The Surprising Inspiration for ‘American Pickers’ Danielle Colby’s Tattoos

American Pickers aims to prove that antiques and American history don’t have to be defined by dusty shelves and boring recitations of dates. The TV show’s colorful cast features Mike Wolfe and other pickers. This formerly included Frank Fritz before the duo split following a personal feud. It also includes fan favorite Danielle Colby, who minded the storefront from the show’s inception.

Danielle Colby is known for her straight-shooting demeanor, but also for her bevy of tattoos. Though some of her inspirations for her body art are somewhat traditional, she also has a special outlook on the tattoos that make them particularly unique. 

Danielle Colby is a fan favorite on ‘American Pickers’ 

Colby and Wolfe met at a yard sale years ago. As she tells it, Wolfe swooped in and snatched up a lamp she’d been eyeing. “He looked at me and said, ‘Sorry girl, the time to buy it is when you see it,'” Colby recalled to Freshly Inked. “I liked his sass…we were pretty much inseparable after that.”

Later when Wolfe prepared to launch American Pickers, he added Colby to the lineup to give the show a distinctly unique flavor. “I wanted someone that did not look like they would work in any antique shop,” he said, per Celebrity Net Worth. “Because I wanted our show to be looked at in a different way. I wanted people to look at antiques like they’re fun, they’re rad, they’re killer, they’re awesome.”

Colby has since become an integral part of the show. She has taken on a more central storyline as she goes out and does some picking herself. This has been especially true following the rift between Wolfe and Fritz, which opened the door to highlight the exploits of people like Colby and Wolfe’s older brother, Robbie. 

She considers the tattoo artist an integral part of the bodywork process

The focus of American Pickers certainly isn’t on Colby’s collection of tattoos, but they’re hard to miss. She sports several on her arms and chest that are frequently on display, despite the fact that her wardrobe is decidedly more demure than it is when she’s performing in her side gigs as a model and burlesque dancer. 

Colby draws inspiration from some of the usual sources, including meaningful tributes to friends and family. However, she is also inspired by the tattoo artists themselves. “I guess my greatest inspiration is the artist I’m working with,” Colby told Freshly Inked. “If they are inspired and educated and well practiced it’s usually a pleasure to be tattooed by them.” 

Colby sees the process as much more than walking into a studio and selecting a pattern or showing them a sketch. Instead, she cultivates a more personal connection that makes the tattoo more of a collaboration. “I love it when my friends work on me, I love to collect the memories, I cannot have an artist work on me that I don’t feel close with,” she said. “I have to feel a sense of kinship. I’ve been very fortunate to find that across-the-board with my tattoo artists.”

Danielle Colby has more than 30 tattoos on her body 

Danielle Colby refers to her bodywork as “collecting tattoos,” denoting a reverence for the process. She didn’t always take it so seriously, though, as she joked with Freshly Inked that her first tattoo was a “tribal tramp stamp of a butterfly.” 

Since then she’s accumulated more than 30 designs, according to Inked Celeb. Some, like those on her arms, honor family members like her mother and father. Another set on her back transforms her torso into the body of a violin, with oversized F-holes inked on either side. Most of her tattoos feature iconography and intricate designs rather than words, but she does have “Irish Blood, English Heart” scrolled across her shoulders. 

Though the quantity has grown over the years, Colby shared that they all remain incredibly meaningful to her. “I am one of those people who has very personal tattoos. Each piece is there for a very specific reason,” she told Freshly Inked. “I really enjoy it when an artist feels their inspiration and they follow their own bliss…When I’m collecting tattoos I’m collecting somebody’s art, having somebody else’s beautiful work on my body, in line with the theme I’m looking for.”