The Stories Behind my Ink

Love them or hate them, tattoos have been growing in popularity for a long, long time! I was 19 when I got my first tattoo, and nearly 20 years later I have... Hold on, let me count... I've been tattooed 9 times. So far.

I haven't been able to secure an Artist Interview with a tattoo artist, yet, but it's definitely on my to-do list for this blog. I don't think anyone could argue that tattoos aren't a valid art medium. Yes, just like any other medium there's good pieces and bad pieces.

Today I'm talking about mine. It hurts to get tattooed, a lot, and so every time I get tattooed I have to have a pretty good reason for it - otherwise it's not worth sitting through the pain. I'm not going to get too deep into the story behind each one, as I got many of them during some of the more emotionally charged times in my life. I can tell you that they are directly tied to the period of my life that I was in at the time (but feel free to psychoanalyze my dragon, I just got her done like a month ago!)

I love my family portrait and tree!

My Family Portrait
It's been some years now since I drew my monsters! I called them joyfulfigures, and for a while they were all I did! After my youngest was born, I painted a portrait of our family in watercolors, with each of us represented as a different colored joyfulfigure. Pretty much as soon as it was done, I knew I wanted it tattooed. I connected this one to a tree/knotwork band around my forearm. My tree represents growing up, as well as putting down roots, so it felt right to add my family there. 

My Swallow
I'm not a sailor, but I absolutely love the symbolism in many of the designs. I have a stylized swallow with a bleeding heart flower in its beak on my left shoulder, and it's still one of my favorites. It was my second tattoo, but the first one I designed myself. I also have some nautical stars, and these tattoos all have to do with finding my way, safely, and finding my way home. 

Now that's fresh ink!

My Dragon
My newest tattoo is a six-legged fluffy dragon, with lilies and bleeding hearts (the bleeding heart flowers reach back so it looks like my swallow has flown off with one) on my upper left arm. I've always wanted a tattoo sleeve, and this big line drawing is one step closer. It represents some of my passions: my love for fantasy, drawing, and plants/gardening. I also wanted this one to have a more feminine touch than some of my other tattoos.

A photo-realistic drawing of my tattoo, from my book Toaster Haiku.

My Toaster
It shouldn't surprise anyone that I have a toaster tattoo, but honestly this one's not my fault. Rach, my best friend of 25+ years, messaged me one day saying "I think I need to get one of your toasters tattooed."

I said, "I'll get one if you get one - and I bet we could convince Mel to get one, too!"

Sure enough, Mel was on board. I drew up a quick plain toaster template, so we could each customize it for ourselves. It was going to be amazing! I, of course, made mine into a demon-cat-toaster, as all my self-portraits are. I then went and got it tattooed on my ankle, saying "Okay guys, it's your turn!"

... And to this day, they've left me hanging. Now I just look like a weirdo with a demon-cat-toaster tattooed on my leg!

Am I done getting tattooed? Absolutely not. I have two drawings set aside for my right calf, drawings that my girls did when they were each about 4 years old. Some of the absolute best tattoos I've seen are of children's artwork. The one Emma drew is of a person, arms held wide open, and Alex's drawing is of our garden with a rainbow shining over it. They are seriously the best, and in a few years I'll have them permanently etched into my skin. And I can't wait!