Tattoo's in full effect

I was a tattoo artist from 1999 to 2003. People have asked me why I didn't keep doing them, it's not that I didn't like doing tattoos. I was just so busy between Oversat, high school (I was 17 when I took my got my tattoo training certification in blood born pathogens), and having fun that I did not want to work a full time job. Don't be fooled, tattoos seem fun but it's still a job. A job that is 100% commission. You have a guy come in and get a tattoo, then he will send his girlfriend, she sends her best friend and so on. You make some money but eventually that circle of friends dries up and you have to find a new vain. Some people get a lot of tattoos, but almost no one gets a lot of tattoos quickly. It's like jewelry, you tend to buy it to mark occasions like birthdays or anniversaries. I started focusing more on body piercings since you could do them quicker, and that provided a steady stream of new 18 year olds (even though I wasn't even 18 when I started, hehe). Often as a girl was waiting for her friend to finish getting a tattoo from my sister (it was her shop "Colors by Kaila") I could talk her into getting her belly button, ear, or maybe nipple pierced. I made a little money, and in half the time. Over time, I still felt that I was wasting a lot of time just sitting there on slow days. 

I used to do a lot of design work as well. While plenty of folks would just pick some flash art off the wall, I didn't charge extra to design a unique tattoo. I would always suggest this since I really didn't want to just copy a picture onto someone. Tattoos should be personal and be a signature of that person. Over the years since I stopped tattooing full time people have asked me to design works for them so they could get other artists to place the tattoos. I still enjoy doing that, even if I don't physically place the art it's still my work. 

That is what inspired this entry. I was asked by a technical director at work to design an abstract lotus blossom for her. When I saw her next, she had placed my design on the back of her neck. I forgot the feeling of pride when someone puts a permanent mark on their body that you designed. The same is true for music. When someone really connects with a piece of music, they place that composition as the soundtrack to part of their life. King Doug often talks about how the Deftones' "White Pony" album connects with a very dark chapter in his life. It helped him survive a lot of struggles, but it was also the party anthem to a lot of good times.