Longtime artist brings her talents to San Marcos

 

By Matthew Ruiz

 

SAN MARCOS, Texas—Flip Solomon, a multidimensional artist based in Austin, TX, is set to have her art featured in San Marcos’ newest tattoo parlor, the One & Only Tattoo Company.

 

Solomon currently lives in Austin, Texas, but was originally born and raised in Milford, Connecticut where she fell in love with art at a young age. She is a unique artist who uses her narcolepsy condition to her artistic advantage. Narcolepsy is a disorder of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) cycles, which causes her to have vivid dreams even in the daytime. Solomon uses large-scale, pen and ink artwork to portray what she envisions in her dreams.   

 

“Instead of having a few REM cycles, I have hundreds at night,” Solomon said. “I go through REM even when I’m awake, so I work a lot from my dreams.”

 

Solomon has been a friend of Daniel Upton, the owner of One & Only Tattoo Co., for 12 years. They admire each other’s work and progress and Solomon says she is excited to team up with an artist like Upton.

 

“He has such a good eye, he has great taste and he’s a hard-worker,” Solomon said. “He’s not afraid to go for it.”

 

Solomon takes her artwork seriously and does not rush the process it takes to finish her pieces. She gives herself a minimum of five to six weeks to finish her drawings, however she said some can take much longer.

 

“It depends on if I’m doing fur for the animal drawings,” Solomon said. “One of the wolves took me a few months.”

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Solomon enjoys only using black and white in her pieces, yet with each pen and ink stroke, she still manages to tell a vibrant story.

 

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