Inked in History

It started with one little tattoo on the top of her right foot.

Wait, back up.

It started with a tattoo on a hidden part of her back. "It means love," Mayet told me recently. "And I want to get more..."

Ok, now fast forward to two days ago. "I want to express my faith in God, and depict the first twenty five years of my life," Mayet professed. So, she visited Michelle at American Beauty Tattoo, and the rest is, as they say, history.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the modern technology of tattoo, it is sterile (as sterile as sterile can be under non-surgical circumstances), dimensional in appearance, and applies a rainbow of colorful inks, if the "inkee" so desires. The process starts out with a template that is stenciled onto the skin; a guide, so to speak, for the artist to work with.

After an hour of etching, lining and shading, the skin is welted by the needles' tracks, and permanently inked. So you better like - no, you better LOVE the design you chose to decorate your skin.

 The Rosary, to signify Mayet's religion; and 
"I have faith" spelled in Greek.

Mayet's next tattoo of the day is even bigger than the rosary. That is just the stencil on her shoulder, but you can see how big it is. It's about the size of Jaida Bug's leg!

It takes a talented artist to make something this gargantuan be ever so pretty, and delicate, and alive, and impressive. She has to know her needles well, and be one with the gun in order to make this permanent etch a work of undeniable art.

First phase: black ink to define the landscape. This part wasn't that painful.

Phase two: colors. Deep red, red, pink to shade the delicate design.

For two hours, Michelle etched, lined, shaded, colored, and not once did she break a sweat or lose her concentration.

One thing that remains the same with the application of tattoos though, no matter how new or old the method of inking, is the pain. The design started to come to life, at the sacrifice of pain and agony.

In the end, a vibrant branch of cherry blossoms adorns Mayet's shoulder. "Cherry blossoms, which bloom only in spring, represent the transience of life. It is a rememberance of our lives in Washington, how we moved every year from one home to the next, living there for only short periods of time." Oh, so poetic. And oh, so sad because Mayet hints that they may be moving away from Washington... Soon...

Which leads me to think... Can you imagine a ball and chain trailing down the back of my leg? Harshly surreal with heavy shading. You know, to symbolize my stubborness to change?

[Imagining.]

Ok, NOT!!!

History, as they say. Because the ink is permanent. Because one of the languages in the Holy Bible is Greek. Because these brands signify the most important ideals that mark the first quarter century of Mayet's life.

"I LOVE IT!" Mayet beamed.


.