The Stories Behind Ivy’s Back and Rib Tattoos

The ivy on my back represents friendship and commitment, and is also the symbol of my road name for the Shamrocks MC.

The biker chick on my side represents me and my new found love for motorcycles and the Biker lifestyle.

The butterfly tribal is in memory of my mother, and the small diamond shaped tattoo which is actually 4 C’s stands for my three sisters and myself.

-Ivy

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Carleah’s Tim Burton Cats Tattoo Story

Besides my fear of needles, I always wanted tattoos but I could never decide what to get. I kept putting it off. Being a cat lover, they obviously had to be cats, but I didn’t want anything cutesy. I have always been a Tim Burton fan and finally at the age of 24 I decided to get the cat in the opening credits of his short film Vincent. I had finally decided… and then I had a stroke.

After the stroke I underwent a multitude of procedures including surgery to close a hole in my heart. For two years I had to be on blood thinners and could therefore not get tattooed.

When I was finally taken off the blood thinners my plans were back in motion. My fear of needles had been abolished by the legions of needles I’d had by the end of the whole experience.

I took stills from the movie and traced the cat twice to be positioned symmetrically on my lower back. I had the tattoos done almost right away. It obviously didn’t start out this way, but for me the tattoo signifies the welcomed end of a negative life experience.

- Carleah

Tattoo Artist: Jeff
Tattoo Studio: Anchor’s Tattoo Studio

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Jacqueline’s Tribal Cover-up Tattoo Story

This was a coverup tattoo. It still has some work to be done as when I originally got it the original tattoo was horrifically scarred and still shows.

This tattoo was designed for me, but as soon as I saw it I fell in love. It stretches and grows…like a living thing.

It represents change to me, and the knowledge that even things that seem unchangeable will not last forever.

- Jacqueline

Tattoo Studio: ASI – Ogden, UT

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Embroidery Tattoo on Lauryn’s Back

The original design is embroidery done by my grandma in her high school home economics class. I’ve had it hanging up in my apartment for a few years and have always thought that it would be a lovely tattoo. I recently found the right artist for it and went for it. It turned out fantastically.

- Lauryn

Tattoo Studio: Electric Art Tattoo in Lexington, KY
Tattoo Artist: Elli

Lauryn’s Embroidery Tattoo (this time without clothes getting in the way)

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Lindsay’s Fairy with Phoenix Wings Tattoo

I got this tattoo because I have been through a lot in my life. I was born 3 months premature and have been fighting since then. I decided to get the tattoo after my mom told me I always fought through everything, never giving up. I saw myself as rising from the ashes.

I had the tattoo drawn up by Megan at Tattoo Lous’ in Huntington, NY. She got the concept down pat when I told her I wanted her (the tattoo) to have bright, vibrant wings and piercing blue eyes and to face my heart

It was done in two sessions. Now, I use this tattoo as in inspiration in my life; when I am going through hard times I think of her as my alter-ego.

-Lindsay

Tattoo Artist: Megan – Tattoo Lous’ – Huntington, NY

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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

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

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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I just turned 38 this April and wanted a present that was something that would be more than an average birthday gift. I felt I needed something that made my mark, and that mark had to be ink. I have been wanting a tattoo for a long time but didn’t want anything that someone else had. I needed something that was me. The reason I wanted a tat in the first place was because I love to write and felt the ink in my tattoo would be a representation of that.

I write poetry and feel that my words are forever a statement of who I am. My life, thoughts, feelings get thrown into the world and won’t be removed. So my tattoo if you look at it closely is two quills. The words “Poet Speak” is the title of one of my poems that I feel explains why I write. My favorite poet made the design for me which makes it even better. I have my permanent “River of Ink” added to my body.

-Nae

This tattoo is in memory of my past as a whole and has been a work in progress – the tigerlily was my mothers favorite flower, the garland surrounding it from the pattern in my father’s baby ring – the writing says “strength, courage, wisdom, faith” – which has been my mantra for survival.

-Bobbi