I met my husband when he was still going to college to become a history/art major. I was not only impressed with how grounded and intelligent he was, but became infatuated with the creative and artistic side of him that he kept hidden. I knew his passion would evolve and thrive more so behind a canvas and not inside a book, so I encouraged him to become a tattoo artist. It was a long hard journey. We were your basic statistic, young and poor with a child not even out of diapers, but I was in love and trusted that eventually everything would fall into place. I held two jobs, finished school, and financially supported our family until he could become the successful artist I foresaw, and all would be well in the world. Because that's how love works...Right?
Things did begin to pick up, and his career finally settled into place. Out of all the tattoos he had given me, the chandelier piece was special in its own right, not only because it would be the last time his machine would ever touch my skin, but because it was something he sketched especially for me. It was going to be his show piece and, for the first time, I let him have complete control over the process. My husband had started the outline and sketch for my tattoo, but before it could be finished we had started talking about taking a break. During our separation I found out he had been having a long ongoing affair. Devastated after ten years of marriage and two kids, I decided to get a divorce. We tried to keep things amicable, but it just became too toxic. He refused to finish my ink, which I'm sure was heavily influenced by his girlfriend/mistress, which in retrospect was probably for the best, but it still added salt to the wound. There are three sides to every story... Mine, his and the truth. We are all beautifully flawed and I do not claim perfection, and am not without my idiosyncrasies. But the heart is deceitful...and some pain can take much longer to heal than the ink on your skin...
Luckily I was able to find an amazing artist who was empathetic to my situation and understood how important this was for me, and that this represented the beginning of my new journey. He reworked and completed my piece beyond all expectations, and made it his own. Not only did it come out fucking insane, but any trace that may have been left was washed away with the excess blood and replaced with something much brighter and beautiful. Josh Palleseen, my local Sacramento tattoo artist, is now responsible for a lot of the newer artwork you will be seeing in future sets to come. The lesson of the story is, kids, if you marry a tattoo artist...make sure his morals are as clean as his fucking lines...or you at least get your shit finished before you separate. hahaha.
https://www.facebook.com/gold.helm.1
