Finally, the blog I promised you. I'm sorry it took so long.
A couple of weeks ago, my favorite artist came to town and did an amazing cover up for me. @gdlevi and I connected here through SuicideGirls (reason #553 that you should join if you aren't already a member: you meet amazing people), and he has now completed 4 amazing pieces for me, including the cover-up that I'm telling you about today.
When I was 17, I was homeless. I lived in and out of homeless teen shelters in Downtown San Diego for 9 months, and it sucked. I made some pretty terrible decisions during that time, and encountered some pretty gnarly situations that left me with physical and emotional scars. One of the decisions I made was to get a tattoo. I always told myself that I wouldn't regret my tattoos, and that I would carry them as a memory of what I was going through at the time that I got them.
This year though has been full of changes for me. I became a Hopeful SuicideGirl, I got the guts to leave a toxic relationship, I started a new job, etc. The toxic relationship left me with more emotional scars, and it made me think back to some of the trials I've been through in my life. I've hated the tattoo on my back that I've carried around with me since I was 17. It scarred when it was healing (it was done with a guitar string for goodness sake, of course it scarred), and it was a reminder of an awful time in my life. Luckily it was out of sight for me, but I would see pictures of it (especially on here) and I would just hate it.
I thought about it for a long time, and decided that I wanted to cover it. Ravens are usually associated with death. For me, death is more of a rebirth, a new beginning, and ravens represent that to me. What a perfect idea. I was already in love with Levi's style of tattooing, so it was a no-brainer to ask him to design and complete this transition for me. He drew this amazing raven, and did such an amazing job taking something that I hated, and turning it into something that I love. It's a beautiful representation of change and new beginnings.
Here are some images from that day, taken by my incredible friend CyndiLou. (I had to make some of them artsy black and white, don't judge)
The man himself. He's an incredible artist, and if you ever get the chance to be tattooed by him, TAKE IT!
Levi is in Louisiana, but travels often. You can see more of his work here.
One in color, just because.
He takes his work seriously, as you can tell here.
This is right after we finished. My friend CyndiLou was taking random pictures, and caught this one. Levi also completed the Han and Leia tattoos on my legs. I love that you can see them here (kind of).
It's picture inception! Natural light was better for capturing all of the little details and colors in his work.
Favorite part of a tattoo? The massage afterwards. Haha
All done!
Those were from that day, just to give you a glimpse into what we did. Here's a shot of the fully healed tattoo:
I don't know if @missy, @rambo, or @lyxzen have ever asked us to write homework about our favorite tattoo, but this would be mine. I am so in love with this piece. I honestly feel like this is going to be an amazing year, full of amazing experiences, and this tattoo is not only helping me to close a door to a chapter of my life that sucked, it's helping me feel more confident about the future.
What's your favorite tattoo, and who's your favorite tattoo artist? Tell me in the comments!
xoxo
Roz
