Tattoo Number 3 - Another Mild Mistake

It turned out I hadn't completely learned my lesson from my 18 year old naive, impulsive, impatient mistake that was my lower back tattoo - more commonly known as a "Tramp Stamp." I again found myself being impatient and getting a tattoo from someone against my better judgement.  I did this simply because I wanted it, and I wanted it right then and right there. My friend Morgan and I were visiting Kansas; she had decided that she wanted to get her nose pierced, so we went into a shop that her friend knew.  I had been wanting these stars trailing up to a dragonfly, so I figured I'd get it since we were going and it would likely be a fairly cheap tattoo (I was thinking $50 to $75 tops, as it was going to be very small, not incredibly detailed, and not take very long - likely 45 minutes).  Well, we go into the shop and I talk with an artist that had time to tattoo me at that time. I explain what I wanted and he quotes me $150! I about lost my mind; my response was that my tattoo on my upper back (the Mom tattoo from my previous post) only cost me $300 (It was $350 with tip) and took 3 hours.  I then continued with the fact that this tattoo was very small and should take under an hour, 45 minutes tops.  The most I'd pay would be $100, but even that seemed overpriced to me.  He takes a look at it and tells me it's a very good tattoo, and asks where I got it done, so I told him.  His bullshit response was, "All tattoo shops charge differently."  I looked him square in the face and said, "I won't pay over $100 for this tattoo."  He kind of stares at me for a few moments, then reluctantly says "okay."  I should have known that having this argument with a tattoo artist about a tattoo was a HUGE RED FLAG and to just wait, or find another tattoo shop in the area, but no, I got the tattoo anyway.


January 2, 2010 - Artist at Large (Wichita, KS)
https://www.facebook.com/artistatlargetattoo

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• Location: Back of Neck

• Tattoo: Large star with a trailing of stars up to a dragonfly

• Story: First of all, I wanted stars because my middle name is "Starr," so I felt justified in getting stars unlike everyone else who got them, but that is but is beside the point.  For me this tattoo symbolized freedom and always following your dreams no matter where you are in life.  The large star on the bottom (which was supposed to look shaded - he did it horribly. I do plan to have this one fixed at some point) is supposed to symbolize "home" or "family"- basically your starting point and somewhere you may always return to, but it isn't where you'll permanently stay. I was at that point in my life where I was trying to convince myself to move away from home and live on my own, but I had a lot of anxiety about leaving my dad after my mom dying. It wasn't that I couldn't live on my own, or that I depended on my dad, but that I had always wanted to live with him since I was a child. After finally being able to be with him, only to lose my mother shortly after - I had some anxiety about it, to say the least.

I think that at some point I will have someone fill in the base star (since the shading won't be able to be done as I had originally intended), add some kind of design around the trail of stars, fix those stars up a bit, and possible do a small touch up on the dragonfly to make it a little more impressive than it is at the moment. I may even add some wording if something strikes me as meaningful for it. I write a lot of poetry, so this may be one of the opportunities I take to write something up to tattoo on myself.  It's something I've always wanted to do, but had never quite envisioned something that would be appropriate.  This tattoo has a symbol that no one would really ever guess by looking at it, but I think that's something I like about this tattoo.  It's complete and utter simplicity - but that doesn't mean I don't want it to be done better.

The Second Tattoo - and the Beginning of True Meaning

I'll be honest, my first tattoo was completely impulsive and done without too much thought, which I know I eluded to in my first post, but the lack of thought behind it was simply ridiculous.  I was in such a hurry to get a tattoo that my first one was a horrid mistake (it has since been covered up, but more on that later).  So, this second tattoo is where I really started to do it right.  There's quite the emotional, and deep story behind this second one.  It isn't my most impressive tattoo, but it will likely always be the one that means the most to me.

