It’s a good day when I have conversations about my tattoos that end up with people wanting to read Shaun Tan books, and a bad one when they creepily ask “do you have tattoos anywhere I can’t see right now?”
The closest I ever came to getting a tattoo was after a vacation in the Turks & Caicos. I had been going to various Club Med locations over an eight year period because I had no one to travel with. Plus the Clubs I went to were chosen for the scuba diving!
I really liked the club on Providenciales Island. The diving was great and the beach was fantastic. 8km long with white sand the texture of sugar. The nicest beach I had encountered since I was a kid on the shores of Lake Superior near Sault Ste Marie. I made four trips to Provo and totalled about 130 dives with over 75 hours of bottom time (that's how divers refer to time under water). Night dives were always the coolest, but I could talk about what I saw there all day.
Okay, tourism blurb completed back to the tattoo story. Because the diving instructors are few in number, I kept running into the same ones regularly - and quite a few of them were Canadian. As a result I spent a lot of time hanging out with them. One of them was from Sudbury, which is close to the Soo, and had also lived in Calgary for a time. We didn't overlap, but it was a neat connection (it didn't't hurt that she was kinda cute 😃). She told me about how she had gone back to Sudbury that summer for her sister's wedding and that while she was there she had a maple leaf tattooed on her hip. Her ink was in response to all of the other Canadian dive masters having maple leaves or flags somewhere. By the time I came home that year, they had pretty much convinced me to get a leaf added somewhere also.
I didn't chicken out on it, but I couldn't settle on a design (maple leaf or other) or a location. Then life intervened, as it is wont to do. So my skin only has a variety of scars and moles to show. Oh well 🤷♂️
I got my one and only tattoo in 1994 after a terrible love affair. It's a sword on my left hand... I'm left handed, pointing to my index finger, and the sword is a symbol of strength and courage. It was painful to the point of me almost blacking out. Then it got infected. I should have known better. The tattoo artist had a poster on his wall called The Punisher. Never again. Everybody back in 1994ish thought it was so cool. But I always recalled how it almost killed me.... both the tattoo and my love affair. I survived both.
Figured I'd start from the top with your tattoo journey. I must say that my travels on the Inca Trail were not as calamitous as yours but don't discount the spirits of the trail. Coca leaf cures a lot of ills. It's the one thing I miss terribly from the trip. No tattoos here but I definitely appreciate the artistry o the souls you've found.
Do you know the book “All My Friends Are Dead”? The green dinosaur is my most recent tat. Got with an 18 year old kid we sort of adopted getting her first cuz she wanted a buddy tattoo with me before we moved to Paris. I have a lot not-well-thought-out buddy tats. Those are some of my favorites. When kids see my shark riding minion tat they usually react in a way that makes parents cringe cuz they suddenly realize their kid is gonna be that person covered in tats one day. Good wholesome fun. And my fthc tat is way worse than yours. Never get a tat on a boat full of drunk people. That’s all I have to say about that one.
Love this post!!! Thank you for sharing the story and meanings behind your artwork. Tattoos can be so personal and revealing that is like sharing your parts of your soul. You have a beautiful soul, BTW.
Off topic, are you joining Threads? If so, how can I find you?
Your mom <3
I actually like Lina's abstract creation on your back the most. It's your largest canvas, yet cannot be seen by you. Enigmatic in several ways.
Thanks! It's my favourite too, and I'm appreciative of mirrors and photos so that I can see it occasionally :)
Love all your work, the artists and the meanings behind each piece.
As far as a Canadian artist, and in your neighbourhood as well, is Nadine Adam should you need the endorphin rush again.
Thanks, I'll check out her work!
The closest I ever came to getting a tattoo was after a vacation in the Turks & Caicos. I had been going to various Club Med locations over an eight year period because I had no one to travel with. Plus the Clubs I went to were chosen for the scuba diving!
I really liked the club on Providenciales Island. The diving was great and the beach was fantastic. 8km long with white sand the texture of sugar. The nicest beach I had encountered since I was a kid on the shores of Lake Superior near Sault Ste Marie. I made four trips to Provo and totalled about 130 dives with over 75 hours of bottom time (that's how divers refer to time under water). Night dives were always the coolest, but I could talk about what I saw there all day.
Okay, tourism blurb completed back to the tattoo story. Because the diving instructors are few in number, I kept running into the same ones regularly - and quite a few of them were Canadian. As a result I spent a lot of time hanging out with them. One of them was from Sudbury, which is close to the Soo, and had also lived in Calgary for a time. We didn't overlap, but it was a neat connection (it didn't't hurt that she was kinda cute 😃). She told me about how she had gone back to Sudbury that summer for her sister's wedding and that while she was there she had a maple leaf tattooed on her hip. Her ink was in response to all of the other Canadian dive masters having maple leaves or flags somewhere. By the time I came home that year, they had pretty much convinced me to get a leaf added somewhere also.
I didn't chicken out on it, but I couldn't settle on a design (maple leaf or other) or a location. Then life intervened, as it is wont to do. So my skin only has a variety of scars and moles to show. Oh well 🤷♂️
That's an excellent not-tattoo story :)
You have THE COOLEST tattoos!!! I especially love Trevor.
Thanks! I'm quite fond of Trevor (and even more now that he has a pink crayon which drew some magical lines on my arm).
I got my one and only tattoo in 1994 after a terrible love affair. It's a sword on my left hand... I'm left handed, pointing to my index finger, and the sword is a symbol of strength and courage. It was painful to the point of me almost blacking out. Then it got infected. I should have known better. The tattoo artist had a poster on his wall called The Punisher. Never again. Everybody back in 1994ish thought it was so cool. But I always recalled how it almost killed me.... both the tattoo and my love affair. I survived both.
Oof, not the happiest of tattoo stories but it's yours nonetheless :)
Recently, I even gave some thought to having it removed.
Figured I'd start from the top with your tattoo journey. I must say that my travels on the Inca Trail were not as calamitous as yours but don't discount the spirits of the trail. Coca leaf cures a lot of ills. It's the one thing I miss terribly from the trip. No tattoos here but I definitely appreciate the artistry o the souls you've found.
Cool stories. Tats are as original as you.
Do you know the book “All My Friends Are Dead”? The green dinosaur is my most recent tat. Got with an 18 year old kid we sort of adopted getting her first cuz she wanted a buddy tattoo with me before we moved to Paris. I have a lot not-well-thought-out buddy tats. Those are some of my favorites. When kids see my shark riding minion tat they usually react in a way that makes parents cringe cuz they suddenly realize their kid is gonna be that person covered in tats one day. Good wholesome fun. And my fthc tat is way worse than yours. Never get a tat on a boat full of drunk people. That’s all I have to say about that one.
Love this post!!! Thank you for sharing the story and meanings behind your artwork. Tattoos can be so personal and revealing that is like sharing your parts of your soul. You have a beautiful soul, BTW.
Off topic, are you joining Threads? If so, how can I find you?