Some tattoos are full-color masterpieces while others create striking optical illusions on the skin. But tattoo artist Mentat Gamze proves that you can have stunning modern tattoo design with a simple, minimalist approach and a bold accent color. In all of her pieces, there is a fine-line drawing completed in black ink that’s inspired by the natural world. And also within every eye-catching tattoo, there’s a red dot that accompanies it.

No matter who Gamze inks, the crimson mark is a consistent motif throughout her portfolio. Its presence is now a common bond that all her clients share, like they’re part of an exclusive club. So, why the red dot? It has a special meaning for Gamze, and it represents following your bliss. After starting her working life as a designer, she realized her life “was not going in the direction she wanted.” Gamze held a number of different positions afterwards, but she was miserable in each one. “I got fed up at the end and decided to quit my job,” she confesses.

Gamze taught herself how to tattoo and found that it’s what she’s meant to be doing. “I wanted to reflect this on my work and I honored this change with the red dot,” she explained. “It created a contradiction to burdensome times in my past and it was to symbolize hope and courage.”

The idea of a red dot tattoo caught on, and now Gamze’s clients give their own meanings to the mark. “It was health for one, happiness for another, a lost relative, a planet or just a sinking sun,” she recalls. “Two years has been past since my first tattoo. During this time I tattooed hundreds of people from all around the world. I listened their stories. I have became part of their lives and I helped them to carry their stories on their bodies with secret symbols.”

Artist Mentat Gamze creates modern tattoo design by incorporating a red dot in all of her work. The striking shape symbolizes hope and celebrates change.