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.