Kalina’s 9-11 Tribute Tattoo

The story behind this tattoo is pretty basic. This was my first tattoo, I now have 3. My aunt died is the attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers, and this is my way of remembering her. She was in the North Tower, on the 58th floor.

I didn’t get her name tattooed on me because it was just too much to take in. I felt it would have been too much pain for me, and this tattoo of the eagle and the Twin Towers and the Empire State building was a way to remember not just her but all of the others that lost their lives on that tragic day.

I want people to look at my tattoo and think about that sad day and how strong America is, and remember how important our country is to us. I don’t want people to look at it and just see a picture on my back. I want them to understand why it is there, and why it is important to me. The attacks on 9/11 isn’t something that should ever be forgot about in my eyes. And that is the story behind my tattoo!

-Kalina

Tracy’s Elephant Tribute Tattoo

This is my second tattoo (my first one is on my ankle.) It’s located on my right shoulder. I got this for my Mother who passed away when I was only 15.I didn’t get it until I was 17 because I didn’t want to rush into just anything, it had to be something that would apply to her and me.

It was the craziest thing, one day I was sitting at my table and I looked at this notepad we had and there were two elephants on it. Since elephants were her favorite animal everything in my house is elephant. Why I never saw it before, I don’t know but once I saw that picture I knew that’s what I wanted.

So I made it personal by adding the Halo and the writing, Called up my tattoo guy and got it done. It really helped me get through the hard times and made me feel that now she would always be with me.

-Tracy

Tattoo Artist – Sean Duffy @ Phenom-A-Bomb Tattoo in PA

Steph’s Aestuo Tattoo

This tattoo was my 25th birthday present from my two best friends. I always knew I wanted to get inked but I’m a fickle girl so the ‘what’ was the big question. Finally one day it struck me–words. I love words and the power that they have, so then it was just picking the right one, one that would always hold meaning and be true.

I chose ‘aestuo’, which is latin for ‘i burn’, connotatively with intensity and passion and desire. As long as I do whatever I do with passion, everything in life is going to be okay. It’s the one thing I demand from myself and others, so it seemed appropriate to mark myself with the sentiment.

I got it done at Icon Tattoos in Murfreesboro, TN. Reverend Horton Heat was blaring from the stereo, and rather than it hurting, which I had always been warned, it felt kinda good.

Inked at Icon Tattoos, Murfreesboro, TN

Katie’s Dragonfly Tattoo

I was the person that thought she would never get a tattoo. Now I have 2. My second one was going to be something very personal to me.

I have this friend Tom who Lives out in Boston and has a tattoo shop. I sent him my idea of this dragonfly tattoo that I wanted. I live in MN so he couldn’t give me the tattoo. My idea was to get a tattoo of a dragonfly on my back left shoulder. The Dragonfly because I have always liked them. Then in the wings there would be 22′s because that is my favorite number and then in the tail it would say Katie, cause that is my name. I never told Tom the colors that I wanted. He sent me back the drawing and I was like WOW…it was so pretty on paper.

I went to Everlasting Tattoo in MN and had them do it. It took maybe an hour. It turned out SO good and I love it so much. It means a lot to me and that is what is important. The colors are beautiful. I thought it would hurt more but it really didn’t hurt at all. I love my tattoo and I am thinking about getting more.

-Katie

Inked at Everlasting Tattoo, MN

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I was a drug abuser for many many years and lost sight of who I was and who I cared about…The tattoos across my back are like this…..The forever love tattoo was for my grandparents who died while I was in drug treatment…..The scorpio and the leo symbol are for me and my best friend with out whom I wouldnt have stayed clean…..The tiger represents the old me breaking through into the new place I want to be….

-tattedcntyprnces

Ever since I was in college (1997), I’ve thought about getting a tattoo. I could never decide what I wanted. In one of my printmaking classes I came up with a design very similar to my tattoo. I thought it would make a great tattoo so I played around with similar designs.

The above tattoo design had been drawn out on paper and sat in my desk for over 4 years. After a devastating breakup and the realization of singledom after 8 years of being in relationships, I knew I had to start doing things just for me. I was finally going to get my tattoo. I dug out my picture, still loved it after all that time, and knew that that was my symbol. My symbol of womanly independance.

