Inked for Life

I never thought I'd get a tattoo in my life! And now I have two and thinking of getting a third...and a fourth!

I guess environment played a VERY big influence in my getting inked.  From my work shift alone, there are 5 people who have tatts.  But if one were to point a finger...point it at Jaren, the human canvas!.  

I love art and it's the thought of using my skin as a canvas that made me decide to go ahead.  The next big question was what design should I put on me?  The hearts, butterflies and tribal designs didn't interest me at all.  I wanted a design that is unique, uniquely me.  It took weeks, but finally I decided on a paisley design.  

According to Wikipedia:

Resembling a twisted teardrop, the kidney-shaped paisley is Persian and Indian in origin, but its western name derives from the town of Paisley, in central Scotland. In Sanskrit the design is known as mankolam and has long been used in India. It resembles a mango and has sometimes been associated with Hinduism. In Tamil, ma means "mango" and kolam means rangoli pattern, suggesting a possible Tamil origin for the Sanskrit word.  Some design scholars call the distinctive shape boteh and believe it is the convergence of a stylized floral spray and a cypress tree: a Zoroastrian symbol of life and eternity.

It's the "symbol of life and eternity that got me".

Now my second tattoo was unexpected.  I only had a few days to look for a design and I really cant remember what made me choose turtles.  The final design was the result of four separate designs.

Getting a tattoo is not for the faint at heart.  I was given an idea of how painful it could be when I just thinking of getting inked. On my first session, it started out to be tolerable. But that was just when the lining was being done. The shading was the killer. But I'm very proud of myself for not crying.  On my second session, the pain started almost immediately. And the session lasted for three hours!  So, a warning for those planning to get tattooed...some body parts will hurt like a bitch more than the others.

Now, one important thing to consider is going to the right tattoo artist.  I'm very lucky to have found Ace, thanks to Jaren.  A very nice and talented guy.  Anyone needs a tattoo artist, I'd recommend him 100%...for nobody touches my skin except Ace!

Look out for my next tatt...something I can show my dad :>