Meet Kathy:
Kathy is an animal lover! I met her in the pet store where she works. She rescues animals of all sorts, trains them, keeps many for pets, and really LOVES them as the unique creatures they are. She and her husband raise chickens and roosters and have the best variety of fresh eggs you can buy. She's creative, fun, and has a variety of interests as you will see from her tattoos.She has many so they appear below in no particular order. I've met up with her several times since our first photo shoot to capture some of the new tats. As she says, she has plenty of "real estate" left on her skin for more. She's also the "cover girl" on my women's tattoo project Facebook page: Ruthiedee Photography.
Kathy's Tattoo Stories~
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"There might
still be a chance for me, my sweet Insanity." My life has been a roller
coaster ride, and maybe someday it will slow down a bit so that I won't feel so
crazy. The lyrics are from Dog Fashion Disco.'s "Sweet Insanity."
This is a portrait of my first best friend Tara who passed away in a car accident. This was my fave senior picture of her from high school. Her smile and laughter would brighten the darkest of nights.
Peach Muffin... My fave
treat turned into a joke, with my husband making fun of me every time I ate one.
He said to me once, making fun of me, "I'm a peach muffin, MMMM, I'm soooo
delicious," and to make a long story short, his nickname is now Peach Muffin.
This was my most spontaneous tattoo that I got without as much planning as
usual. Lol.
I have four fairy frog tattoos.
Amy Brown and Jasmine Beckett are two of my fave fantasy artists and frogs are
one of my fave animals to own. I have many frogs right now. The ones that are
tattooed are representations of my fave ones that have passed: my "old man
frog" which was my oldest pixie frog, my fave bullfrog, poisonous dart
frog and green tree frog.
My cat Lu-lu's portrait--I saved a chocolate ragdoll and five Maine coon cats from being euthanized years ago, and had three cats already, so was going to adopt them all out. Fell in love with this "Yoda-eared cat" and my husband knew it. One day I came home thinking that they were all going to be gone to their new homes, but my husband had sneakily kept her for me.
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She unfortunately had
a virus that took her life too soon at five. She was an amazing cat that slept
across your head and stole chicken out of your mouth, lol. She was pictured
here, drawn for me by my best friend Laura, as she used to lay under my covers
to sleep.
A purple cancer
ribbon with the words "Never Give Up" Represents my brother Jeff's one-year anniversary of his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. They gave him three
months with is cancer being stage-4. He fought this battle just like he did every battle
he was in during his 30 years in the military. He "never gave up" and
still worked as fire chief of Colorado Springs, traveled the world, and lived
an extra 20 months longer than doctors predicted. He is my hero and someday I
will have a larger memorial tattoo of him once I figure out how to honor him
properly.
Red string of fate
around my finger celebrated 10 years of being best friends with Laura. Someone
that we are no longer friends with brought us together. Laura is my sister from
another mother, and the tattoo reminds
me daily that she is there for me no matter what.
My right arm sleeve is a
tribute to my grandparents, who had a huge impact on my life, growing up with
them. "Where the Wild Things Are" and “Barbapapas” are both books that they
read to me every weekend. "Gravel Gertie" is nose art from my
grandfather's B17 fighter plane he flew in WWII, with his name and dates of
birth and death. The cardinal figurine is replica that my grandmother gave me out of
her prized collection right before she passed, and that is with her name and
dates of birth and death.
Upper calf has Elsa Lancaster as Bride of Frankenstein. BoF is one of my favorite black and white horror
movies. Under that on the front of my calf is Bunnicula from a child's book I was obsessed
with growing up about a vampire rabbit that sucked blood out of carrots. I was a
horror fan at, like, eight- years-old, lol. On the side of that, a
Jack-o-lantern that I got at a “Tattoos for Hunger” drive. For that, the tattoo
had to be a food tattoo and all proceeds would go to the local food bank.
The gray cat on my left forearm is Floyd, a three anda half-year-old cat I adopted and had until he was 21. He was over-weight when I got him--33 pounds--and over a few years we got him down to 18. He was a frumpy cat and the best feline friend I could've asked for. He used to sit and stare at walls, very still like a statue, very gargoyle-like so when he passed, I wanted him to have wings and the portrait makes him look like a gargoyle statue which was perfect.
My pug Mackie's portrait in the Victorian frame on my right thigh is by far right now the tattoo that makes me the happiest. He was adopted at five-months-old with many issues, but with love and care we got him taken care of. He lived a very spoiled life and there wasn't one person on the planet who met him and didn't fall in love with him and his amazing personality. He was my little side kick for almost 12 years. At the end of his life he was diagnosed with lymphoma and we gave him five months of quality of life instead of the three weeks he was given. Many people in his family, friends, and some complete strangers supported him and helped him go through treatments to make him more comfortable. He deserved more, but they are never with us long enough. He gave me more unconditional love then I could ever ask for. He was my comic relief with that goofy tongue hanging out, and his scar on his eye from a scratched cornea made his eye sparkle more when he looked up at me. I think he was portrayed perfectly on my leg and I will cherish his memory always.
Growing up my mother and
Uncle Sonny were very close, and it seemed like we were always together. My
uncle moved to New York from Massachusetts, and eventually we only got to see each
other when I could take a train up to him when I was older. We used to go to Greenwich
Village and see Broadway musicals and walk the streets of N.Y., going to all
the music stores, with him showing me all the "stars." Later he got
Cancer--melanoma--and I didn't get to do our next tour with him. Later I did go there
to tour 8th street with my husband in Sonny's memory, but the greatest will be to
finish this tattoo adding James Dean in the middle, and a New York skyline with
a musical and art background reminding me of those times.
My mother still hangs a large Elvis painting that he gave her, as well as Marilyn memorabilia so I know once my mom sees it she will understand why I got it. As for the make-up, that ties in my love of Día de los Muertos in there. My long-time friend Lou Gomes from Ten Penny Tattoo will be doing it. He is coming up again from New Mexico in the spring for the second sitting. I have about four hours off work done on this right now, about two hours each portrait.
Front left thigh piece is stained glass window from the musical, "Love
at its Darkest; Nightmare Before Christmas." My husband and I both were
married with a love for this Tim Burton movie, and I made our wedding cake
topper out of a Jack and Sally figurine in snow and lace. It sat atop of a
black and white decorated cake and set the mood for our love that was dark and
devoted, one that no one understood but us. The tattoo design is a
stencil by an artist named Mandie Manzano and
will look like a bright colored stained glass window when done. It represents
our relationship with a few broken pieces of glass fitting back into
place representing our struggles along the way of our almost 20-year
relationship! I have done two sittings of about two to three hours each so far,
hope to start the color soon. Brian Beckwith from Mass Ink Tattoo is working on
this piece.
This is a tattoo of Blind Mag from Repo: The Genetic Opera. This is one of my favorite
horror musicals, I am a huge horror fan, and she has been one of my favorite
vocalists for years so the combination is just amazing! I tattooed this piece
for about three and a half hours, I believe, at the Rock and Shock convention with SteveD'Asti, the owner of Mass Ink Tattoo back in October 2014.
Kathy's husband Jay has tattooed a picture of Kathy as his bride on his right calf.
Kathy has plans for more tattoos...
