Women's Tattoo Project~: Cristin's Story~

Meet Cristin:

I met Cristin Sullivan at the optometrist's office where we were both waiting in line to pick up glasses. She's the owner of Luna Teas and Incense and a team leader with Pampered Chef. We got chatting about her tattoos and she agreed to be photographed and share her stories.

Cristin's stories:

The star was my first tattoo, a spiritual piece when I turned 18-years-old, after six months of planning. It's a Virgo pentacle, a spiritual piece representing earth, fire and water. Above it is a representation of Mother Earth.I have what people may see as six tattoos, but is a full sleeve with 23 hours of work so far. I planned my sleeve for eight years! Within that sleeve I honor my mother with a Stargazer lily, my grandmother (who was more like a second mother) with a Tiger lily, my spiritual beliefs, and myself. Most people react positively to my tattoos; they're beautiful. If people don't like them, then they've kept it to themselves, and I don't much care. They're for me.

I have a Triple Goddess tattoo on my leg that I had to actually debate with the artist about the placement. The tattoo is placed so that the Maiden (waxing moon) is behind me, Mother Moon (full) is on the side, and the Crone (waning moon)is on the front. My maiden aspect is behind me, I am in my mother aspect, and I am always moving toward my crone aspect--always learning and becoming wiser.

I have an elegant tribal of a sun and moon on my left forearm. My twin sister has the same tattoo. We are so different that everyone always said, "You two are like night and day!" Get it?

I have the numbers "413" on the back of my neck. Those numbers are the area code of my hometown. It is encased in thorns because I intensely dislike where I grew up and some horrible things happened to me there. In spite of that, I am incredibly proud of who I am and every experience that helped me become who I am. Beneath the numbers is the Kanji symbol for tree.

The skull on my left shoulder is a representation of death to contrast and complete the cycle of life represented in the tattoos on my right arm. I'll be adding more to it eventually.