My Tattoo Story

My tattoo story.

My name is Jo and I have been getting tattooed since I was 18 years old. I currently have 35 tattoos, by 19 different artists from 4 states within Australia.

My first tattoo was 2 weeks after I turned 18. A design I created all on my own. Something inspired from my fathers’ tattoo. The Egyptian Ankh with the eye of Ra in the centre. It was supposed to be the eye of Horus, however years later I had learned that it was put on the other way around. I still love it though. The eye of Ra represents the sun and protection, the Ankh represents life.

By Christmas of the same year I had designed two more, for my younger brothers. A nautical star, with their favourite colour at the time, with their name underneath. I knew when I wanted tattoos that I would have their names tattooed, because they are so important to me and I wanted to do something nice for them as a Christmas gift. One is green for the older one and blue for the youngest.

In March of 2011, I got my 4th tattoo, a pink ribbon in honour of a close friend, whom I had known my entire childhood, a survivor of breast cancer. She was diagnosed at the age of 18 and fought her way through it. It was something I wanted to do for her as she was a particularly important person in my life. My mother and boyfriend at the time, each got one with me. I had to wait a while to get it as I had just had my first baby.

Five months later, when my first child was 6 months old, I had her middle name, Pixie, tattooed in the centre of pixie wings, on the back of my neck, for her. A tribute tattoo for my daughter. It was probably one of the most painless tattoos I had gotten, I did not even feel it and it only took 30 minutes. The artist who did it was the same as the one who did my ribbon. He was a really nice guy, very down to earth and super gentle.

Since then I have had at least one tattoo every 6 months, except for the duration of my pregnancies. In 2018 I got 8, 2 on February 9th, 4 in May (on the same day, for Mother’s Day) and 2 on October 24th. The only months I haven’t been tattooed yet is April and September and I have even had a couple on the same date.

I have all 3 of my children’s names and date of births, with my brothers’ names, as they are all born around the same time as them, so they are all together.

I have 5 different animal tattoos, a seahorse and chameleon for my 2 sons, a fox asleep on a moon, one I had seen and fell in love with, except the original was a fox asleep on top of a pile of books, so I designed it to be on a moon instead. Two sparrows on my wrist and an owl perched on a skull, a design I had loved for years and one of my favourite animals. My biggest tattoo and one of my favourites.

In 2013, my cousin and I got 2 tattoos together, a quote we came up with together, in which we share half, “NEVER LOOK BACK, NEVER LET GO”. A reminder of our bond and time together and a quote we both share “LIVE LAUGH LOVE LIFE”, something we had come up with on the spot, to represent the awesome times we shared together, both as cousins and best friends. We both have it on our left forearm.

A few others I have are initials for my paternal grandparents and my mothers’ initial, something important for them to know that they are important to me. I plan on getting a bear with trees for my mum, as they are her favourite things. That would be something I would have to honour her, something that represents life in her image, as she gave me life. I have a guitar on my left bicep (the most painful and another of my favourites), in honour of my father and music, that again is so important to me. I wouldn’t be able to get through each day with out it and my father has been a big inspiration to me, teaching me to play guitar and sharing his love of music with me. Two other music tattoos I have are a heart with wings with music above it on my wrist, a very painful tattoo, only because the artist was very rough, not too gentle, as he did a tattoo on my mum as well and a spot that shouldn’t have hurt was probably her worst one, too. My other one is a verse from a song I like, “WE WILL FIGHT, WE WILL FALL, THE ANGELS SAVE US ALL” with the treble and bass symbols either side. A reminder that we may fall but we get back up and keep going, and we will be saved.

Two shells, to represent the beach, a past time in which I enjoyed quite frequently. My happy place. I would always collect different shells every time I went there. It is something I will always treasure. They are in a place where I can add more, too. I also have a small wave on the back of the same arm, representing my love for the ocean. Eventually it will all tie in together with hopefully a mermaid or whale to finish it off.

A couple of more meaningful tattoos to me, would be the two I have on each shoulder. Warrior in an arrow, to remind myself that I am strong and a fighter, and TEFACHED, from a Disturbed song I like, which in Hebrew means, you will fear. I think of myself as a strong and assertive type of person. A reminder that I am not weak.

My family is the reason I am so strong and a fighter, as to why I have their star signs tattooed on me. 6 symbols for the 11 people, including myself, in my life. My 3 children and 2 brothers share the first 2, then mine, my husbands, my mothers and finally, my fathers and grandparents (his parents) they all share the same sign. It’s another one of my favourites.

I am also a big Charmed and Harry Potter fan. I love magic, so my next tattoos, of the deathly hallows and triquetra, tie in my admirations and feelings towards magic. I did have a pentacle tattoo, however an impulse tattoo, and a quick artist resulted in a rushed and upside down “stamp”, in which I had covered years after, with a rose on my forearm. It was originally black and grey but after colouring it in at home I decided I preferred it to be coloured, so a few months later I had it coloured red and green. I have 3 other roses on the top of my arm in black and grey, as a beginning of a half sleeve.

Some others that I have, more impulsive, or “I really want to get that” kinda tattoos would be, a gothic doll I got for my 21st birthday, this one was probably the very first tattoo I ever wanted, something I had my eye on since I was 15 years old. She has these big, wide, white eyes, holding a bee on a string in one hand and three little purple flowers in the other, cute little skull clips in her hair and a big pink star behind her. It was one of my favourites because I loved the darkness, but cuteness I see in it. That one was just for me. My doll.

Another is the word DREAMER as a dreamcatcher on my left foot, another painful tattoo I’ve gotten, I was trying so hard not to twitch my leg as she was tattooing, didn’t hurt too bad though as I went back a month later for a touch up. Just something I saw and loved straight away. A majority of my tattoos have solid meaning, some are just because I love them, others are impulses, like the 2 stars I have on my chest. An early birthday present from my husband, who I had only been dating a year. I saw another woman with something similar and thought I’d love to have that too. I know that if it’s something I like, I don’t have to think too hard about it, or give it time, others I will spend a few months thinking about it, where to put it and how big, just to get it right.

I am definitely not finished though, there are so many more that I want. I have skulls that I have been wanting to get for nearly 10 years, it’s quite a big one, so something I’d need to save a lot of money for, the eye of Horus, to have closure on my Egyptian tattoo, the bear and trees for my mum, a little bumblebee. Some mandalas and lotus flowers to finish my sleeve, maybe something heavy metal to fill in my music sleeve. Something small for my 3 kids, a few more of my favourite animals, and thanks to Pinterest, quite a few little, cute, or fun tattoos that I really like.

I am not planning to be fully covered in tattoos, but I am hoping by the time I am at least 50 I will have all the tattoos I want, including two full sleeves, and at least both my legs. I will not ever get my throat or face tattooed.

I believe we are a blank canvas and we can wear our beliefs, our inspirations and favourite art on our body, to look at and enjoy, every day.