Sexy Tattoo Design New Ink!

My new ink - a sexy tattoo design!

One woman’s story of reclaiming her body art.

I have a nearly 18 year old tattoo of a scroll design surrounding the Cross of Christ in magenta and fuchsia. I have always loved this tattoo. I have decided to take the scroll-work behind the cross and extend a vine-like design up and over the hip bone, down the ‘V’ of the stomach, and terminate at the top of my pelvic bone.

What does getting a sexy tattoo design have to do with romance? Everything has to do with romance. Freud would have said everything has to do with sex, but Freud had mother issues and never could shake his accent. In my world, everything has to do with romance.

A long time ago in a place not so far away I got a beautiful tattoo on my lower back. I think it was about 1990. Now-adays it wouldn’t be called a tattoo, it would be called ink. And a long time ago it was a beautiful piece of art and today it has been demoted to ‘tramp stamp’. When someone says I have a tramp-stamp on my back, I want to punch them in the head. But I got my tattoo for Christ – so if I were to punch someone in the head over name calling, I might be a wee bit hypocritical. What would Jesus do? I think he would probably punch someone in the head.

I understand the derogatory term because every over-sexed wanna be rock-star chicklet has a butterfly on the part of her body that will not get fat. But when I got my permanent marker, it was when I rededicated my life to Christ – I considered it a type of public baptism. That, and Cher just got hers so it must be a good thing. And yes, it had to do with sex. (duh - what else would a sexy tattoo design have to do with??) In the back of my mind – what man wouldn’t think that was the sexiest thing ever since Victoria first started telling secrets? And it was. For a time.

My choices are either to:

a. live with it regretfully

b. live with it

c. live with it extraordinarily

I choose C. I always choose C. So how can I make this beloved tramp-stamp extraordinary? How can I take advantage of my natural assets, is the bigger question. How can I work with what my Momma gave me? Most of us have ‘things’ about our bodies that we appreciate; that we’re happy with. I hate how big my feet are but I love my flat stomach and hip bones. Always have, I predict I always will.

**

I’m in my home-away from home; a hotel room in Seattle. I’m bored with the TV, I’ve already worked out, so I pick up a felt tip pen. I located the very middle of my middle – just above my pelvic bone, and drew a dot.

I located my hip bone on either side – and drew a dot. I then doodled my rendition of a scroll-like vine down the muscle line of the ‘V’ in my abdomen. Then I chased my tail in front of the full-length mirror and did my best to connect this vine to the tattoo on my lower back.

That looks good! I should do it.

Spent about an hour looking at tattoo art and vine designs online – lots to choose from.

**

And guess how I made my decision to choose them without feeling it necessary to shop around? Their website. It was established by an artist and that’s what I wanted. When I made my decision so long ago my only concern was clean needles. Now I want the best artist around.

I took my print-out of vine designs and the pencil sketch of my current tattoo placement and the new tattoo requirements. Kevin helped me out. Great mo-hawk, nice earrings – the hermitically sealed kind permanently lodged in one’s ear-lobe, pretty eyes, and tasteful ink running up his arms. These are signs of a fine artist.

I liked the way Kevin helped me through the creative process of what I have, what I want, and how we’re going to get there. We talked price – about 6X as much as it was in 1990. Kevin must do very well.

We talked through the concept and he even had a piece of art on top of his work-space with a vine design that appealed to him so much he saved it – even though he didn’t have an application for it at the time. It was kismet.

He took a piece of tracing paper and taped it over my existing ink and around one hip. He traced the existing tattoo and outlined a crude sketch of where the vine would wind above my hip bone and along my stomach muscle. We’re building trust at this point so my full-on abdomen exposure will probably come on visit two.

There was a cute young guy getting his shoulder done watching the whole show. But I didn’t see any upward age limits posted, just a lower limit – you have to be 18 and sober to get a tattoo here.

The first thing someone typically says when they disprove of a tattoo is, “sounds like a good idea now, but how’s it gonna look when you’re 85?”

Wow, that’s a really good point. Let me ponder that one.

When I’m 85 and someone is changing my diaper in the nursing home, do you really think I’m going to give a flip about a faded tattoo on my hip? When I’m 85, do you think I’m going to be concerned much about anything superficial?

When I’m 85 I pray to God I’m not still worrying about what the male nurse thinks of my hard-earned wrinkles or my sagging breasts. I pray I am just as content as Paul in prison and smiling a lot when I close my eyes because I easily wonder back to my younger days – when I was but a woman of 43 and had the body to back up any kind of aesthetic I cared to sport.

When I’m 85 I hope I would be happy to show off my tired tattoo and tell the story of how I first got the design on my back when I re-dedicated my life to Christ and how I found a very cool artist to make it something even more beautiful years later and boy – those were the days.

For me, it’s a good idea now. When I’m 85 I wager my recollection will be that a sexy tattoo design was a fantastic idea!

**

The “C” word – COMMITMENT! For every man that has ever told me I have the fear of one – "I beg to diff-uh!". Until you’ve had a tattoo gun loaded with ink pierce your skin, – you don’t know commitment. Then it’s out-of-your-control; you couldn’t quit that ink if you wanted to. You’re “all in”.

The big event; turning Kevin’s sketch of my tattoo into a living piece of art – permanently. Last night he worked for two hours on our project and I now have the outline of the most beautiful filigree design I have ever seen. It’s bolder and more beautiful than I ever envisioned.

The process is to trace the sketch onto stencil paper. We started with the left hip and he pressed the inky stencil against my flesh to transfer the pattern. He then made fine adjustments to line things up exactly as I had envisioned it in my minds eye, (running up and over the hip and down the “V” of my abdomen) and then the hard part; duplicating the effort on the right hip!

This part of the exercise took the most time with a lot of back and forth and measuring. Kevin looked like he was watching a miniature tennis match the way his eyes darted left and right – gauging the proper placement of every tendril.

I then stretched out face down on a hydraulic lounger and away we went. And then I remembered something…. Tattoos hurt! I think it’s like child birth – if you had total recall of the pain you would never have another one, and most people who have one tattoo most assuredly get two.

The moment that gun touched my delicate back flesh my skin clenched, my jaw tightened, and my breath ran away. How did I get through this the first time around? Lamaze! Controlled breathing. Going to my ‘happy place’. RELAX! So I focused in on relaxing my neck, relaxing my shoulders and before you know it the endorphins kicked in and I was able to chat with Kevin about raising kids, the first tattoo he ever gave somebody else, (talk about all-in; can you imagine tattooing someone else for the first time?), and how coffee came to be a big part of the Smokey Banana culture.

Turquoise, purple, pink and red; I am a woman of color. The most color-ful thing that I've seen; you are... so colorful.

This morning I wear a thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment around my middle and I can’t quit lifting my shirt and looking in the mirror. I feel so exhilarated! I made a decision to do something I can’t undo - beyond ‘till death do us part’. This tattoo is with me until I return to dust. I am committed!