Giving in to the future
Guess it was time to sign up for tumblr, so here I am.
The whole thing…
My phoenix (who needs a little touchup). I love her so.
Finally, a picture of my second tattoo. Plus the pretty bracelet I made.
The inspiration for the vines on my first tattoo came from this henna tattoo that I got at the Colorado Ren Faire many years ago.
So one of my best friends and I decided we’d get tattoos together because we both suffer from depression and this would be a good (and very visible) reminder that we always had at least one other person who cared about us.
She wanted to get a flower on her big toe, but my tattoo artist said that toe tats don’t last. So she and I talked about what else we could do. We decided to get the word “dork” inked on us because it represents who we are and our affection toward each other.
Then we hit upon a TRULY dorky idea and decided to replace the “o” with the symbol for the hearthstone from World of Warcraft. PERFECT. The hearthstone is how you get home, no matter where you are. We both love WoW and this was a subtle way to geek out about that and yet not have it be something that we’d regret later when we (some day) stop playing. Because what’s not fantastic about a symbol that will always bring you home?
So, that’s my latest tattoo and the reason behind it. I’m the one on the right side of the photo.
This is my first tattoo. Inked October 16, 2007.
This one based based on a henna tattoo of vines that I’d gotten at the Colorado Ren Faire years before. I knew I wanted vines, flowers and the words “Live Love Laugh”. I found a font I liked and cobbled together the art (from the henna with the words stuck in the middle). My friend Janet told me about her tattoo guy (Johnny at Blue Heron) and we sent him the drawing I made. He came back with this gorgeous, but simple piece.
Janet went with me and took pictures of the process (the first pic is hers).
I’ve always been so happy with this tattoo. The vines are so delicate. And tulips are my favorite flowers. People always ask me if it’s a real tattoo because the colors are so pretty.
I chose those words because words have always been important to me. And sometimes I need reminders to live, love and laugh more.
This is the art from my second tattoo. I knew what I wanted so I looked around and found something the sort of was right and talked to an artist friend. She took my handwaving and links and came up with this.
I got it inked on July 10, 2010. It’s on the inside of my left wrist so I’ll have to have someone take a picture of it for me. The ones I take always look warped.
Meaning: fire and water in balance, but grounded by earth. Fire brings new life or destroys. Water much the same. Together, they bring change. Earth grounds the changes so that I remember which way is up.
My third tattoo, right after it was done.
This was not originally going to be my third tattoo. In fact, I hadn’t thought about a phoenix seriously until life changed in December. I found out that my stepfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer the day after Xmas and that shook my world. I mean, he was 85 so it wasn’t like he was going to live forever, but still.
That’s when the phoenix lodged itself into my brain and would not be set aside.
He died on April 2nd and I got this inked on April 30th.
To me, it represents all of the change going on in my life: the loss of a parent (the first my 4 parents), my new sense of mortality, the recognition that life continues and changes all the time.
(I have no idea why the picture is rotated! Grrr.)
