Rising Stars: Meet Bella Sparks of Douglasville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bella Sparks.

Hi Bella, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hiii! My name is Bella Sparks and I’m from a small(ish) town outside of Atlanta called Douglasville. Growing up anytime anyone would ask me what I wanted to do/be when I got older I never had a clue. The older I got more pressure was on for me to go to college and get a degree in something I wasn’t even truly passionate about. It wasn’t until around my junior year of high school I started really thinking about what I wanted to do with my life and where I saw myself years and years down the line. Traditional jobs never sat right with my soul and the thought of working for someone else made my skin crawl. I always knew whatever it was I did i wanted it to be creative and something different every day. I’ve always loved expressing myself through different forms of art whether it be painting, fashion or body art I knew that that’s what I wanted to pursue later on down the line. Here we are now. I was lucky enough to find not one but two things that fed my soul and I am super grateful for it.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In all honesty, my biggest challenge was actually starting whatever it was I wanted to do. Whether it be modeling or piercings, there was a lot of me getting in my own way and self sabotaging going on. Every time I would get close to taking a step towards the goals I set for myself, I would take 3 steps back out of fear. I used to be the kind of person that, without even realizing, expected to be good at everything I do immediately. If I wasn’t I didn’t even want to do it anymore. A bit unrealistic I know. That mindset was the number one thing holding me back. I had to take a FEW steps back to look at everything as a whole & see what I wanted to come from modeling and piercing and everything else I do down the line. I think that’s what would trip me up before, I would be so excited about bringing the bigger picture to life that the day-to-day work to get there seemed so mundane in comparison. Eventually I did grow out of that, I grew to appreciate the baby steps just as much as the long strides. When it comes to having big goals and aspirations for yourself, I feel like it’s just as important to make sure that the foundation you build things on is solid, as it is to actually reach those goals and sustain the success that comes with it.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As far as creative work modeling and piercing are my main focuses. I started taking modeling seriously a year & a half ago and I never looked back. I was always the friend growing up that would get my friends together to get cute and go take pictures in random spots either in my hometown or in the city. Before that I would model for my grandpa occasionally who is really the main reason why I model today. The type of shoots I tend to lean towards the most are editorial style shoots or crazy concept based shoots. Anything where I can get creative with the makeup, styling and poses I liveee for. My absolute favorite shoot to date is one I did when I was living in Mew York with @iconnac @aureal1sm & @gstaromg where we were painted green and pink and were on the back of motorcycles. 10/10. When I’m not working or doing shoots I’m piercing clients. I’m not licensed yet, it’s more so to get a bit of experience before I start an apprenticeship in a shop. I let all my clients know that beforehand so to everyone that has trusted me enough to pierce them I thank you <3. I’ve always loved all types of body art/modifications and when I was little I’d spend my free time watching how people did different piercings on YouTube. Eventually that turned into me practicing on myself and my friends and now we’re here. My favorite set of piercings I’ve ever done are back corset play piercings I did for a photoshoot with Alita Swanson and Lailah earlier this year. After a while I plan on starting and completing an apprenticeship, getting licensed, opening my own shop (yearssss from now), and so much more. I’ve always wanted piercing to be my main job it’s something I see myself doing for a long time. What I love the most about it is being able to meet and chat with so many different people and the look on their faces after seeing their fresh piercing. It genuinely brings me so much joy knowing that people trust me to make them look a lil cooler than they already do with some piercings.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Fingers crossed designers bring back the 90s style runway shows. Back in the day I feel like the shows weren’t just about the garments and pieces models were wearing, it was an entireee production. A great example of this is the Thierry Mugler Haute Couture SS 97 show. I feel like it was a beautiful show from start to finish. Instead of just modeling the clothes the models did an amazing job of embodying the kind of person/world that those clothes would be normalized in. If that makes sense. It was like watching a movie without dialogue. Another thing I would love to see is more representation for the black alternative/queer community. I need more alternative people being the faces of big brands and being on the cover of major fashion magazines. Quickly!! I would love to see people that look more like myself working on big campaigns and such. Girls with metal in their face, questionable tattoos, liberty spikes maybe a skullet or two.

Pricing:

• Shoot rates- $120/hour
• Piercing prices vary! Shoot me a dm via Instagram

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/v3nusruledbaby

Image Credits
@idyllicshooter @photosbychampion @jordanxtina @maisondejxc