DEANNA MAFFEO

New York City has produced some of the greatest artists of all time-Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Lady Gaga, to name a few.

Now we're going to add one more to that list-Deanna, Maffeo. Despite only having a few years of tattooing under her belt, Deanna is already one of NYC's rising tattoo stars. We caught up with Deanna to learn how she began her tattoo career, her advice for getting an apprenticeship, and where she'll be in five years.

What did you want to be when you grew up? A vet, but it used to take me months to get over the death of my pets-hamsters, lizards, goldfish, you name it. So it's better that I never went down that path. I would've been destroyed emotionally. Plus, I was always terrible at science and math.

What was your experience as an art student in NYC? Art school in NYC was definitely how the movies portray it. I went to La Guardia for high school, famously known as the "Fame" school, and there were literally people singing and dancing through the halls. Then there were the art students, who were usually very quiet and peeking around corners-that was me. I was quiet, observant, and very focused on bettering my craft.