I’m a day late and eleventy-twelve dollars short on the weekly tattoo wrap-up. Sorry. It’s been a really good couple weeks. I mean, not if you’re woman, or a person of color, or really, anyone who’s not a conservative white male. But tattoo-wise, it’s been a good couple weeks – especially for women. It was a week of empowerment for several of my female friends/customers. So, we’ll start with those, then tack on a couple tattoos I did for guys just for funsies.
First up, the cover-ups. I keep forgetting to take pics before I’ve drawn on them or stenciled on what I’ll be covering with, but here you go:
For a customer who turned 45 and said she was too old for “boob cherries” and that it was time for a grown-up tattoo.
For a friend who had outgrown her old tattoo.
For a customer who needed to get rid of her ex’s initials.
For one of my favorite customers (who happens to have MS) who wanted to commemorate her family. I really love this one. It wraps all the way around and there are song lyrics and an MS ribbon on the inside of her wrist. And one of the morning glory vines says “Bomba” which is what her grandfather called her.
For a friend who lost her mom to breast cancer a few years ago. She’d been looking for her mom’s handwriting everywhere and couldn’t find it. Then she suddenly stumbled across it and she’d signed it with this. Not gonna lie, we both teared up when we put this on her.
This one was really special to me: a girl I’ve known since she was 9 years old drove from VA to get a tattoo from me to celebrate having reached her 35th year. This is a big deal, because she’s got cystic fibrosis, and not too long ago, kids with CF really didn’t live beyond their early 20’s at best because their lungs gave up. She got “just breathe” on her rib cage when she turned 30. When they teach kids about cystic fibrosis, they often teach them to call it “sixty-five roses,” because it’s easier to remember, so we went with that theme for this tattoo. I’m so honored to be able to help my friend commemorate having made it this far. Looking forward to giving her the next tattoo when she hits 40.
I also had a customer who got 6 small tattoos to help her leave her divorce behind and move forward into the next phase of her life, but I didn’t snap photos because it would have required me to take my gloves off 6 times to use my phone, and that was a royal pain. But take my word for it, they were lovely.
I also-also got a message from a friend who I’ve tattooed several times who thanked me for helping her start to love parts of her body that she’s always been ashamed of. Having something beautiful on her body makes her accept and love it more. Best message I’ve gotten in a long time.
And now for the guys:
Not entirely clear what the story was here. He said it had something to do with anime and there being links on the chain of life.
Not sure this one requires much of an explanation. But damn, y’all, tattooing circles is haaaaaard. Why are stopwatches round?!!
And finally, I had a young man come in who sat for two 5-hour sessions and it was his very first tattoo. He had a pain tolerance like you wouldn’t believe, but he was also a Crohn’s sufferer, so maybe he’s used to pain? Also, he lost his dad to the same disease as my dad when he was only 9 years old. Made me super grateful that I had my dad for as long as I did:
Not the greatest picture, but it’s an oni mask and snake. I’ll try to get a better one once it has healed. You can see a video of the whole thing on my instagram feed (@emilypageart).
And that’s it for the week. See? Some good things for some good people. So even though America is going to hell in supreme court justice robe, we still have individual wins to celebrate. Hang in there, friends.
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