Tattoos
“A tattoo is a true poetic creation, and is always more than meets the eye. As a tattoo is grounded on living skin, so its essence emotes a poignancy unique to the mortal human condition.” ~V. Vale and Andrea Juno, Modern Primitives
For those of you who know me, you will know I have some ink on my body. Now before I get a run of comments from all the tattoo haters out there (yeah I know at least one will post a comment here at some point), I want to share my reasons for getting ink. I don’t expect everyone to like my tattoos. The important thing is I like them … afterall I am the one living with them the rest of my life!
I have the soul of an artist. As a child I was continuously drawing, painting and writing poetry and silly short stories. I’ve also always had an eye for beauty: traditional, unconventional, bohemian. I loved to watch the sun rise and set, adored visiting museums and art galleries and was an avid reader. At school I was the shy, quiet wallflower who loved studying and constantly achieved As and Bs. I have never touched drugs, never took up smoking and tend to keep my drinking to a minimum in social settings.
When my little brother was approaching 18 he announced that he wanted to get a tattoo. My parents were not entirely pleased, but were wise enough to understand that if they said “No” he’d probably still go and get it anyway. Being the responsible big sister that I am I decided that I would research tattoo parlors and pay for his first tattoo. I have to admit that the idea of tattoos had intrigued me before and this gave me the perfect excuse to look into it further. I decided to head to the same place that my husband’s tattoo had been done at in Lakenheath, England. To fully research the place I went ahead and had a tattoo myself, a black tribal heart on my lower back.
And that suited me for a few years. I was happy with it, proud that I had done something rebellious but knew that I would never regret it because I really had thought it through. My brother got a tattoo, and then another and another (and is still inking his skin!).
I moved to America in 2006 with my husband and in 2007, after meeting a new friend with some pretty amazing tattoos, paid a visit to Terri at Mom & Pops in Big Spring TX. I wanted to jazz my tribal up. It was just a bit blah and I wanted to have something that rocked! So I found a Nene Thomas fairy that I loved and fit perfectly on my original tattoo. To that was later added some freehanded vines and butterflies. So far all is pretty much contained to my lower back. Very bright, colorful and feminine.
In June 2007 I had a Tudor Rose inked on my upper back because I was feeling a little homesick for Britain and wanted to express myself. I was a little more nervous over this one because it was in a place less easily disguised, but that was part of the appeal. I wanted to show it off.
I had a break from tattoos for almost two years, but I had been thinking about the posibility of an arm piece. Being a member of the tribal bellydance community I have had opportunities to see some wonderful tattoos on some great women. They do not detract from the beauty of the woman, or her dancing, but rather add a little flair. After two years of researching ideas and collecting pieces of jewelry I finally found my inspiration: a beautiful silver Tuareg cross that I picked up at an auction in Midland TX. This became my center piece on my arm. To this we added (yesterday actually) another piece of Tuareg jewelry that symbolizes the bond between man and woman. The final sitting will add some color and tie everything together. As with most tattoos it took on a life of it’s own and ended up a little bit bigger than I had originally planned, but I love it! When it is finished I will love it some more!
I am sure there will be many people who are not too sure about it, my mother and father being among them! I want to assure everyone though that this piece means a lot to me and I hope my family and friends will come to appreciate that.
The elements in my tattoo represent:-
* Freedom and Liberty (represented by the use of th Ezza, which is the letter Z in the Tifinagh alphabet. In the picture below it is listed as the “yaz” (second from the end, the one without the line through the middle). This also has extra meaning for me because it also represents the same ideals of being a US Citizen to me.
* Love
* Bonds between a man and a woman
I will post more pictures of my finished arm when I can get someone to take them for me.
Here are some pictures of my arm … I think it is finished!
March 5, 2010 at 11:48 am
you know, since I have a few pieces of ink myself, I am not in a place to criticize anyone’s choice to ink. or not to ink. Sure, I can say that I have seen what I consider to be too much on people, but that’s my opinion, so my ink will never be that extensive. Most of my pieces are small and all are fairly easily hidden, and that’s how I like them on ME.
Looking forward to seeing the new one this afternoon!