Today we're doing something a little different! Today is National Tattoo Day so I'm showing off my tattoos. When I did headshots with the lovely Erin Fieldmeyer, she mentioned that she would love to read a blog with the story behind my tattoos and I know some of you have asked me about their meanings soooooo here we go!
Now, I don't have a ton of tattoos, I have 8, but if you were wondering the story behind some of them, here you go! I have a few more that are on my tattoo list- the Warped Tour logo for all my years working Warped, a ketchup bottle because I love ketchup, and a camera because well I'm a photographer! I have no idea when those will happen because my last tattoo was 8-9 years ago, but someday.
Below is my first tattoo (You can ignore those animal stretchy bands, there was a contest one year on Warped Tour for who could collect the most in a day). I knew I wanted to tie music into my first tattoo somehow and well stars were big back then so this is what happened... I got this one in college at Revolution Tattoo in West Lafayette and it's on my left wrist.
I believe my second tattoo was Compassion on my right wrist. (Ignore the post wedding sweaty face!) Most of you know that I've been a vegetarian since I was about 10 years old and I'm a huge animal rights advocate. This compassion is for that- you should be compassionate not just towards people but animals too. This one is also from Revolution Tattoo.
I believe that when I got the compassion tattoo, I also got the Dew Tour logo at the same time. This logo is on the middle finger of my right hand. Most people get it confused for a sharks tooth or Mercedes logo but it's really for the Dew Action Sports Tour. One of my first touring jobs was with the Dew Tour and I managed the vert ramp. This tattoo celebrates that.
I'm not 100% on the order but I believe that the headphones on my left arm was the next tattoo. It could have been before the Compassion tattoo but I think it was afterwards. This tattoo is of the old fashioned headphones and the cord says "My soul is rock n' roll". I worked in the music industry for several years and music is a huge part of my life. This tattoo represents all of that!
The next tattoo I got was the outline of Indiana on my left leg. This was also done at Revolution Tattoo, if you can't tell, they're my go to place! I got this tattoo when I was touring a lot and it was my tie back to Indiana. It was always fun being on tour around the US and even around the world when I was with Norwegian Cruise Lines and have someone come up to me who was also from Indiana. It didn't matter where I went, I always have a tie back to Indiana and to traveling Hoosiers!
I also got the heart tattoo that's on my right thumb at the same time. This one is black outline and filled with red. It's my only colored tattoo. Since I tend to prefer black and white tattoos, I wanted to add a bit of color and got this. There's no real meaning for the heart, I just wanted it and wanted a pop of color!
Okay guys, don't laugh at this one! This tattoo is the horrible one. Everyone has to have one bad tattoo, right?!?! This was supposed to be an outline of a ship wheel but then the tattoo artist started filling it in and it was too late to stop him and I got this! Devin calls this my spider web tattoo.... This one was at a random tattoo shop in Cozumel, Mexico. I've thought about going into Revolution and seeing if they could fix it a bit but at this point it makes me laugh and I've grown to like it! This tattoo is for my time on the high seas with Norwegian Cruise Lines. I know you can see a pattern of tattoos about my past jobs but those jobs have shaped me into who I am today and they are a special time in my life.
My last tattoo (so far) is this one which is located on the right side of my head. It reads "Never give up" in hieroglyphics. I had originally wanted to do this on the inside of all of my fingers but changed it to my head. This tattoo was also done in Cozumel, Mexico while I was working for Norwegian Cruise Lines but it was done at the good tattoo shop by an amazing artist. The saying "never give up" is my life motto. I've had a lot of amazing jobs and things that have happened in my life and most people think that I'm just lucky, but there is a lot of work that went into it and lots of "no's" along the way. This represents that I keep pushing and don't give up! I didn't just want it written in script or some font so I decided that I would do something completely different and do it in hieroglyphics! I researched the correct hieroglyphs for over a year to make sure it was correct. Side note on this one: Devin got to shave my head for this tattoo and it's one of his life highlights! haha. My hair has since, obviously, all grown back but if I part my hair a certain way, you can see it!
So that's it! If you have tattoos, let me know what yours mean!
