I would still tattoo if it wasn’t a paying occupation.
However, I’d only be tattooing once a month, in a blue moon, because I would have to maintain some other work in order to survive.
I like that I earn a living from tattooing. It’s an amazing job, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other. But I still deserve to be paid for it. It is, stil, after all, work. The fact that someone loves their work does not diminish its value; it actually increases it. Think of a brain surgeon, an engineer, an author, an architect, who loves their work. Does that mean they should be expected to perform for free?
No, it does not. And the same holds true for tattooing. It still remains, though, that I love what I do, and I do what I love. The money I charge is just my way of being able to continue doing it. Same with painting-any of my art. If my rent was free and my food and my dentist, you wouldn’t have to pay me. But those things cost money…so you do.
