As I discovered my new self, I felt accepted into a new community of friends in a way I'd never been before. I soon noticed I was the only one without tattoos so the inevitable happened.
Still not worked out photo thing...
TATTOOS: By Steve Kayleigh of Lucky Black in Onslow Road, Southampton
1) 2009: First one: dragon on my left arm. (right arm no go area due to removal of lymph nodes). Drawn straight onto skin. BRIEF: An imaginary dragon, which is there but not there, and yes, it’s got to have wings. I love dragons, they symbolise freedom, flying wherever they want and refusal to be precisely defined. I love stories with dragons in them. He’s called MgLiNaK (yes, I know, I’m a sad chemistry geek). Note bike was called HOCLBRI (or H2OBrClI for the chemists out there - stuff that reacts with Mg, Li, Na & K).
2) 2010: Alien mermaid on right thigh. I love water and the sea especially. Wanted a slightly different mermaid. Found a picture on google of an alien with tentacles for hair, Steve used that picture as a basis for a mermaid in waves design. Drawn on paper then transferred to leg. When he’d nearly finished, and asked if anything was missing, I suggested she needed a tattoo. She’s called Olivine (a green precious gem found especially in meteorites). She has a sexy look in her eyes.
3) Bracelet on my left wrist. Asked for a subtle symbol of my Christian beliefs. Steve came up with this design which is perfect, most people fail to see the crosses until I point them out.
4) 2011: Phoenix on my back. I wanted the scar on my back covered up as I was very self-conscious about it. (scar from the breast surgery where part of my back was used to replace the lump cut out of the breast). A phoenix seemed appropriate to symbolise my new life from the ashes of my cancer. Highly successful, that summer I sunbathed naked for the first time and have since made that particular naturist beach one of my favourite places.
5) 2013: Cherry Tree on my left leg: Several reasons for this one
For this one, I googled images of cherry tree tattoos, then gave Steve some pictures sorted by ones I like compared to ones I didn’t like – he then designed something beautiful for me.
6) 2013: Sea serpent & sailor in boat, waves etc on right leg. My right leg looked kind of bare now that my left one was covered in cherry blossom, so Steve extended the mermaid & waves to include a shipwrecked sailor in a small boat being lured by her with the sea serpent rearing up behind. There was going to be a Viking ship somewhere but in the end decided to leave that out. When we got to the bottom of the leg and were wondering how to end it, I asked if he could continue the waves onto my foot making a triskell shape for my Breton heritage).
7) 2014: The left foot now needed something to match – so mirrored the triskell with one made out of cherry blossom and grey swirls
8) 2016: My daughter started studying for a degree in Illustration and I wanted something designed by her, she came up with an idea to continue the cherry tree up my left side but making the branch look like a dragon – Steve took her preliminary design and made it look fantastic
9) 2017: Hope tattoo: Spoke to a lady at church who has a brain tumour. She was really encouraging. She spoke of her small symbol of hope that she clings to (in her case a small ring). I decided the obvious thing I needed was a hope tattoo. Popped in to see Steve to discuss options, when I went back in, he’d decided to add to my bracelet a charm bracelet with the traditional symbols of Faith (Cross), Hope (Anchor) and Love (Heart). I asked that he add a dove as an extra symbol of hope. I love that part of the Flood story where Noah sends out a raven then a dove that comes back with an empty beak – but he doesn’t give up, he simply sends the dove out again to look for the olive branch.
