Skip to main content

The Painted Woman

Love them or loathe them most people have an opinion on tattoos.

I have always loved them and actually think I have an addiction.

I had my first tattoo when I was 18, it is a hummingbird on my right shoulder blade. I didn't tell anyone I was having it and didn't even go prepared. I just knew I really wanted one and that inspiration would hit me in the shop. I wasn't even nervous, just very excited.
So in I went with my passport at hand (for ID) and little did I know I had been lucky enough to get an appointment with someone who was renowned for his talent in this field. It was in Trollspeil in Guildford.

It came out really well and in my opinion didn't hurt at all. At the pub that night no one believed it was real and someone even tried to scratch it off - now that did hurt.

I wanted another straight away but decided to wait otherwise where would it stop...

So after I got married I treated myself to the next tattoo which was of a beautifully detailed rose at the base of my spine. Again, it didn't hurt and came out really well. This was done in Tattooland in Woking and was actually very expensive in comparison to other places but there was no waiting list so that was enough for me.

The next one I had was on my wrist of a big blazing sun (in black ink) and my daughters date of birth. Her name is Summer so it seemed fitting. This one was not the best experience and I later found out why. It was at a place in Reading and was a complete impulse buy. About two weeks after having my baby my husband and I were visiting his work colleagues in Reading to have a coo over the baby. On our way we passed the tattoo parlor and I decided at that moment to get it done. What I wasn't aware of is that you shouldn't have a tattoo so soon after having a baby as your hormones etc can affect the ink.
It scabbed over quite badly and when the scab cleared up the tattoo was patchy and the ink clearly hadn't taken on patches of my skin. It just looks quite blurry. I do intent to have this corrected at some point but not yet got around to it.

The next was after I had my son a couple of years ago. I waited about a year after the birth and had his name 'Dexter' written very delicately on my other wrist. This one was done by a lovely young guy at Sins n Needles in Aldershot (http://sinsnneedles.co.uk/). It was quick, painless and very well priced. which is why I went back a year later to get the biggy done.
I have always wanted a big tattoo or half a sleeve done but was not quite brave enough until I came across a gorgeous lace piece that flowed across the back. I found it on a google image search and was compelled to book in as soon as I could. Emma Thorne was the girl for the job and what a job she did. It is like patches of lace stitched together draped from my left shoulder all the way across to my lower right side. The detail is incredible and it was three hours of freehand work.
I was nervous about the freehand aspect but I needn't have been. She truly is skilled in her art. I would recommend her to anyone. (https://www.facebook.com/emmathornetattoo)

On later reflection I decided that I would like some additions to the lace which I have not sorted out yet. I suffer from psoriasis and at the moment I have a few patches on my back which makes me too self conscious to go and have it worked on at the moment. Once it starts to calm down again i will go back in.

So that is my tattoo history so far...

I love my tattoos and, contrary to what my dad said when he saw my first one at age 18, I will never regret them as they are part of me and tell stories from parts of my life. It is like artwork on my skin that I am always proud to show off.

I plan to have more but it is finding the right pieces/ ideas that have meaning to me. I am still not ruling out a half sleeve too.

What are your opinions on tattoos? Turn on or turn off?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Do what makes you most happiest...

This is something I have long forgotten but something I am aiming to rectify. I have been looking inwardly for a while now as I realised I have lost myself a bit. I have spent so long being mum, wife, councillor, chauffer, chef, cleaner, dog walker business owner etc etc etc (you get the idea) that I don't really know who I am anymore or what makes me tick. My son asked me last Mothers day what I would like to do as it was 'my day' - I honestly couldn't answer and my 11 year old boy just said "that's really sad". He was absolutely right, that is sad! When did I just stop living my own life to serve everyone else? I like to paint and have recently made time to complete a run of adult paint by numbers to decorate my living room with. I also started doing acrylic paintings and watching some Bob Ross for inspiration. This is a good start but I'm not passionate about it. Today I remembered what I used to be passionate about and that was writing so I am back...

A very honest post from Week 27

Well Christmas and New Year were eventful and not in a good way. I had, what was quite possibly, the worst Christmas ever for reasons I will detail in this blog. It began around the beginning of December. My 4 year old daughter seems to have become possessed. She started playing up and has gotten naughtier by the day. It started with her saying no to everything and refusing to do anything we tell her such as getting dressed, eating her dinner or simply not answering back to us. This progressed and she started being a smart arse with us saying things like "I don't have to do that if I don't want to" and "you can't tell me what to do". She has basically turned into a stroppy teenager overnight. We are yet to find a punishment that works on her, she just seems to be completely emotionless toward anything we implement. At the moment she has had most of her Christmas presents confiscated and has to earn them back through good behaviour but she doesn't s...

Maternity leave 3 months on

It has been a while since my last post so when I found myself with a (rare) childfree house My first priority was to update my blog. Dexter is now 3 months old and I still cannot believe how quickly it has flown by (I know everyone says that but it's true). Mothering a baby the second time around has been so easy. The first time I remember feeling quite lost and questioning everything I was doing, convinced it was all wrong. This time, however, my experience has given me the confidence that I so envied in other mums/ friends with children. Dexter has helped in his own way as he is such an easy baby. I know there may be some mums reading this thinking "thanks for rubbing it in" but believe me my first child was an easy baby but I paid for it in spades when she hit the terrible two's (which is a phase she is still in at almost 5). He started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks and this is just getting better each week. We currently put him to bed at 10pm and he sle...