Madacyne Leatherman, owner of and artist at Cyne Art & Tattoo Studio is pictured beside her hand-painted business sign. Photo provided by Madacyne Leatherman.

By Caleigh Byrer
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — Madacyne Leatherman has always had a strong connection to her creative side; she has been an artist for her entire life, particularly enjoying graphite artwork and fine-line drawing.

After growing up with an appreciation for and talent in fine art, she chose to take courses through Anderson University as an art major. She decided that she didn’t want to continue with school, but has never stopped drawing and creating.

One of Leatherman’s pieces of artwork. Photo provided by Madacyne Leatherman.

Leatherman later decided to take a tattoo apprenticeship opportunity. She noted that she studied under and worked alongside very talented artists during that time, but there was always something pushing her to keep moving forward and exploring her options.

It was in her 10-year plan to open her own tattoo shop, but it became her reality much sooner despite only being in the industry for three years. Driven by passion, determination and self-belief, Leatherman opened her own shop Cyne Art & Tattoo Studio, 109 N. Huntington St., Syracuse, in November 2022.

She knew she had what it took to be a successful artist, but opening her own shop was a huge commitment. “Being a business owner is a completely different ball game, it was sink or swim from the start,” Leatherman said.

She had to learn quickly, come up with innovative solutions and keep a level head through the process of opening the shop as it was such a big adjustment.

Opening the shop was practically an art project in itself as Leatherman had to repaint and install new flooring in the building. She stated the space is not quite finished yet and she plans to paint murals on the exterior of the building in the near future.

Leatherman spends a lot of time focused on her artwork outside of her profession; through her apprenticeship she did numerous commission-based and personal projects to keep her skills sharp.

Creating art outside of tattooing was something she cared very much about and knew she wanted to continue dedicating the time and energy to it.

Leatherman is shown painting a mural on Coffee Depot, Syracuse. She plans to paint murals on the outside of her shop in the near future as well. Photo provided by Madacyne Leatherman.

Leatherman plans to sell her own artwork and artwork of her employees and colleagues out of the shop eventually.

“Keeping artwork at the center of everything and having it known that we are artists outside of tattooing is very important to me, I think it will really set us apart from other shops,” she said.

Other than her passion for art, one of the biggest motivating factors for her to open her own shop was the environment she would be able to create: a safe, judgement free-space where people can come to be themselves.

Leatherman stated that the shop will be owned and operated by women; she presently works alongside one other female artist and has an apprentice who share her same value of client comfort.

She is very excited for what the future holds for her artwork, the shop and her clients as she believes this is just the beginning.