Archive for October, 2009
Monday, October 26th, 2009
Hey, life changes and with it, so do we. Maybe a tattoo becomes outdated due to a relationship coming to and end. Or due to the way we come to know ourselves more authentically. Maybe the tattoo was just poorly done in the first place and could be nicer, or maybe it was damaged in an injury. Sometimes we just want something else in that location on the body and would like to use the space for the new art. Cover-ups are one of my favorite aspects of tattooing. Body image is a precarious perception and a tattoo can help heal or deepen our feelings about ourselves. When someone walks out of my studio with a new tattoo they love, it’s a beautiful thing. And when that new tattoo replaces a lamented tattoo, the experience can be transformative.This is part one of a three-part series in which we’re talking cover-ups. Check back next week for part two… and in the meantime, share your own stories or questions about cover ups on my FaceBook page!
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
When I complete a tattoo and it walks out the door on the person wearing it, I am constantly aware that whether I ever see the artwork again remains to be seen. Tattooing is an artistic medium unique from any other in that these images are living, breathing, moving pieces of that live life in every moment with us. With that in mind, it was great fun to revisit a tattoo I completed a year ago on a mother celebrating the first birthday of her first child. At that time she brought with her the original of her newborn daughter’s footprints which we reproduced in their actual size and with realistic detail, as a permanent memento of the imprint becoming a mother has made on her life and a tribute to the journey they share.
It was great fun to revisit this tattoo a year later when she stopped in with her daughter to drop off this beautiful portrait taken on her daughters second birthday, to see that the tattoo is looking just as realistic and detailed as it did a year ago… and of course, to pass happy wishes on to the birthday girl. (By the way, props to photographer Jessica Wilson at Kiddie Kandids in the Bloomington, MN Babies R Us for the great photo.)
Next week I’ll begin a three week series highlighting cover up work… you know… changing that old, tired, outdated (or just really unfortunate) tattoo into something that you are once again in love with. Cool stuff. Check it out.
