A Recipe for New Ink.

Getting a tattoo is a deeply personal experience. People’s motives for this can be quite vast. I never thought much about getting any tattoos in my lifetime. This may be the reason it wasn’t until I was thirty that I got my first one. Tattoos are permanent landmarks in time. I got my first tattoo 6 weeks after my brother passed away. I wanted a permanent reminder of what his presence in my life had meant to me and how I wanted to strive to live my life from that day forward. I decided to keep the placement of that tattoo concealed mainly because it was something that was just for me.

As the cliché goes, it’s hard to only get one tattoo. One of my summer projects this year was to get some new artwork done that was not just for me but also for everyone. I wanted a piece that spoke of who I was. Below is what I came up with. There are several metaphorical layers to this one. The bike cog represents my passion, not simply for cycling but the idea that I am a person of passion. The anatomically correct heart represents that my passion is what makes my heart strong and helps me to be the person I want to be. The background wings follow the contour of a Corvette logo. My brother had an immense passion for Corvettes. He was one of those lucky people that get to have their passion and occupation overlap. He achieved this by following his heart. When you put it all together you have the recipe for what makes me happy and that’s why I decided I wanted to carry this recipe around with me all the time.



One of the most important lessons I’ve come to love about tattoos is the undeniable truth that you are a product of the decisions you make in life and that they follow you wherever you go…shaping who you are.