“I love art in every form. I want the world to find a simplicity and peace through art. My art and my ink will be my legacy to my children,” says Kyla Rivas, newest addition to the Lake Powell Chronicle staff. 

Ink she references as a dual definition because when you first meet Kyla it’s the numerous tattoos she has that grab your attention.

“Yup, I am a tattoo artist also. It’s my greatest passion next to writing,” she said.

“But it’s my writing you want to know about.” she says with a smile.

Her life as a writer began with reading anything she could. At her Grandma Elizabeth’s house all grandchildren were encouraged to read. Grandma Elizabeth had a large collection of National Geographic, Arizona’s Highways, encyclopedias and books on Egyptian and Greek mythology. Life taught Kyla’s grandma education was the only real way to see the world, so grandma Elizabeth set the bar for learning in the family. Grandma Elizabeth went to school in Santa Fe and later became a librarian. Kyla’s mother and aunt were also librarians pursuing teaching degrees, so being in the library with them was her best joy and Alice in Wonderland (graphic novel) was the favorite there. 

“I became known as a book worm,” she said. “At age nine, at a birthday party we had to guess what was written on a paper taped to our backs. Mine said book worm. The whole party I walked around as the bookworm. I was kind a proud of it, hurt but proud.”

She notes the description was accurate.

“I did read a lot,” she said.

From the encyclopedias and after hours at the library, Kyla began to research what she read. Greek and Egyptian mythology was the first. Among the National Geographics was an article on how long a tattoo on a frozen caveman was dated.  It was the seeds of future interest being planted. But it was the article in Arizona’s Highways on a Hopi baby naming ceremony, which her grandmother Elizabeth and family were immortalized in, published the summer of 1980.

“I remember always being at my grandmother’s side when she made piki. I would get the first roll and then watch and learn how to make piki,” Kyla fondly remembers.

“My grandmother had it right about education. She was smart,” Kyla notes.

She comes from a long line of educated and respected people. Like most people with big families nobody is perfect, especially a tattooed black sheep.

“I’ve had struggles and survived so much in my life but I bounced back and I still am the same person who loves my family, my art and my writing,” she said. “I carry my family with me in everything that I do, especially my writing.”

With high expectations of education in the family many have pursued their degrees, gaining masters and doctorates.

“I just jumped into writing for a local newspaper on the Hopi Reservation while I was going for my Associate of Arts Special Requisites in Political Science. I had considered a minor in Journalism because I just took to writing,” she said.  “I love being a reporter. It took me to places I never thought I would go and met people I thought were out of reach. Above all, I was able to give back to the community that raised me. I gave the people a voice. It was why I wanted a degree in political science. I almost studied law but rather than defend the law I felt politics was the way to change them. Changing the laws began with writing them.”

“I’m kind of serious like that if anybody knows me they know that,” she said.

An Artist Life

Art was always present in her life as a Hopi and living on both the Hopi and Navajo reservation. She grew up around art shows with a stepfather who made Katchina dolls for a living. She traveled the Southwest to Santa Fe, Taos, Phoenix, and most big Native American art shows in Arizona.

Her family moved to Phoenix to be closer to these shows when she was 10 years old. Living in Phoenix was a hard adjustment as her grandmother was a huge influence in her life.

“I kept reading though, and soon I was going to the Phoenix library. It was fun,” Kyla remembers.

But she was immersed in art and soon began painting cats and walls with acrylics.

Before long she found herself admiring permanent body art.

“I will never forget meeting Dale Kauthren, my best friend, Dusty’s mother. She is covered in tattoos. They became like family to me.” she recalls.

What amazed Kyla was the details and how those details were only achieved with a tattoo machine. At age 15 she was getting her first tattoo.

“I said what I wanted and let ‘Uncle Pipes’ do the design,” she happily says like a child in a candy store. “Later I was introduced to a female artist’s work. I had never seen detail and artistry like that before. The wings on a fairy tattoo looked like it would crumble if I touched it. That is Julie Moon. I have idolized her work my whole life.”

Becoming a tattoo artist was then her dream.

“I learned how to tattoo. But my formal training began with Hollis Cantrell, World Record holder for the Most Tattoos done in a 24 hours. His crew held a seminar on sterilization and line work. I did my first tattoo in a shop in Phoenix 2010. I wrote a promotional story for them and challenged myself to get it published so I could take the remaining seminars for free,” Kyla proudly admits.

Arizona Tattoo Magazine.com published the magazine and offered her a job as a ghostwriter. The assignment: travel to all the tattoo shops in Arizona and spend the day with them to write a bio on the shop and artists.

“How could I say no. It was the dream job I had been pursuing my whole life,” she said.

Writing for a tattoo magazine was and still is the goal.

“I’ve gotten into designing my own internet magazine a while back but having the time as a single mother plus the money is key. But it’s always on the back burner,” she said.

Art Walk

As the Art Walk Coordinator at the John Wesley Powell Museum she has high hopes for the venue.

“I love art in every form and we should embrace and support the local artists. Some artists still depend on it as an income. I grew up like that. So, I hope to create an Art Walk venue that is a point of pride and tradition to Page.” she says hopefully.

Every summer beginning the first Friday in May the Art Walk kicks off. Any artist could attend and bring their handmade art.

“We are inviting all mediums of art and look forward to seeing something new. Its free, of course.” Kyla adds.

“This year we will be dedicating the Art Walk to Jackson Bridges. He is a Living Legend photographer who was able to capture the beauty of the area in ways that take your breath away. He loved the Art walk and we want to honor that.”

Combining her passions with writing and raising her daughter is who Kyla is. She hopes to bring the voice of Page to the Chronicle to show who we are as citizens of the world. Kyla has been a citizen of Page since 2011.