Strangers love this Halifax artist's work so much they're getting it tattooed

Mollie Cronin's images are inked on more than a dozen people she's never met.

One of them even features an illustration in her likeness.

For the Halifax-based artist, it's an offshoot of a growing social media presence. Pockets of people in Germany, the U.K. and parts of South America have somehow discovered her work, and regularly share and comment on it.

"It's been really cool to see all the different places that my art exists in now, on all these strangers' bodies," she said. "It's surreal, especially because I don't have any tattoos, the idea that somebody would choose to put something I've made on their body forever is super humbling."

Many of her illustrations celebrate bodies and feature slogans such as "It's OK to stay fat." For Cronin, they came from a personal place. She was struggling after regaining weight and felt dissatisfied with her body.

"Rather than punishing myself for it, I decided to put my energy into making art about it and talking myself into feeling better about myself. And it worked, and I think it helps a lot of other people too. It's just these small ways of giving yourself permission to be kind to yourself, and that's really what motivates me," she said.

Some of her cartoons, which also appear in the The Coast, a Halifax weekly, border on autobiographical and often explore familiar scenarios.

"I try to talk about feminism and general small frustrations and articulating them in a way that is understandable and relatable and giving gravitas, weight to those seemingly small feelings," she said.

She publishes under the moniker Art Brat Comics — a play on army brat and a nod to her parents, former Art Gallery of Nova Scotia curator Ray Cronin and sculptor and NSCAD University instructor Sarah Maloney. Recent works will be on display beginning tonight at Café Lara on Agricola Street in Halifax.

But Cronin's reach now extends far beyond Halifax and her social media following has been growing steadily. Her Instagram account has about 15,000 followers.

This has forced her to grapple with how to present her work on social media — which can both connect her with a new audience and circulate her drawings for free, sometimes without credit.

Tattoo tickets are one of the tools Cronin uses to get paid for her work. People can purchase one to get permission to adapt her drawings into a tattoo, and Cronin will send them high-resolution versions or multiple drafts of the same piece.

She was inspired by other artists to use tattoo tickets. It simplifies the process of keeping track of who is adapting her cartoons and illustrations, she said.

She usually sells the tickets for $50. Commissioned drawings aren't up for grabs, nor will people seeking tattoos receive something designed specifically for them.

"It's a new age of interacting with artists on the internet. People are learning they can't just take images, that it's important to credit people, that it's important to know where something comes from."

Helen Anderson of Ottawa followed Cronin's work for about a year before getting the tattoo as a Christmas present from her brother, a tattoo artist. She communicated with Cronin when planning the design after purchasing a ticket, but they're never met.

The clean lines of her illustrations lend themselves well to traditional tattoos, Anderson said.

"I'd been eyeing up her little pin-ups for a while," she said. "I love the body positivity kind of side to it, they're fat babes but they're still sexy … I like the whole 'feel good, any body' kind of thing."

A few times Cronin has received unexpected shots of tattoos of her work. She said she gently tried to nudge people in the direction of purchasing a ticket after the fact.

"People mean really well. It's still a compliment. They still are showing an appreciation for my work and I appreciate that. We're all relearning how to navigate these things and people have been really receptive so far," she said.

"I feel really grateful I'm able to connect with so many people … I definitely wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now without the internet. I wouldn't have felt that support or felt that encouragement."