Commonality of tattoos??

[mcacmartin]

Very common here. OH and I have both had tattoos done here - if you can't find an artist in Blenheim I can highly recommend ours in Kaiapoi - he's worth the trip and a fantastic artist to boot.

You're right, far less skanky tats here - lots of great art.

Ohh I might take you up on that.

I had to laugh at your "skanky" comment I see so many tattoos here that would fall into that category. Many many girls who went and got lower back tattoos....and didn't put any thought into them. I call them "tramp stamps". Don't get me wrong, a well thought out, beautiful tattoo on the lower back is fine....but those generic ones just baffle me.

I put a lot of thought into my ink. I have looked through about 10,000 pictures of tattoos on facebook in the last week......and actually designed my own tattoo for this next round. I hope it's as beautiful as I envision it to be.

I'd be interested in seeing some of the tats you all have!

[Silverwing86]

Hi Meg,

As others have said, no worries on the tatto front, they seem well accepted here (although I could imagine that in some jobs employers would still appreciate some covering up I guess ?).

I got my first tat here in NZ during our recce trip in 2005. Had thought about it for about fifteen years, but didn't know either what, or where to have it put. When we came here and found ourselves as in love with NZ as we'd imagined, I knew I wanted a Maori design and I decided to have it put on my lower right arm.

Part of the reason for the placing was that I knew I wouldn't be able to work for an employer anymore due to a physical condition, so if able to work at all, it would be for myself. The other significant thing for me was that having the tat set was pain I chose for myself as opposed to the pain that is caused by my condition (which of course I never voluntarily chose). Also it was pain that went away, whereas the pain from my condition is with me 24/7/365. Does all that sound silly ? It was a very significant and meaningful decision for me at the time.

Okay, so here goes nothing (never posted any pics of my tats on the Net before):

My first tattoo, Maori design (prosperity, designed for me by the tattooist) on lower right arm, June 2005:



My second tattoo, Joe Camel on ankle, October 2006:



My third tattoo, own design, left upper arm, October 2007:



Okay, so I guess numbers two and three could do with a bit of an explanation LOL, here it is.

Tattoo number two is a depiction of Joe Camel, an advertising image (rather controversial) of Camel cigarettes between 1987 and 1997. I smoked the Camel brand for many years and worked for the Dutch subsidiary of what was then R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, for a year.

I came away with an incurable Camel obsession which resulted in a huge collection of Camel memorabilia (a psychologist might say the collecting bug has something to do with catching up on missed childhood opportunities or something *blushes with embarassment* ? Never had many personal interests as a child you see, that only came after I 'grew up', and with a vengeance I might add LOL !). Joe Camel is my favourite Camel figure (as all can see from my Avatar ;-) ) and since Camel became such an intrinsic part of my life, this tat just 'felt right' for me.

Number three is also very personal; the character above and below, as well as the two lines of symbols, come from (one of my favourite authors) Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' series.

The character up top and below is the sigil or symbol of 'The White' loosely translatable as 'The Power of Good', as it were. The top line of symbols stands for 'Unfound'. The Kiwi Koru and fern leaves (obviously) stand for New Zealand. The second line of symbols stands for 'Found'. In other words, I was lost, but was found when I came to this wonderful country. A bit sappy perhaps, but again very meaningful and significant to me.

There, now that I've 'bared' all LOL, how about others ??

Cheers,
Silver

[NikT]

I like the Kiwi Koru.

Nick.

[mcacmartin]

LOVE it~!! What amazing meaning behind your tattoos, Silver! They are wonderful. I especially like the Kiwi Koru.

This is the one that's on the back of my shoulder....(explained above)



And this is what I designed while sitting at work the other night. I'm no artist, but this is what came to me around 3am. I've since taken it to my artist for him to "pretty up".



The centre flower is meant to be a Gerbera and is my favourite type of flower and one my husband brings me on occasion. The vines are thick to represent the strength of our family. The little flowers on the vines will each be the colour of our birthstones, with our zodiac signs in the centre of them (tiny). Then somewhere, it will (hopefully) say "My heart belongs to them"

I will never tattoo my husband's name on me because regardless of how much I hope we'll forever be together, things DO happen. So this is my way of representing him without a name. Family means the world to me, so this is an important tattoo for me.

As I said..it's going to be on my chest. I'm getting the outline done next Thursday...and a few weeks later I'll get the colour filled.

[TheNaylors]

Looks like this thread will be turning into a "show us your tatts" thread

Both OH and myself are tattooed, hopefully hubby will be able to finish off his full sleeve job before we leave for NZ. All of ours have deep meanings behind them and we would love to find a good tattooist in NZ to be able to have a few done there. I know OH would love to have a traditional moko inking done (although not on his face I hasten to add)

I am ashamed to say, that I have a piece that some may consider to be a "tramp stamp" but mine does have meaning so I think I can safely slip out of that category ! Both of mine have my daughters birth flowers on, 1 tattoo for each of them but in amongst their own flowers there is a single different one that represents their sister...that way they are always individual but are always part of one another. I would like to get the one on my back of my tribe extended to a full back piece to incorporate Earth Mother, Papatuanuku, and Sky Father, Ranginui (sort of symbolising OH and myself). If the Maori theme doesn't fit with this tattoo, I will change it though to a generic image of mother earth and father sky instead. Anyway, here goes with my pics!

The one on my back
Attachment 1584

The one on my foot which I would like extending
Attachment 1585

Hubbys ongoing artwork
Attachment 1586

[mcacmartin]

Ooohhh gorgeous!!! And no, I don't think the one on your back qualifies as a "tramp stamp" LOL. What beautiful work, you have a talented tattooist.

[TheNaylors]

Ooohhh gorgeous!!! And no, I don't think the one on your back qualifies as a "tramp stamp" LOL. What beautiful work, you have a talented tattooist.

Phew!!!

Thanks for the compliment Meg, the same tattooist has inked most of my OH's family, except my FIL (we're working on him though! lol!). He is very good and has the waiting list to prove it, hence why I may have to have my back piece done in NZ if I have the guts to go for it!

I do like the template of your new one. Are you going to post pics for us to view as you go?

Julie

[mcacmartin]

Of course I will! I'm so excited...even though its going to hurt a LOT to get it done on that part of my chest...but oh well

[amckean]

I was born in NZ but moved to the US when I was 14. Last time I visited the BOP 5yrs ago, I got this on my shoulder from a great place in Tauranga.

[mcacmartin]

Oh that's very nice!!!

After this chest piece is done, I'm hoping to get one right before we leave of a little cartoon Kiwi bird holding a Canadian flag....to show my attachment to both countries. Just not sure where to put it yet