Some people keep scrapbooks, I just ink my body.

July 26, 2012 by busybird17 2 Comments

Tattoos. Some people love them, some people hate them. I personally LOVE them. I think they are an awesome way to express yourself. I know that many people think they are a terrible way to express yourself but I think what is a better way to show who you are than through art that you love enough to permanently put on your body? I personally find tattoos to be an outlet to express specific events in your life or things/people you hold near and dear to your heart. Of course, you may have the occasional tattoo that you may regret but you live and learn.

I have eight tattoos. I have two tattoos that represent my favorite professional baseball and football teams. Neither do I regret. I’m a fan for a reason and love those teams so I have no problem representing them all the days of my life, haha! I also have an eighth note tattoo. I have been a musician since I was five years old. Music has played a huge roll in my life. It paid for my college education and I continue to play even though I am out of school, married, with two small children. I love music — not to mention, this was my first tattoo which I received when I was 17 (12 days before my 18th birthday; I was anxious, couldn’t wait, so my parents signed for it because they knew I would be getting it a few days later with or without their signature, ha!). I have a small letter B tattooed on my left ribcage. My best friend, whose name also starts with a B, got the same tattoo. We were partners in crime when we were younger and had been friends since about the age of three. She is still one of my closest friends and that tattoo represents an unwavering friendship and some of the most fun days of my teenage years.

Tiny B tattoo on ribcage

As I’ve grown older, my tattoos have become more meaningful. One of my dear friends who is a great artist drew three falling leaves for me which I had tattooed on my right shoulder blade area. The leaves were for my firstborn who was born in October which is during my favorite season, fall. My friend did a phenomenal job with the black and gray drawing and the tattoo artist did a great job with the shading on it. I have two tattoos for my husband, while he on the other hand has three for me (a heart and banner with my name, a hummingbird, and a pin-up girl in my likeness). The two I have for him are on the inside of each wrist. One has the letters BdM in script. Each letter represents words that are significant and special between my husband and myself. On my other wrist I have the outline of a bear because that is the nickname I call my husband. I know people think you should never get a tattoo for a significant other but I look at it like this, if something were to happen and my marriage were to fail, I will look back on it as a learning experience thus not regretting the ink. Those tattoos will represent a very special person in my life and how he impacted it. The latest tattoo I have received is a piece for my late mother. She passed away 15 days before the birth of my eight month old. That was hard, especially being nine months pregnant. I knew as soon as she was gone that I wanted to get a piece done for her. I mean, come on, she’s my mother and like I said earlier, what better way to express your emotions or feelings? This tattoo is the largest piece I have but I wish I would have done it even bigger. The artist executed the tattoo exactly as I had envisioned it. I went with aster flowers which are the birth month flower for September, which was the month my mom was born. It is a piece that I will never regret getting because that was a way for me to work through my grief.

Memorial piece for Mom

Bear tattoo for husband

1908 tattoo for my beloved Chicago Cubs
and leaves tattoo for firstborn son

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing that irks me is when people stereotype tattoo bearers. I don’t belong to a gang. I don’t do drugs or drink. I have a college degree. I go to church. I am a mother and wife. Just because you see a person with lots of tattoos, that doesn’t automatically make them a bad person. I bet each of those tattoos tell a story about that person. When I grow old, I’ll not be ashamed of the ink I’ve acquired over the years. I will view each piece as a time in my life, a representation of the person I was and hope to still be. These pieces of ink tell a story of the person I am. And I also know that I am not done getting ink. I already know what pieces I want next (another for my husband and a piece for my eight month old). Tattoos are a way for me commemorate special people and times throughout my life. Some people keep scrapbooks, I just ink my body.

“I am a canvas of my experiences, my story is etched in lines and shading,
and you can read it on my arms, my legs, my shoulders, and my stomach.”
-Kat Von D
High Voltage Tattoo