Tuesday 12 June 2012

MY TATTOOS : SAILOR CHERRY


Every now and then I get some question and emails about my tattoos, and tattoos in general. Why, what, where when and so on. So, I thought we'd go trough them, one by one - which can be good for me too as I am so used to them I don't even notice them anymore and sometimes forget some of them are even there.

And as today is Sailor Jerry day it's a good day to start isn't it?
I'll start with one of the latest ones, which is my sad sailor girl on the inside of my left lower arm:


I got it made last spring, the tattoo was a gift from Eddi. It's made by Sailor Andy at Legacy. He's a Swedish speaking Finn like I am and has made most of my pieces. And as with most of those pieces, it's originally drawn by me, and modified by him a bit.

People always ask "what do this and that tattoo mean".
Well, I don't think tattoos have to mean that much. They can just be there for aesthetical reasons. Or funny reasons. Or for a stupid reason. Really, whatever you feel like. I don't mean I think you should just go to the nearest shop and pick one flash out from the book on they have in the  waiting room table. (But then again, if you see something there in that book that really speaks to you then why not.) The important thing is that you LIKE it. The tattoo does not have to have multiple meanings with Freudian layers and whatever,; you know, sometimes when people start dwelling on and on about some sacral meaning of their ink I start thinking bla bla bla bla bla what to get from the grocery store next and stop being so full of yourself. But does dot not mean your chosen piece can't have a reason or a story behind it either. It can just be anything, and some tattoos have more meaning than others, it's alright to be both deep and shallow about them.

This one is because, well, I like the sea, and I have been a harbour worker since 2001. And it's a folded paper ship in her hand, because I haven't ever worked on a ship. We'll that's not really the reason for the paper ship. It's just there because it suited the picture. Which is actually inspired by a picture of, ehrm, me. (Remember this series from 2010?) But it's not a tattoo of me though, just a picture of a sad sailorette that is rather me.

I know some people who say they'd want a tattoo but they don't know what to get and think for years and years about what symbolizes them best. And you know, it's never going to happen then. I've taken most of my pictures with rather short consideration actually. I get the idea and am all "YES". Although sometimes I've had to wait for the realization quite a while though. Haven't changed my mind about anything so far. I'm not totally sure this could be handed out as general advice though, but it has worked for me...

And, remember to always search for a good artist and in some cases you do need to think twice.
Always good to do a bit of browsing here first, for the bad examples (sad they don't do those great captions anymore)...

End of part one!

PS. yes I know I will still be tattooed when I'm old, duh! And it does not bother me, why should it? As some concerned people on the interwebs have wondered.

16 comments:

(Retro) Sonja said...

Love it! Suits your style perfectly! XX

tanïa said...

I don't have to have own tattoos to love yours or other's! This one's really cute, and as it's designed by yourself (Wow!) it's even more unique than any shop or book piece could ever be! Great!

Frollein von Sofa said...

great post ! can't wait to see the next one ! I am just so excited to get my first big tattoo....the only thing is that I am a little afraid that it won't come out the way I imagine ...the tattoo artist is a super cool lady and I am sure she will do a great job, but I hope that I won't behave like a complete asshole and tell her things like : oh...wait...what are you doing now ? is it getting to dark ? the pink shouldn't become too blueish...it has to be more apricot...don't make the outlines too thick...aaaah !

Frollein von Sofa said...

have you ever had concerns like that ?

Sarah said...

This makes me excited for my second tattoo! I have been planning it forever and am giving to myself as a graduation present for when I am done with school.

I think this will be a great series, I've always admired your tattoos that I could see in your pictures.

Miss Tallulah Porkchop said...

She looks like you (except you are most smiley).

I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL BABEE.

Ashleigh said...

I love your designs! I low my tattoos and they don't all have some super deep meaning or personal significance - just something beautiful I want to wear on my body forever (especially when I am a blue haired old lady)

Sarah said...

I love seeing your tattoos in more detail, they are so delicate and beautiful! x

Sara Kristiina said...

You have so beautiful tattoos! I have considered taking some, but I am so scared because I know it will hurt and I can't stand it :S Such a shame..!

Maja said...

Thank you, this is interesting reading;)Looks forward to the next parts..

The Freelancer's FashionBlog said...

Tanïa: yes, thanks. But it's not that much of a wow, I am stilla graphic artist so even if my own style is different it would be lame if I wouldn't have drawn anything on me myself :D

Frollein : hmmm, naaah. You do discuss everything quite troughly with the artist on forehand. Sometimes I wonder what's going on but I do trust the guy. And with some technical details they know better, like if you think "this line might eb a bit too xxxx?" there is a reason for doing it, like, it might not work on the skin if it is lighter or thinner or so. But you can't really see that well what the artist is doing plus if it is in a painfuyl spot you just watch the walls or so instead :D So I wouldn't worry.
Plus some things can always be corrected afterwards. In a matter of adding more, not less, of course...

Miss Tallulah : I know!!!!! Yikes!

Sara : oh-oh, you will not have any made if that's your issue. Don't think about it! Yes it will hurt a lot. But some places hurt less, almost just tickle. It's not really an issue so don't let it be :)

GinCherry said...

I think the same about tattoos as well. I don't think they should have a really deep meaning [what they usually trying to show on miami ink or etc] but it's important that it suits person :) But to be honest, I can tell something almost about all my tats :)
And
yeah, sometimes I forget that I have them :D

Pia said...

Ja fan, bästa inlägget på en blogg på länge. Ska boka ny tid till hösten för nummer 2 snart. Mening eller inte, spelar inte så stor roll tycker jag bara man gillar det själv. Men guud det där med att jag vet inte vad jag ska ta och sedan ska man ändå tvinga sig att ta, det blir lite konstigt liksom? Det ska ju vara kul, ju :) :) :)

Nika Chick said...

You have beautiful tattoo and it fits you so well!

The Freelancer's FashionBlog said...

GIn Cherry : yes, I do have something on each piece too, but the reason can be rather trivial :)

Pia : Haha, vet känslan- endera har man för många idéer (vet t.ex tre finfina whole piece ryggar men har ju bara en till förfogande...) eller sedan just känslan att villa ha något men fan inte veta vad. Nu är lite sugen igen,men har faktiskt inget bra på lut. Förutom dedär ryggtavlorna då, men det kan hända att jag låter ryggen vara. Kankse kan du ta nåt som kan byggas på eller omkring...

Pia said...

Joo. Jag har nu bestämt att det blir rosor, med möjligen en räv som ligger inuti dem på vänster nedre arm och kanske fammos initialer, men får se :). Den kunde man bygga vidare på sedan........jag har dock lite svårt med det där att bygga vidare. Tycker det är snyggt på andra men gillar när det är helheter, paket på något vis. Måste skrapa ihop lite slantar bara...