tattoos for at least another couple of decades!

Do you exclusively hand-draw your designs?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve tried a lot of different ways to approach the way I apply my vision onto skin, and I feel like a combination of freehand and stencil is the best way for me. I think for a while I felt some kind of guilt that I can’t draw everything, or that it takes me so long to draw something on the skin the way I want to, forgetting that human skin is not a flat sheet of paper and I am not an iPad!

So I stopped giving myself a hard time and these days I like to draw with my client a rough sketch of the design on paper, so they can envision what we’re going to do! With awkward gaps I prefer to draw them straight into skin, but with bigger scale work I like to sketch it on a paper and have use that as a base line of a stencil, especially if it’s going to take a couple of sessions.

Do you always use only black ink, and if so, which one(s)?

I prefer to use black ink, but I don’t mind adding a little bit of colour every now and then. I’ve pretty much always used and am still using Dynamic black ink for the consistency. I have clients who keep coming back for more tattoos after 10 years, so I like to make sure they all look the same once healed.

How did you decide to set up Cosmic Garden, and what kind of challenges did you face?

Cosmic Garden found me more than me trying to set it up. In the middle of the pandemic I moved to a new city for a little bit of a peaceful existence, and focused massively on my tattooing journey. I found new friends and quickly settled in; meeting new people brought fresh ideas, new energy… all of us in the studio have quite unique magical ways of being, so it just made sense one day to set up a little den where we can do our best. We all resonated with “Cosmic Garden”, and it was created. Now we are collectively spreading our little magic around!

We are a small team, which I think makes us different to the other big tattoo studios. It feels more personal. I think people can feel it when they come through our door, and they appreciate that.

The biggest challenge with it all was to find a studio in a good spot. I had a team of talented artists wanting to work with me and I didn’t have a space to be able to create with them all! It was stressful, and it took some energy out of me, as well as some time, friendships, and love away from it all.

Can you tell us about the other artists working with you?

I am working with two amazing women at the moment El Ruby who does black illustrative work and Emily who does colour traditional. We all found each other through tattooing and I feel like we are all saving each other on daily basis. Tattooing is not only our job, we are all artists who draw, paint, write books, and create outside of tattooing too. I love being surrounded by people I can get inspired by too, and these two are definitely bringing that to the table!

Cosmic Garden seems to have such a cool vibe - how would you describe the atmosphere on a daily basis?

I think because we all have been tattooing for a while now and been through so much in the past, we’re all on the same page in terms of “treating people the way you want to be treated”. When you’re doing such a permanent job you want to make sure your clients feel looked after and actually have an experience with their tattoo. We spend loads of time drawing and making sure it doesn’t feel rushed. I think it makes difference.

How do you and your studio fit into the Bristol tattoo scene?

The Bristol tattoo scene is huge at the moment; there are loads of tattoo studios and loads of artist to choose from. I think it’s important to understand that people don’t really mind any more what shop you are in, it’s more about who you are as an artist, and what you do. They will come to you for your artwork.

Our Instagram feed is what the flash wall used to be in the old school tattoo studios. You just don’t need to go to the tattoo studio any more to look through it! You can look at your artist’s Instagram feed and either enquire for custom work or choose a flash. I feel like it’s great and it’s definitely beneficial for all of us artists to have this exposure online, but it’s also quite scary how easily it all can be taken away from you and used by different people. There is a difference between getting inspired and ripping people off. There is also difference between being a “Tattooist” and being a “Tattoo Artist”.

Can you tell us about the machine and needles you use, and what kind of settings you run to get your clear lines and dotwork?

I started with Bishop, went through loads of different set ups, including coils, and ended up back again with Bishop. At the moment I am using the Bishop Wand with their power packs. It’s super easy on the hand and a clean set up. I love it. I also use Stellar needle cartridges. I like playing with voltage if it comes to shading too!

What would your dream working day look like?

I sometimes need to pinch myself to believe this is the life I am living. I feel really grateful for the people who found me and shaped me as an artist. So the only thing I would change would be to make this country more warm and sunny - then I would be living the dream!

How heavily tattooed are you, and do you have any favourites?

My body has loads of layers and it’s pretty much 3/4 done - I have a tattoo everywhere on my body. Some of them were done just because I wanted to see how much it actually hurts (those days are over!!) and some of them were done because I really loved the way they look. I always struggled a little bit with self-image so I can say tattoos 100% helped me and are the best thing I ever done to myself - I am not only feeling stronger mentally, I also have a compassion for my clients when they are getting tattooed as I exactly know how it feels.

I have couple of favourite ones. I have little Japanese clouds done by GANJI bang on my collar bones and I have some Spider Sinclair single needle work on my neck. I love my magic stars on my palms done by Grace Neutral and my white ink sleeve tattoo done by Steven McKenzie. I have collected some beautiful tattoos traveling around Europe, New Zealand and the west coast too, which always bring back good memories!

What is your favourite thing about being a tattoo artist?

I have a few favourite things about being a tattoo artist! I feel like not many professions can be so rewarding and satisfying at the same time. It’s a creative process which not only changes people’s lives, it can lead you to meet really amazing people on the way. You can travel with it too, which helps to create new friendships all around the world, and you can be a living artist which is still quite a difficult thing to do in the first place!

Can you tell us about your creative side project, Gold and Herb, and the pieces you make?

Gold and Herb is my pandemic baby. I just love doing things with my hands, and in that time when we weren’t allowed to tattoo, I needed some kind of creative outlet!

I rented a pottery studio with a couple of girls and quite easily got addicted to it. From little trinkets to heart-shape bottles, pottery has so much more space for mistakes, but at the same time you’re playing with fire so you never actually know the outcome until you open the kiln, and sometimes the kiln gods can ruin something even after weeks of making it.

It was loads of fun, but tattooing picked up massively after the pandemic, and then Cosmic Garden happened, leaving me with no free time to do pottery. I will be back to it though for sure!

How about your graffiti work with Resting Bitch Face?

I remember the first time I saw RBF painting at Upfest festival three or four years ago; it was a really sunny day and they were all wearing dresses painting this huge wall. I remember I looked at them and I was like “those girls are cool af”.

They’d seen my work around Bristol and asked me to paint with them occasionally, and then they invited me to join the crew, which was an amazing feeling! We ended up painting at a couple of festivals so far, including Upfest last year, and it was a dream come true.

I am just so grateful to belong to such an amazing female crew here in Bristol. Those girls are killing it on so many levels. We’re all from different backgrounds, in different ages and stages in life; some of us are mums, some of us are buying houses, some of us are also starting their tattoo journey. We are drama free and always there to support each other.

And what do you like to do to relax?

I love a good walk with a sketchbook at my side. I also love napping in the sun. Sunsets at the seaside make me really happy too. Playing music always helps me to relax. Movie with a cup of tea. It all depends on the season of the year really!

Will we see you at any tattoo conventions or studio visits in 2025?

I will be attending only one more convention this year, which will be Bristol Tattoo Convention in July. I am planning more travelling and more conventions in 2026!

What does the future hold for Miss Peggy Brown?

I hope the future for Miss Peggy Brown holds more peaceful days, loads of love, arts and crafts, health, and the ability to keep creating and connect with more amazing artists and people on the way!

I would love to make a book with all my drawings as well at some point to sum up my first decade of tattooing, and I would also love to be able to tattoo and create in my mother land Poland, as I’ve not had the chance to do so yet. Fingers crossed!

Many thanks to Miss Peggy Brown for this enchanting conversation! You can see more of her work on Instagram, check out the work being done at Cosmic Garden, and book in to get your own custom piece of magic realism!