Growing up, I was up rooted from everything I knew every 3 - 4 years because my father was, and still is, an officer in the Canadian military. My tattoo is a series of lotus flowers, which mean new beginnings. Because I moved so much, I’ve always had a new beginning. As well, due to the influence of my father I have enrolled in the Canadian Forces and will continue to begin over and over again.
For all the science nerds out there (it’s an electron orbital)! The quote is from a poem by A.R. Ammons.
This was my first tattoo and, as luck would have it, it got infected. (For photos of the infection, click here—they’re gross, obviously!) I cried so much during those months before I could get it fixed. It was sore, inflamed and just ugly to look at. I’m submitting it because I think Ryan at Insight Studios in Chicago deserves special recognition for fixing it—I was terrified that it wouldn’t be salvageable. The color is phenomenal and you can’t even tell that there’s scar tissue from the infection!
DON’T OVERWASH YOUR TATTOO! While I’ll probably never know exactly why mine got infected, I think aftercare instructions have something to do with it—the artist told me to wash it five times a day with Dial soap. Clearly, that didn’t work out very well! After the fix-up at a different studio (like I was going to let the original artist maim me AGAIN!), I only washed it twice a day with a gentle moisturizing hand soap, and I applied tons of A&D ointment instead of lotion.
