Kat Von D (born Katherine Von Drachenberg on March 8, 1982 in Monterrey, Mexico) is a Mexican-born tattoo artist and television personality. She is best known for her work as a featured tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show Miami Ink. A subsequent TLC series LA Ink, premiered August 7, 2007 in the United States and November 11, 2007 in the UK
Von D was born in Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico (town south of Monterrey). Her father is René Drachenberg and her mother is Sylvia Galeano. Both of her parents were born in Argentina, but René's family origins were German and Sylvia's Spanish-Italian [1]. She has a sister named Karoline and a brother named Michael. Kat is the middle child. She moved to Los Angeles at age 4 and grew up in Colton, Ca in Southern California. She credits the prominent Latino culture of Los Angeles as being a major influence drawing tattoos in her art and style.[2] She quit school when she was 14 and decided she wanted to be a tattoo artist.[3] Kat has been tattooing since she was 16.[4]