April 26, 2009 - Iron Brush Tattoo and Body Piercing (Lincoln, NE)
https://www.facebook.com/ironbrushtattoo

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• Location: Upper Back

• Tattoo: Angel wings, Roses, "Mom - 1970 - 2005" lettering

• Story: As I said, I put a lot more thought into this tattoo and had one of my best childhood friends draw up the tattoo for me. I wanted this one to be unique and meaningful (as tattoos should be). Each part of the tattoo was chosen very carefully.  I just so happened to have gotten my love for tattoos from my mom, and she committed suicide when I was 15. I knew I had to honor her memory by getting a beautiful tattoo.  The angel wings were chosen to signify her everlasting freedom, no matter where she may be. The roses were chosen because they had always been her favorite flower.  

 There were a lot of mistakes with my first tattoo including the tattoo artist. Fortunately, I managed to find myself in a reputable tattoo shop with a very good artist for this tattoo. He spent 3 hours drawing a stencil (drawing, not tracing) the drawing my friend had created for me. He informed me that he was doing this, because while the drawing was very good, it wasn't a "tattoo" drawing. He maintained the original idea while making it more appropriate for a tattoo.  This tattoo overall took about 3 hours to ink. This is where I truly fell in love with tattoos. I fancied the whole process: choosing a tattoo, meeting with the artist, picking a location for the tattoo, how it felt and the experience as a whole.  I knew I would be getting more in the near future.

*This is also where I learned the importance of the healing process and choosing the right products*

A Little History and Jumping Back to the Beginning

Tattoos have become much more prevalent and more accepted in today's society.  They're not quite as taboo as they once were, but they still are not always readily accepted by all.  I've been very fortunate in my experiences with my tattoos and haven't been confronted by much judgement and condemnation because of what I've chosen to decorate my body with like some other people have.  It has only happened twice, and while I don't particularly care what others think, it was still uncomfortable, so I can only imagine what others have encountered, or felt, when they were judged.  Everyone's journey through the process of choosing a tattoo, being inked, and the healing process, is different - Chances are if people were to ask someone about a tattoo they have, they would find themselves more interested than disgusted. We should all strive to open our minds and learn to acquire knowledge rather than judge at first sight.  There's nothing more thrilling than having a perfect stranger be in awe and be completely interested in a tattoo you've chosen for your body; they want to know the story, and every piece has its own story.

I'm going to start back in the beginning - After all every journey has a beginning. Mine began back in 2008 very soon following my turning 18.  I was in a huge hurry to get my first tattoo and now that I'm older and still continuing to ink, I realize a lot of mistakes I made getting that tattoo. It has since been covered up, but it was still apart of my journey and still has a story. 

March 2008 - In the Flesh Tattoo and Body Piercing (Grand Island, NE)

* I had come back and added links to the the Facebook pages of all the tattoo shops where I have gotten my tattoos, but when I came back to do this one, there wasn't a page, go figure *

• Location: Low back

• Tattoo: Bullet for My Valentine album cover (my name in place of theirs)

• Story: Like most girls I figured a low back tattoo was the perfect starting place for a first tattoo. Bullet for My Valentine was one of my favorite bands when I was in high school and I had always been in love with their album cover of "The Poison," so I thought what could be a better first tattoo? Ha, this just goes to show how dumb 18 year olds can be when choosing a tattoo. I've since learned to think about what I'm doing much more before even stepping foot into a tattoo shop. Anyway, this was still my first tattoo.

There were a lot of problems with how I went about getting this tattoo, and how this tattoo was done.  For one, I didn't put much thought or time into where I was getting this tattoo done.  I merely drove to Grand Island and walked into a tattoo shop and just went with it.  I did this despite everything inside me screaming at me that letting this guy ink me was NOT a good idea.  The guy was shaking and seemed like he might be high on something, but being so excited about my first tattoo, and entirely too impatient, I ignored my rational thoughts.  The next red flag was that this guy took the photo of the album cover and just outlined it on a stencil.  He didn't look at my back, take size into account, how the literal adaptation of that photo would look as a tattoo, or anything.  Knowing what I know now, I know this isn't how a *good* tattoo artist goes about his work.  

All of that aside, this tattoo sparked my addiction and desire to continue with more.