Shadowing and Guesting might seem like a piercer jolly but it is much more important than you may realise. You may have noticed that over the last month there have been some friendly new faces around Rogue. All of these lovely piercers have been here to guest spot or to shadow.
Guest Spots
Guest spots are when a piercer goes to work in a different studio than their usual resident studio. These piercers can sometimes be permanent travelers or just heading to a single studio. Guest spots can be helpful to a studio for multiple reasons, with the most common reasons including holiday cover, illness cover and studio growth. Aiden was a permanent travelling artist before setting up Rogue and had spent 2.5 years globetrotting across the UK and Europe. Guesting and working in new studios can really push you to try new techniques to fit with that studio’s style, and increases the speed at which you learn. Guest spots are often well-paid and you are expected to be piercing the entire time. It’s a great way to earn money and travel across the world! Guest spots are often for highly-skilled piercers who have the flexibility to work in whatever situation they find themselves in.
Shadowing
Shadowing is the process by which piercers will attend another experienced piercers’ studio in order to specifically learn a new technique. It’s like a mini-apprenticeship! For example, Rae has been with us for the past three days to learn new techniques for forward helixes, tragus and daith piercings. Shadowing means that the learner watches everything the experienced piercer is doing, and the new techniques are explained in detail. This is a great way to brush up on new skills and confirm your own knowledge. It’s so important to realise that most piercers work alone and do not often have the chance to share knowledge or improve their techniques without visiting other studios.
We welcome piercers of all experience levels to shadow at Rogue. Get in touch via aiden@roguepiercing.co.uk if you would like to shadow us!
Who’s visiting?
Marianne has been our main guest this last month, and has been spending her Fridays and Saturdays working alongside us in our second piercing room. It’s been lovely to see her confidence grow! Marianne has been piercing for 9 years. She was trained just down the road from Rogue in Pierce of Art in Alfreton, so that’s the necessary Nottingham connection. Mari is currently in the process of opening her own studio in Bangor, North Wales!
Rae has been spending much of this week shadowing Aiden to hone her skills. She has been piercing just south of Cardiff for 7 years, but felt it was valuable to come and see another experienced piercer work. While she was here, we happily pierced a set of supremely high nostrils on her! We are looking forward to seeing these heal over the coming months.
