You Wanna See My What???
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Tattoo number four is probably going to be my favorite once it is finished. This piece is special because it is the first one that I designed myself. I spent almost three weeks trying to figure out exactly what I wanted it to look like and spent about three days drawing and re-drawing it until it was all even. I already knew who I wanted to have do this one - at the time, Gill Montie was working in my town. I feel very honored to have a piece by Gill, but unfortunately we both ended up moving before I could meet up with him again to have it finished. I hope to get it completed this year - now in a new town, I am taking my time choosing the artist I want to have work on it. Gill has a lot of years in the tattoo business and has a great many interesting stories to tell. He also enjoyed picking on me as I grimaced and whined through some of the intensely painful spots. No matter how much pain I was really in, I couldn't stop laughing at his antics and sarcasm. He's a trip!
The next tattoo was also done by Lagena Davis when we attended the NTA Convention in San Antonio, Texas in April of 2000. This piece is also not completely finished, as Lagena has plans of adding some more detail and background swirls of color to complete the mystical effect. Lagena and I now live 900 miles apart, but we will get together someday soon and I will let her finish it. This piece was a joint effort - I designed the wings and she drew up the body. The colors chosen was a bit of a struggle - I really hate yellow, and Lagena insisted that yellow would help the other colors to stand out. After much deliberation, and my incessant pleading that she not use such a hideous color on me, I gave in and let her do it. Now I know, of course, that she was right. The yellow looks great and I don't regret it at all. That's what makes her the artist - so, even if you don't like a suggestion that your tattoo artist makes, you might want to give it a try. They really do know what they're talking about even if they sound crazy!
In April of 2001, I finally decided I really had to get my neckline finished. I visited the studios in my area and one day I stopped at New Breed in Indianapolis. I was looking around, and in one of the artist rooms I saw some flash hanging up with beautiful floral designs and color. I knew that whoever had drawn that flash would be the right person to finish my tattoo. I asked the guys there who the artist was and they said it was done by their current manager, Jerry Frost. I had seen other work done by Jerry in the past and I knew I had found the right man for the job. I went in to talk to Jerry later that week and made my first appointment. After 3 visits, it was done. I couldn't have been happier with the results.
My most recent tattoo was done in August of 2002. An artist friend of mine from Nebraska, Flames, was coming to Indiana for a guest spot at Grafik Dragon Tattoo in Ellettsville. I was really looking forward to seeing my friend, meeting Sonny (the owner of Grafik Dragon), and getting some ink! The whole family came along and it was a great day! Grafik Dragon was a wonderfully comfortable and inviting shop, and Sonny was the jovial, wise-cracking grandpa-type the kids just went nuts over. I'll be writing more about Grafik Dragon as soon as I get my pictures developed!
Anyway! Flames was a wonderful artist to work with, and a really sweet guy. He told me afterward that he was nervous about tattooing me, but I couldn't tell. I had chosen a butterfly pattern I wanted done on both sides of my neck inside the curve of my chest tattoo. Flames did a fabulous job on both of them, even with me flinching through the second one because it was really painful! There was a nerve that kept getting hit and sending massive jolts of pain all the way to my foot. There was nothing anyone could have done to prevent it or fix it save stopping the tattoo (no way!) Flames was super through the whole thing and my butterflies are absolutely gorgeous!
That's it for my tattoos as of right now. Currently, we are in the process of building a house, and all of my body art fundage has gone into it. I'm working on some ideas for next year when I've got the cash again, and I'll keep these pages updated if I add anything new. :)
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