Terri’s Feet Hearts Tattoo Story

I wanted to get something to represent my parents and everything they’ve done for me over the last 20 years; for all their love and support. I have always liked the look of ‘old school’ tattoos, so I decided on the two hearts, one for Mum and one for Dad.

As for placement, I knew that getting my feet tattooed would hurt (and it did!!!) but I figured that my parents got me on my feet, so now I have them on my feet

Cheesy, but it works

- Terri

Tattoo Artist: Sean Jackson
Tattoo Studio: Tattoo Magic, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia

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Dyanna’s Heart Tattoo Story

Here’s the story behind my heart tattoo. My mom raised me and my brother essentially alone. It was hard, but she did a great job. I love her to pieces, she’s my best friend.

Two years ago, my mom had open heart surgery. One of the valves in her heart was very leaky, and it caused her a ton of problems. She ended up being in the hospital for 2 straight weeks, recovering. She would’ve been out sooner, but she stopped breathing one day, and had to have a pacemaker put in.

The day she stopped breathing, was the first day I wasn’t going to go see her in the hospital, I called her room on my way to work, and someone picked up, said her name twice, and hung up on me. It had just happened. The entire experience was really hard on me, seeing my mom like that. She pulled through, and while I’ve always wanted one, I knew from then that I would get a tattoo in her honor.

So the heart has a bandage because it’s repaired. And it’s inside a rose because while it may be a slightly damaged heart, it’s encased in something very beautiful. (I asked my mom last year in preparation for this what her favorite flower was, and she told me roses. So last year for her birthday, I sent her roses to throw her off my trail. And it’s purple because if it was red there’d be too much red, and purple is my favorite color. Haha.)

Placement because it’s close to my own heart, it’s somewhere easily hidden/no one will see it unless I want them to.

Design and ink done by Mike Ski.

Tutu for funsies

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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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Ankle Hearts Tattoo

My second tattoo I did while I was on sick leave of absence from work. I was VERY bored just sitting at home, unable to go to work, and I had been doodling for a long time. The new fad at the time were those plastic choker necklaces. Some girls were breaking them and wearing them as anklets. I looked at my chain of heart doodle and just knew that it would look awesome around my right ankle. I also knew that it would piss off my mom (my first one did), and that was a bonus, at the time. She didn’t realize it was a tattoo and not one of those plastic necklaces for a long time, and people still ask me if it’s real or one of those.

Done at the 5150 in Lodi, by Terry

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Filmstrip Heart Tattoo

This tattoo had been in the works for years. My idea for it came after years of wanting a graduation gift for myself. I was a film major at UC San Diego. The idea of having a film heart came from feeling an intrinsic connection and need to make films.

Originally the idea was to have a film reel instead of the heart and have a piece of film come off the reel and lead down my arm into a sleeve. I asked my artist to come up with a design for it. She then sent me this heart design and I was in love with it. We decided to add the Chaplin minutes before we started the tattoo.

-Abe

Artist – Susan Kidder
Flesh Skin Grafix