Karla's Tattoo Stories

-->

Meet Karla: 

I'm 36 and a mother of two. I have ten tattoos, with more to come. I plan to finish both sleeves and work in fishing, hunting, and mudding themes.

I am a hairstylist. I'm just not at a shop right now. I don't like the drama that comes with the shops.

My family didn't like my tattoos at first. (My grandfather always use to say that my ankle one better say, “I love Grandad.”) My family now just accepts that it is who I am. I never hide them and I'm more than happy to talk about them.

  My ankle tribal was my first tattoo at 17, just because... 

--> Tats weren't legal in Massachusetts at the time, so I got it at a house party. I'm still planning on getting "Granddad" worked in on the ankle. He passed away April 29th, 

 2014.

-->

The stomach one, I just wanted when I was 18.

 

-->

Next was my back--the reason you don’t go to random people’s houses to get tattooed! I was 18 and three different people have worked on it at different times to try to fix it. Eventually I will cover it! The back cost me $100.00 total. They were all supposedly "tattoo artists." Only one was my personal friend. I’m still upset. It’s an ugly mess! I plan to get it covered when I can afford it, so unfortunately it will be a while. (I kind of wish those guys from tattoo nightmares were out this way.) 

-->

Next was my playboy playmate. I just loved the playboy bunny. I was 22. I think I secretly wanted to be a playboy model when I was younger. Lol. I was planning on getting my then husband's name above it, but at the last minute changed my mind...thought it would be bad luck.

 

-->

Then came the cowboy hat. I was 23. It is the hat of someone who was special to me at the time. Cowboy hat will probably be changed some day. That part of my life is gone. I don't regret it; I'm just ready to leave that in the past.

-->

The butterfly was on a trip with my best friend and we both got a butterfly.

-->

 

The steampunk girl with my children’s names I got when I was 35. I love the whole steampunk style. It's retro and futuristic (kinda madmaxish). She wasn’t supposed to look like me, it just kind of ended up that way some how. My kids love my tattoos.

 

--> 

The sleeve on the right arm represents me being a hairstylist. 

--> Colby, who is an owner at Broad st. Tattoo, has done the whole top half of my right arm and will finish my sleeve and do pretty much anything else I get done. She is a amazing artist and we just clicked right away!  

-->  

Colby who is a owner at Broad Street Tattoo has done the whole top half of my right arm and will finish my sleeve and do pretty much anything else I get done. She is a amazing artist and we just clicked right away! 

 

Katie-Ann's Story

Meet Katie-Ann:

-->

I am 26-years-old and just about six months pregnant with my first child. My husband and I are expecting a daughter in April and are so excited to welcome her to this crazy, beautiful world. I hope that she likes my tattoos and doesn’t feel obligated to have them or not have them. I want her to feel free to express herself in whatever way she feels most fitting for her. She will be the first granddaughter in the family; I have five adorable nephews but am so thankful to be adding some estrogen to the mix.

My husband and I have been married for over two years but together for close to seven years. We knew each other and were friends in high school and started dating in college. I went to Simmons for my undergraduate degree in history and just this past May received my Masters in Education from the Boston University School of Education. I live on the South Coast and commute far for work. In the future when time becomes something I have again, I’d like to act and sing more and also always wanted to take pottery lessons. I love ceramics. I enjoy going to the movies and just cuddling with my husband in my free time.

Tattoo Stories:

I have two tattoos. I got my first tattoo when I turned 18, and my second tattoo when I was 19. My first tattoo is the theatre masks (comedy and tragedy) and they are located in between my shoulders on my back.  I had known whole-heartedly for a couple of years before getting my masks that I wanted the threatre masks as a tattoo. I love theatre. I really enjoy acting and doing musical theatre and although the last time I had time to act was about three years ago when I held a role as Gwendolyn Pigeon in “The Odd Couple,” I lived and breathed it from 7^th grade on. Rehearsals were long--fun, but long. Being in all of the plays and musicals my high school put on took commitment and hard work and over the years I became really close with my theatre family, the group of us who consistently participated. 

I also love to sing and was in the Select Choir in high school and I had considered adding music notes or music staff placed like ribbon around the masks. Ultimately I chose an image I found online that was just the masks, but in my opinion a beautiful and very theatrical version of them. The comedy mask has a deep smile and the tragedy mask a grimace that provokes in me a real sympathetic frown for him. I figured if I felt it was missing anything, down the road I could add to it. This is the same reason I went with gray scale and did not opt to have use color. 

Theatre was and is so important to me; it is a part of me and I wanted the world to know that without my having to tell them. I believed that having the masks showed how committed I was to the art of theatre, performing it, viewing it. I did not get the tattoo because I felt I needed to prove this but because the love for theatre is so strong I felt perhaps my body was missing this piece.  I’ve since considered what I would add to the masks, and even considered going back for a consultation to see what the artist might add but then I always decide it is simple and beautiful as is. I freaking love that when I wear a dress or cool shirt with my hair up (or when I have short hair) my masks are on display for the world to observe, inquire about, and enjoy. I feel better knowing they are there. The artist was Khristian from Mooncusser Tattoo in Provincetown, MA. That is where my older sister got her tattoos done and they are so talented, friendly I would never go anywhere else for a tattoo.

