'She gave me strength': Local tattoo artist offers free ink to cover scars from past

A Cobourg tattoo artist is helping people turn dark reminders from their past into artwork they can be proud of.

Nickola Koukla is the owner of Koukla Ink, a business she started last month, and for about a year, she has been offering free tattoos to cover up cancer or self-harm scars.

"It actually started by chance...I just noticed that women in general were coming to me for things like self harm scar cover ups and for other scars whether it's childbearing to surviving breast cancer," Koukla said in an interview with CBC's Ontario Morning.

"I realized there's a need for it and there's so many people with scars who want a new beginning and I think everybody deserves a second chance so I thought I should do something about it."

Currently she works out of a private studio in Cobourgand gives free cover up tattoos once a month.

Changing canvasses

Koukla wasn't always a tattoo artist though.

She studied fine arts at the University of Ottawa and moved to Berlin after graduating. It was in Berlin thatshe saysshe started to see tattooing in a "different light."

After Berlin, Koukla decided to switch canvasses and hasn't looked back.

"I'm so grateful and humbled everyday, I found painting a little bit lonely to be honest, and I love that I get to work with people and help people," she said.

"It's a dream come true."

Koukla is a custom tattoo artist, which means most of her work is done in the moment. She said she will often simply take a sharpie, talk to her client, listen to them and come up with a custom drawing, and tattoo what she came up with.

One client, whose last nameCBC News has agreed not to disclose,saidshe went to see Koukla to cover up scars on her forearm due to self harm throughout her adolescence.

Cayla told CBC News she struggled with identity crisis, body image, and general anxiety and depression.

'She gave me strength'

The tattoo Koukladesigned is of a female gladiator. Cayla said the gladiator's armour represents her constant battle with bipolar disorder. The girl is looking to the sky to symbolize a bright future, and finally a bird is perched on her head to represent Cayla's freedom, that she is "no longer a slave" to her years of pain.

"Nickola didn't just give me a tattoo, she gave me strength," she said.

"All I need to do is look down at my arm and I am reminded of the fact that I am past it, I will continue to move past it, and I will be free."

After about a year of hearing stories like Cayla's, Koukla said she's surprised at how similar everyone's reasons are for coming to her.

"I think a lot of the times there's mental illness or trauma or domestic abuse," she said.

"We all feel these things and go through traumas throughout life and if there was more of an open discussion about it then we wouldn't feel so alone."

A new beginning

Already, Koukla's tattoos are sparking a conversation.

"I've used my new cover up as a tool to help others and to spread awareness about mental illness," said her client Cayla.

"I work in social services and I feel more empowered than I ever have when I show my arm and there's a big warrior princess showing her face."

For Kouklait's the difference, like the one she sees in Cayla, thatis the best part of her job.

"The way that I'm able to cover people's scars and make them feel like they have a chance at a new beginning...is so rewarding," she said.

"I'm just so grateful that people let me be a part of that."

And her clients are grateful too.

"She has taken something that is so negative and something people are so ashamed of and is making it beautiful," said Cayla.

"She is amazing."