My inspiration and calling for tattoos can come from the most unlikely of places – this time round it was from a book. I had recently finished reading The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland (available at Dear Village in the museum village, Esperance Dear Village | Facebook ), which sparked my interest in tattoos having symbolic meaning. I already have representational tattoos, but for me, a symbolic meaning spoke to a deeper part of my soul. Although mermaids weren’t featured in this story, rather it spoke of a connection between a woman and her seal skin. This story also spoke of a journey that Esther travels to discover and better understand her sister’s life choices and decisions. I felt deeply connected to the concept of using body art to outwardly display an individual’s internal change, self-discovery, and evolution. Esther’s mother was also a tattooist in the story, achieving a wide following for creating external beauty for women who have experienced dramatic and traumatic internal pain. I was drawn to mermaids and their representational meaning of transformation.
Jenelle from The LaLoba Experience in Esperance (LaLoba | Esperance WA | Facebook)has once again completed a masterpiece for me which I am completely in love with, she was able to successfully capture the very essence of what I had described to her.
Master 11 came with me to the planning session, making it a touch more special. We incorporated his idea of 3 turtles, one for each of us. Mr. almost 14 is the one at the bottom as he is at that age where he is beginning to swim off and do his own thing, whereas Master 11 is up the top with me (mum). The look on his face while he watched Jenelle work, drawing our plan in marker on my leg, couldn’t have been sweeter. He was in awe of her work.
Come tattoo day, as she drew this one up, ready to stencil on, we made last minute improvements. We incorporated the message in a bottle and tweaked the scales and hair, it looked perfect, all of which was only made achievable through working with an artist who is flexible, encouraging and has an ability to guide the direction in a meaningful way.
Time came to go under the gun again and I was pleasantly surprised that this one didn’t have anywhere near the pain of the rib cage, however, I wouldn’t say going over the shin bone was a walk in the park or anything, but bearable enough without needing numbing cream. It would have made for a long tattoo if it did.
While Jenelle worked on this one, and especially once she came to adding in the water, she explained that she was channelling Avatar – The Way of the Water, and as I was yet to see this movie, I didn’t fully understand. Fast forward a week, and I couldn’t have agreed more. My newfound love of the Avatar movies created a deeper connection to my tattoo and love of the snorkelling underworld.
Since spending this time with Jenelle, I have once again been inspired to step increasingly further outside my comfort zone, pushing my writing skills to their limits and beyond, being proud to call myself a writer, and capturing a wider audience to follow. My mermaid, above all else, reminds me that I can dive deep yet keep my head above water.
Jenelle – thank you, for everything!!
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