My first tattoo was a sparrow on my right hip done on my 18th birthday. The colors are blue, green and orange... no significance to the colors really. Cliche but whatever, the bird symbolized my ~freedom and all that jazz.. you know, where you think you own the world when you're 18 haha i love my little bird though. I typically forget I even have him. (March 2006)
My 2nd (and 3rd, i guess) tattoos came in August of 2006, when I was first dating Mike (he sat with me at the shop and held my hand the entire time haha crazy!). They say Art and Love on each of my feet. The plan was based off MeWithoutYou's "god is love love is real" but "art is love love is real" i just never finished it because i didnt care for the way he did the lettering. therefore my current artist will be covering both of them up with traditional roses, etc etc etc. it will be one of my first ventures after i finish my full sleeve.
In April of 2007 I got the first Kurt Halsey piece on my upper arm. The "There are places and there are opportunities" piece with the 2 kids, etc etc etc. Then slowly I started realizing I wanted to make it a half sleeve so I added 3 other Kurt pieces plus the pigs from "Numb" (one of his pieces) and it was completed in October of 2007. The first picture of this sleeve is after 5 sessions. I did 7 or 8 sessions total.
The text on the bottom reads "this song means an entire city to me"
The whole meaning behind the sleeve is representative of the fact that I KNOW i'll be up & leaving tennessee... there are bigger things for me out there and thats the plan (obviously, since i've already migrated to NYC). We colored the suitcase yellow because I have a fascination with vintage luggage. The first piece i ever bought was a super beat up yellow set from goodwill and i cherish it to this day. I guess its just a reflection of knowing I'll have to say goodbye to my home state to find things that are right for me. Pre-nostalgia if you will.
The last day of January this year (January 2009) I got my chest piece by Jason Smith (my current artist) because he was one of my best friend's artists. I got "Alis Volat Propriis" which is Latin for "She Flies With Her Own Wings"... as soon as I saw the quote (and translation), i KNEW exactly what I wanted on my chest. I'd always wanted a chest piece but committing to something there is a hefty decision. This was perfect and i think it sums me up to the T. It's a direct reflection of myself and how my mother raised me. I love love love it.
This is the top of my full sleeve on my right arm. It was started in March of 2009 by Jason. I wanted a traditional-style ship and the quote "I cannot change the direction of the wind but i can adjust my sails" to symbolize my positive and optimistic attitude on life. You can't control what life deals you but attitude means everything.
Basically if you wanted me to break it down, the boat symbolizes me and the lighthouse up in the dark stormy clouds symbolizes my mother (the top half sleeve is pretty much dedicated to her). She's always been my "guiding light" (*cue cheesy music*) and I know that I can always count on her to guide me the right way.
On the inside of the half sleeve is my mom's portrait. It's her senior portrait from 1978 and it totally resembles Axel from Guns 'n Roses... my mom was a badass! It's inside a baroque frame because they're my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. we still have to finish out the detail on her portrait and then we're coloring in teh frame the same color as the bottom of the boat. we're just letting my inner arm rest because it's not hte most pleasurable experience.
The newest edition was to take my half sleeve into a full sleeve. I've already raved on my insane love for cephalopods and all things octopus related so I got one on my forearm. The swirls behind it is an ink cloud. We're coloring him orange/maroon/purple and then on my inner forearm is a treasure chest and we still have to outline the compass too.
Last tuesday we worked for 3 hours on the ink cloud alone. and my arm is NOTTTT having it. man oh man its healing horribly. my arm is not a fan of black but whatev, we'll just make it work! go over it again! haha I was supposed to sit yesterday but i just did nottt have time :(
so thats where i'm at currently with tattoos. and believe me i wont be stopping anytime soon. in the works: my feet coverups, a tribute to my nana & papa on each calf, a big ass sweet shark tattoo on my ribs/side, probably something else on my left forearm, etc etc etc. its never ending.
i love all of my work and i can't wait to get more.
if you have any questions about any of them feel free to ask. i didnt go into *too* much detail and i know photobooth pictures suck but i still haven't found my card reader. bleh!
do you have any tattoos? if so, what of and where? what do they mean?
xo happy tattoo tuesday!
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