Roses and Rivets is a tattoo studio and art gallery located in historic downtown Santa Paula, California, which opened on September 1, 2017.

Roses and Rivets is owned and operated by Steph Sparrow, who has been tattooing since 2007.  She specializes in fineline and single needle blackwork with a feminine bent, handpoked/machine-free tattoos, along with traditional “old school” Americana tattoos. Additionally, Steph LOVES “cattoos” - so if you’re looking for a cat lady to tattoo a cat design for you, look no further!

Steph works exclusively by appointment only. You can find samples of her most recent portfolio on her Instagram page. Three other artists currently rent space in Steph’s studio; see the body art page for links to these talented women!

Steph’s original background was in music, and she holds a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, San Diego. She spent many years splitting her time between teaching at the college/university level and tattooing, along with touring in heavy metal bands and working as a sound designer/composer for theatre companies across the United States as well as in Europe. As a tattooist, Steph apprenticed under Steven Mast, a talented artist formerly at Avalon Tattoo (San Diego) and Designs by Dana (Cincinnati). Steph has worked in many “street shops” (walk in shops) over her career, but moved up to shop owner in 2015 with her first studio in Massachusetts. She opened Roses and Rivets in Santa Paula in 2017 after relocating to southern California.

Today, Steph exclusively tattoos in house at Roses and Rivets, although she occasionally works at tattoo conventions. In her spare time, she works as a flight instructor down the road at CP Aviation at the Santa Paula Airport, where she also flies her vintage tailwheel airplane from 1946. She also is an avid ultrarunner, specializing in distances of 100 miles and beyond, including multi-day racing.

photography by Melina Esparza, 2018.