Heather's Back Piece

Heather is a graduate of the Columbus State Culinary Program and currently enrolled in pastry school.  She worked for two years for M in Columbus and is now part of the kitchen at the Cincinnatian.

Like many in the restaurant biz, Heather loves her ink.  She has been working on a full back piece for a few years now.  Recently she invited me to photograph a black and white session done at Sweet Baby Octane in Grandview Ohio.

 

 

Follow Your Bliss 2010

Tattoos are all about bliss for me.  My tats are visual representations of what I love.  They are notices against convention and for personal expression.

2009 was the beginning of taking myself seriously and standing up for my personal feelings.  It was all too easy before for my desires to superceeded by those of my child, customers, or family.  I began to seriously evaluate plans and wishes last year to make sure I was getting a fair share.

I will continue on this path in 2010.  Along the way, I will need to relieve myself of responsibility in one big arena of my life.  It will not be easy to leave something that has defined me for years, but it no longer feeds my soul.

Writing here and at Hounds in the Kitchen are my bliss right now along with my tattoo work.  Blogging gives me a voice, personal satisfaction, and some very small financial gain. 

This post is an entry for a conference pass to the Blissdom blogging conference where I could learn how to expand my enjoyment and success as a blogger. 

Alex's Heron Calf Tattoo

Alex, Rachel's husband, began work on his heron calf tattoo today. It's his first ink and the pain was "more than I expected," he says.

Here's Julie applying the first line.



Alex on the chair. The Adorn Arts studio is so pleasant - lots of light, open floor plan, and great tunes.



Mid way through the outline.



Finished, with child who was jealous of all the picture attention given to the tat.



Color will come next after the outline is healed.

Rachel's Louisiana Heron Calf Tattoo

I recently began work (well, Julie did all the work) on a calf piece. It's a Louisiana Heron, chosen for my love of long legged birds, the color purple, and trips to the Southern US. Julie at Adorn Arts drew the heron to fit my body and did incredible shading work to highlight the long feathers on this beautiful bird.

The above picture shows what it looked like at the end of the black and grey session on December 10, 2009. (More pictures in this flickr set.) I will go back for color in a few weeks.

My husband Alex is getting a similiar tattoo of a Great Blue Heron on the back of his calf soon. What love, to share ink.

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Rachel blogs about edible gardening and seasonally eating at Hounds in the Kitchen.

Rachel's Chest Tattoo

My first tattoo was my chest piece. Inspired by a friend's sister and the ample real estate above my very tiny breasts, Naryan at Stained Skin completed my piece in three sessions of about four hours each in October - December 2008. The picture above is after the first coloring.

The violet green swallows are representative of swallows, a family of birds I love watching, and my trip to Alaska. The bottom flower is reminiscent of a trillium, an ancient flower found rarely in Ohio. The central spiral shell is in honor of an ammonite, an extinct cephalopod related to modern nautilus. All speak to my love of nature and the circle of life.

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Rachel blogs about edible gardening and seasonally eating at Hounds in the Kitchen.