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Kat Von D
Born	Katherine von Drachenberg March 8, 1982 (1982-03-08) (age 28) Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Other names	Katherine Drachenberg, Kat von D
Occupation	Tattoo artist, Television personality
Spouse(s)	Oliver Peck (m. 2004–2007) «start: (2004)–end+1: (2008)»"Marriage: Oliver Peck to Kat Von D" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kat_Von_D)
Website Kat Von D.net

Kat Von D (born Katherine Von Drachenberg on March 8, 1982 in Monterrey, Mexico) is a Mexican-born tattoo artist and television personality. She is best known for her work as a featured tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show Miami Ink. A subsequent TLC series LA Ink, premiered August 7, 2007 in the United States and November 11, 2007 in the UK.

Biography

Von D was born in Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico (town south of Monterrey). Her father is René Drachenberg and her mother is Sylvia Galeano. Both of her parents were born in Argentina, but René's family origins were German and Sylvia's Spanish-Italian ¹. She has a sister named Karoline and a brother named Michael. Kat is the middle child. She moved to Los Angeles at age 4 and grew up in Colton, Ca in Southern California. She credits the prominent Latino culture of Los Angeles as being a major influence drawing tattoos in her art and style.² She quit school when she was 14 and decided she wanted to be a tattoo artist.³ Kat has been tattooing since she was 14.⁴

Von D was asked to work at Miami Ink when Darren Brass had broken his arm.⁵ She had a falling out with Ami James which led to her leaving Miami Ink.⁶ She has said that she hasn't spoken with any of the members of Miami Ink since her departure. ⁶

Following this she got her own show, LA Ink. In the show, she works at her tattoo shop, High Voltage Tattoo, in Hollywood, California. On the show, she gained the Guiness World Record of most tattoos given by a single person in 24 hours, with a total of 400.⁷ This was broken shortly after by her ex husband Oliver Peck with 415, and then later was smashed by Derek Kastning with 726.⁸

Kat Von D, at the 2007 Calgary Tattoo & Arts Festival, Alberta, Canada.

She has a book compiling her artworks and tattoos, which was released in January 2009, called "High Voltage Tattoo" with a foreword by her current boyfriend, Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx. The book traces Von D's career as an artist, from early childhood influences to recent work, along with examples of what inspires her, information about the show and her shop, her sketches, and personal tattoos. In a January 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Von D said about the book: "It's not an autobiography, you know, 'cause I'm too young to do that. But this is just kind of like a picture-driven outline of my career as an artist. So, you see everything from my drawings when I was six to tattoos that have never before been seen."⁹ She was one of the contributors to Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna's book Cherry Bomb in which she gave tips on tattooing.

Von D created a make-up line for Sephora,¹⁰ and is the creator of the Musink festival.¹¹

Von D married fellow tattoo artist Oliver Peck in 2004, but divorced in 2007 and is dating Nikki Sixx. The pair began dating in 2007, following Von D's divorce from fellow tattooist Oliver Peck. On January 24th, 2010, Nikki posted a MySpace blog saying: "I want to wish Katherine nothing but the best in her life. She has loved and inspired the hell outta me and I know I have done the same for her in these almost two years we ruled the earth together. We are taking a break from our relationship for reasons that we will choose to keep personal. You won't find me saying a bad word about her and I don't believe vice versa, we have too much wonderful history together to ever deface that.", but the couple got back together later.

Celebrity fans

Von D was referenced in the Eagles of Death Metal song "High Voltage", which was named after her shop and is featured on their third album "Heart On". In an interview, Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes said, "I wrote that for Kat Von D, because that girl's bad ass.".¹²

Musical tastes

Von D was classically trained in piano beginning at age 6.¹³ She particularly appreciates Ludwig van Beethoven.¹³ Von D has tattooed herself with the emblems of the bands Misfits, HIM, Turbonegro, ZZ Top, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Slayer, Mike Got Spiked and "Slutallica", a modified Metallica logo.¹³ She appeared in the music video of Alkaline Trio's Help Me. She also likes the band 30 Seconds To Mars and is featured on the cover of "This Is War" as one of the 2,000 fans chosen.^{citation needed}

Filmography

LA Ink's graffiti in Los Angeles

As well as cameos and various chat show appearances, TV, film, and video game appearances include:

• Miami Ink, 2005-2006
• LA Ink, 2007-present
• MADtv, April 5, 2008
• The Bleeding as Vanya¹⁴
• Tony Hawk: Ride (video game) unlockable skater, November 17, 2009

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kat Von D

• Official website
• Kat Von D at the Internet Movie Database
• Kat Von D at TV.com

Interviews

This section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (September 2009)

• Kat Von D Interview at PR.com
• Kat Von D interview, Inked
• "Marked sensation". LA Times. 2008-01-06. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/08/entertainment/et-laink8. Retrieved 2008-06-03. 
• Q&A with Kat Von D discussing reality TV, her favorite artists and what's on her iPod
• Kat Von D podcast interview at Juliland.com
• Talk show session at TomGreen.com – The Channel (2009-08-09)
• Talk show session at TomGreen.com – The Channel (2009-08-29)