I called in an impromtu appointment and within a few hours I was getting inked for the first time with my friend’s Ben and Tara by my side.

- mel

Tattoo Design: Mel Vyvyan
Inked by: Joey at Bodyworks, Greenfield, WI

Over the last year or so I have been thinking of getting a back piece that would be unique, yet beautiful in its own way. I started looking more and more and came across the amazing color and captivation of the peacock.

I started looking online and in books but never quite saw the quality or likeness that I thought I would want. When it came down to it, I purchased an actual peocock feather and took it to Tattoo Artist Chris Brusby from Studio M Tattoo. From the feather he drew what I believe to be a very real and natural image of the feather. I didn’t want anything that was cartoony or abstract. So his idea and drawing was perfect.

The piece is mainly a ton of outlining and lines that make up the upper part and stem of the feather. Painful, but the outcome exceeded my expectations. I knew that when I asked Chris what colors he used and he said “ask me what colors I didn’t use!” that I was going to be amazed! His wife even mentioned that you can really tell when he gets into a tattoo, the end result reflects his interest in the piece.

I am completely happy with my tattoo and the beauty that it shows. Although it may not represent a person or a individual meaning, it reflects me in its own way.

- Michelle R

Tattoo Artist: Chris Brusby – Studio M Tattoo

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My father committed suicide in 1992, when I was 12. I was very close to him, and losing him so suddenly and tragically was a huge blow to my 12 year old mind. It took me years to be even able to talk about it or mention him without tearing up or getting excessively defensive.

Every August (the anniversary month of his death) I pretty much go mental…lose control of my emotions. August 2004 marked 12yrs with him, 12yrs without him, and I pretty much had a nervous breakdown. After I recovered from such a set back of healing progression, I decided that I would pay tribute to him the following year with a permanent reminder of his love and my love for him.

August 2005 came around and I realised I just couldn’t do it quite yet…it had to be the right time, not just because it marked a date, but rather because it marked a time in my life when I felt more healed. January 2006 I decided I was ready – to start a new year with a new outlook on life.

I had the tattoo placed on my back to remind myself that the past is behind me. That his love is still with me, but I can put the pain behind me forever and just remember the love and good times. It is centered on my back because he was and always will be the center of my heart, and it is at the top because I want to be able to touch it whenever I feel sad and somehow feel a connection to my daddy.

I am planning an addition to the tattoo this fall. Custom work being designed by Gene at Adrenaline (New Jersey, but he guests in Vancouver). It’s going to become a larger piece, the heart being the center of it, and more like a coat of arms style piece, incorporating aspects of my family ancestry/heritage plus images that I hold near and dear to my heart…

-Jaclyn (Jaclyn’s Aztec Tattoo)

Design: JaclynTattoo work/colour/shading: Gene at Adrenaline (Vancouver)

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I’ve always been a wanderer…never good at staying in one place for long. As a kid my younger brother and I spend summers with our grandparents traveling around in their Lincoln Continental dragging a silver Airstream from the top end of the East Cost to the bottom end of it. I remember seeing the “Mud Flap Girls” on the mud flaps of many 18 wheelers during all those treks. They were also two of the first woman I fantasized about as a lesbian youth.

These girls are a beginning of an eventual large back piece that I plan to one day start again. I’m into dragons and I have a neat drawing of a dragon riding a motorcycle I want to incorporate with a Lincoln Continental and Airstream also riding a highway away from the Mud Flap Girls, road signs (with special meanings), puffy clouds, and other things that speak to my wandering needs.

Anyway, just thought I’d share the tat I have right above my butt crack.

-Tami

Tattoo by: Lea Smith – Lucky Lady Tattoo in Greensboro, NC
(she also did my Mama Bear and Mowing Dog tattoos)

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Alberto’s Phoenix Tattoo Story

The story goes that when a phoenix dies, it falls into ashes, and from the ashes it is reborn. The reason why i got my phoenix tattoo was because i always was someone else, and not being my true self. Well my previous life has died, that chapter of me no longer exists, and the new me (the pheonix) is the new chapter of my life.

-Alberto

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