Samantha’s Dragonfly Tattoo

From the time I was 3 until I was about 13 my stepfather sexually molested me almost every night. In 7th grade I finally told someone and it seemed as if my life would always revolve around him and what I went through as a child. 5 years later I decided that it was time to put it all behind me and start with a clean slate.

I live in NY, but I got this tattoo in Canada, 2 months after my 18th birthday. My dad designed it for me with the tattoo artist that day. It means so much more to me because of that.

The dragonfly symbolizes endurance and my mental and emotional growth and maturity. It is said that people who have the dragonfly as their totem have had passionate and emotional early years, but as they grow older they achieve emotional and mental clarity and control. That’s me.

The character to the dragonfly’s left is the kanji symbol for “LIFE.” The symbol is a reminder to me that I have so much to live for, that the life I lead for last ten years does not have to be the one that leads me for the next ten.

And if you look closely there is an “S” where the dragonfly’s body should be because I am that creature and that creature is me.

I GOT THIS TATTOO SO THAT WHENEVER I LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER AND TO THE PAST I CAN REMEMBER THAT I HAVE ENDURED, THAT I HAVE GROWN, AND THAT THAT PART OF MY LIFE IS BEHIND ME…

- Samantha

Tattoo Artist: Sergei
Lower East Side Tattoo and Body Peircing – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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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

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

Well….about my stars tattoo….hmm….I always wanted something with relation to my family, actually only my younger brother and my older sister.

I talked to them and asked them what symbol they most identify themselves with and both, independent from each other, said that they would say it’s a star!

I choose my left chest because I wanted something close to my heart – cuz my brother and my sister are, and always will be, my brother and my sister. And to not forget me I added a star for me! So the 3 big ones are for the 3 of us! The small ones are to make a full picture out of it!

-Boris

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Here’s the story behind Bobo, my octopus tattoo.

From 2000 to 2005 I had chronic abdominal pain caused by endometriosis, adenomyosis and uterine fibroids. Anyone who’s had chronic pain knows that it’s hard to talk about, hard to describe. You don’t want to be complaining all the time, and you don’t want people to feel sorry for you, but it’s also important to express what you’re feeling. It’s important to communicate your state of pain to other people so you don’t feel isolated and alone in your distress.

In 2002 I started characterizing my uterus as an octopus in my abdomen — a strong force of nature who was sometimes very angry and swollen, sometimes mildly stirring, sometimes blissfully asleep or gone. I named my octopus Bobo, and it was easy to talk about her. “Bobo’s very angry today,” I’d say. Or, “Bobo’s good, she’s off somewhere else and I’m so happy for her.” People could ask me, “How’s Bobo today?” and I didn’t have to feel like they were feeling sorry for me or judging me.

Talking about Bobo was an effective way for me to talk about my pain disassociated from emotions, lighthearted, playful and irreverent. The octopus was also an effective metaphor for the types of pain I was experiencing — whether she was squeezing, spikey, radiating or whatever. Bobo the octopus wasn’t bad or mean, she was simply a strong force of nature, doing what she had to do.

In February of 2005 I had a hysterectomy — a blissful, wonderful, freeing hysterectomy. I have been pain-free since my surgery and I am so thankful for no longer living with pain and pain medications. Bobo has been free in the world, set free, and I have been given my life back.

The octopus is still a powerful symbol for me. In May 2006 I got my octopus tattoo from Sasha at Electro Lady Lux in Vancouver, BC. Sasha created the custom design, and I’m so happy with it — it’s exactly what I wanted, like Sasha was reading my mind.

-Kelly

Tattoo by Sasha at Electro Lady Lux in Vancouver, BC
www.electroladylux.com

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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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Robynn’s Lily Tattoo

The flower tattoo on my shoulder is a lilly/orchid hybrid designed for me by a friend at work 7 years ago. I handed her pictures of 3 flowers, and she amalgamated 2 of them into a great design. My artist from Club Tattoo 1, in Tempe, Arizona made the tattoo even better than the original with the coloring and the shading. I’ve worked on saving up for this tattoo for 7 years, and it was worth the wait.

-Robynn
Done by Denise from CT1

This is my second tattoo. I got it on April 9th, 2006. It is the Japanese Character for “adopt” or “foster” I am adopted, have known that since birth. My dog’s name is Foster, named partly after Jodie Foster and partly because, like my folks, I took him in.

I moved to Japan in 2001 and studied Japanese for 1.5 years, so I have a basic knowledge of the language. I despise people who get Asian characters but have never studied the language. I choose red for China, where I am living now. In Chinese, the character is close to what one would use for ADOPT as well, but they use one more character.

- Tanya

BlackWork Shoulder and Face Tattoo

The first tattoo was a present 4 myself on my 19th birthday, the second one just now.

I have a hobby since I was 17 years old, its aggressive inline. I’ve got my favorite skate producing company- Salomon, and i was riding with them some years. So I designed my salomon skate as a tribal tattoo, cuz I knew, even if i don’t skate some day, its been a big part of my life, and is worth to be inked on my body, cuz I love this art.

My favorites are especially tribal tattoos, so next one is just a piece of art with no meaning or story under it, except that the idea of it came out pretty silly. I had 2 scars on my eyebrow from piercings done. I loved them, but the 1st one I ‘knocked out’ by falling down on it while skating, the second just came out and so- if I can’t pierce this eyebrow anymore, I thought I could tattoo the scars over (cuz many people do that on their scars). It was a joke at first, but as I loved this art even more, I just felt I needed a tattoo on my face :] I’m now a month happy with it and yeah- the scar on the eyebrow was most painful when tattooed :/

-Anna
Designed by: Anna
Inked by: Vadim – Vadim Tattoo (Latvia)