A tattoo journey by Shelby Brand
My most recent tattoo was completed in two parts, the outline and then the colour. I sure as hell know which part of this tattoo I preferred. And it wasn’t the colour! I learnt a great deal about myself throughout this particular journey, more so than any other of my many tattoos. Once again, I was in a place where I didn’t NEED any more tattoos until I HAD to have this particular one. And no, it wasn’t a stock image, rather a carefully curated representation of my favourite aspects of life.
The journey to the completed piece was crafted through many hours dreaming, thinking and researching. I knew what I DIDN’T want in the tattoo but there lay the problem of determining what I actually WANTED in it. It all started with the octopus.
The octopus – the animal that brought this tattoo to life. After watching My Octopus Teacher on Netflix and bawling my eyes out, I became thoroughly engrossed by the creature. I was determined this octopus love had to be turned into a tattoo, I then pictured him as being quirky, and it took me 6 weeks or more to find the right kind of quirk. He is so adorable don’t you think?
The next piece of the tattoo assembly puzzle was working out how to integrate my love of typewriters, books and drinking tea. Oh, and don’t forget the representation of the underwater world. He has eight tenticles, as most octopi do. One for the typewriter, one for the teapot, one for the cup, one holding his monocle on – that left four to represent the books I love. Such a hard decision to make. However, after much deliberation, the following books were represented.
Book ONE – 30 000 bottles of wine, and a pig called Helga. (Todd Alexander)
Connected to stumbling across this fabulous book while on holiday at Denmark, WA. Not to mention the incredible LOL moments while reading this non-stop. If you look close enough you can make out most of the title. But mostly represented through the colours.
Book TWO – Van life inspo books.
A dream of mine is to one day read and write my way around Australia, I just need to bring this to fruition. Depicted by a tiny van and tree.
Book THREE – The Little Book of Hygge, The Danish Way to live well. (Meik Wiking)
A beautiful book that has helped ground me over and over throughout the past few years. Depicted by the candle
Book FOUR – Live a meaningful life and Everything that remains. (The Minimalists.)
So many inspirational points of view from these two incredible humans. An approach to life that I am currently adopting and adapting to represent my life, my loves and my views of the world. Depicted by the two guys in silhouette form.
Alongside the books lays a typewriter. Take note of the blank page it holds. The blank page symbolizes the deeper passion for reading and writing I gained whilst reading Rachael Johns’ The Road to Hope (this was my first of hers to read). Since that time, I have completed a memoir, four manuscripts (various attempts at publication), entered competitions, started both a blog and a Facebook page, all the while drawing constant inspiration from her novels, keeping the passion of reading and writing alive.
On to the actual tattoo inking session. The outline – a walk in the park. I did learn though that even a 3-minute dip in the ocean was enough to delay the healing of a couple lines of the tattoo. The colour was not so much fun… I learnt a valuable lesson I had no idea about. Tattoos can weep the following days. This was the first time ever any of mine have wept after the initial immediate post tattoo weep. Unfortunately, I drew some colour out when it got stuck to my loose-fitting soft pants. Many frantic messages to fellow tattoo getters later, I learnt this was a thing and to cling wrap up, if necessary, otherwise wear shorts. Shorts were not an option, so cling wrap it was. And the pain – my god, the pain with this one was horrendous!! I lived on antihistamines, Nurofen and Panadol for at least a week until the swelling in my leg subsided. As I lay each evening exhausted from being on my leg all day, I often told myself – this is the LAST!
We will see. It’s a waiting game. Waiting for the next moment in life I am compelled to add to the canvas of my life.
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