-->

My second tattoo, also done in grayscale, is an acoustic guitar on my right ankle with my father’s name in it, “Abe.” I got it just three days after he passed away in February 2008. After the first day of his absence I knew I needed to commemorate his life, and for me the obvious choice was an acoustic guitar. He wasn’t a professional musician but he had a great voice and talent for the guitar. He used to play for us (my siblings and I) and some of the neighborhood kids too. He was very Eric Clapton-like in sound. My sister Janet also wanted to commemorate him so we got our tattoos done the same day. She also knew how she would portray Abe, she chose  a moon, stars and some clouds on her left arm with the words “shine on” under it. My mother later got a tattoo to commemorate him as well, a monarch butterfly. I just think that my tattoo for him shows a piece of him that I loved but I think my tattoo is even more special when you consider my sister's and mother's tattoos along with it. They each show something different about Abe and we each instantly knew what we would get. 

   

I will say that I anticipated the tattoo being small fitting very snuggly just above the ball of my ankle but when I got to the tattoo parlor the artist insisted that he could do more if it were bigger. I know that some people see the tattoo on my leg and think, “Did this woman seriously get a tattoo of a guitar on her ankle?” Some people probably think it’s a cliché, but more people ask me about it and I love that. I didn’t add dates to it because I felt that was too final at the time and still would today.

 

-->

All of my immediate family members have tattoos, my two sisters and my older brother and mother. In fact Abe was the only one who didn’t have tattoos and probably would think we were crazy for getting them. So really only my mom was a bit hesitant about my first tattoo and gave the “it’s permanent” speech. She loved it once it was done and knows I wouldn’t have made a speedy decision about something like a tattoo. Once she got inked for the first time she wasn’t hesitant at any future tattoos for any of us. It helps that my older sister and brother, who have the most tattoos of all of us paved the way for myself and my younger sister. You know how that goes; the younger siblings always get away with more. My friends love them; my husband really likes them and has thought about getting a tattoo himself but hasn’t. 

-->

Whenever I have had a job interview or started a new job, I kept my tattoos under wraps for a while. While I’d like to think that an employer would hire me despite my tattoos, I know very well by now that a field like higher education can be a bit traditional and archaic when it comes to following convention and I understand and respect that. After a while being in my current job (I’ve been here 3 and a half years now) I let them show proudly. Outside the office I don’t bother covering them up, I like to show them off and am happy when people ask about them. Of course some people don’t like tattoos and do pass judgment on me for having them. They ask, “Aren’t you worried about how those will look when you’re old?” or “Why would you ruin your body with something permanent like that?” I politely say that I do not worry about when I am old. I look forward to being a badass old lady with tattoos and explain that by then there probably will be far fewer people who don’t have tattoos and far fewer people who openly hate tattoos. Also I don’t think they ruin the body. I think they are a perfectly valid way of expressing oneself. I don’t think my body was complete before my tattoos.

 

-->

I found the tattoo experience exciting. The one on my back only hurt briefly when he was doing work right over my spine. The one on my ankle was uncomfortable throughout the inking process, but I didn’t find either unbearable. I also feel like getting tattoos shows I am a tough girl, which I like, although, again, that is not why I got them. I got both tattoos at Mooncusser in Provincetown, MA. The first artist was Khristian and the second was Mike. Both had different styles but I enjoyed their input and also that they seemed really interested in talking with me about my ink and what it meant.

Terri's Story~

--> Meet Terri:

I work at the May Center with kids with brain injuries. I was a teacher in a classroom for eight years, and I've been the Associate Director of Education for about a year and a half. I oversee a number of classrooms, planning and creating IEPs (individual education plans) for each student. I supervise the staff within my classrooms, as well as work with the students, parents and school districts. When needed, I also help out with behavioral support within the classrooms. 

Growing up, I never thought that I would get a tattoo. That obviously changed as I got older! I don't rush into anything, so the two tattoos that I have were planned out way in advance. I don't have any plans for another one, but I wouldn't be opposed to it either if the right design came my way. 

Tattoo Stories:

-->

I have 2 tattoos. My first one I got for my 25th birthday. It's on my left forearm. It is the open heart symbol (same symbol as the jewelry line from Jane Seymour @ Kay Jewelers). "Keep your heart open and love will always find its way in." My mom and I are really close, and she is always lecturing me about getting out there and meeting new people. Getting this tattoo was my way of reminding myself of all of my mom's lectures about keeping my heart open and letting people in--something I still have a hard time doing sometimes!

For my first tattoo, I had a friend from college come with me as part of my "birthday weekend."

-->

I got my second tattoo when I was 30. My work was doing a fundraiser for our students, and a tattoo parlor in Boston said they would donate ten percent of the cost of each tattoo back to our students. My second tattoo is the infinite symbol with an arrow.  

"An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming." 

2013 and 2014 were tough years for me. My mom was diagnosed with cancer for the 3rd time. My aunt was hit by a car. I lost a close friend to cancer. Dealing with all of that, while dealing with my usual stresses of life was starting to drag me down. This tattoo was a way to remind me that even though things are tough right now, it will get better. 

 For my second tattoo, my sister came with me because she was planning on getting one as well.  

   

Overall, my friends and family were supportive of me getting each tattoo. The only thing my mom had to say was, "I hope it hurt!"