After years of deliberation I finally decided to get my tattoos. My boyfriend at the time was set against any sort of modification against my own body. Naturally when I had enough money together I scraped him and settled on the perfect image: Two diving swallows. I'd like to thank the United States Government for my tax returns which paid for my tattoos.
At A Glance Author Ruby Tuesday Contact Ruby Tuesday@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Weldon Lewis Studio Mr Lucky's Tattoos Location San Antonio, Texas. I had originally had a place in mind where to get them but after my plans fell through I went to my second choice, Mr. Lucky's Tattoo parlor in San Antonio. The place was comforting, it reminded me of my grandparent's place; cool in a South Town kind of way.
I instantly felt at ease with Weldon as well who was at that moment was sitting at a long table making Death Star clocks for his friends for the upcoming Star Wars convention. It seemed like he wanted to make sure I wanted what I really wanted in terms of design. I was completely sure, no doubt about it. Weldon was really easy to talk to and made sure I was satisfied every step of the way. He drew out what I wanted and then cleaned the area where he was going to apply the templates. He started my putting on the templates and sizing them correctly, making sure that the placement and spacing were correct. This alone took the most time; we had to do it at least four or five times until I was satisfied. After that we took a break and then started to work. The whole process took about two to three hours.
Weldon started with the outlining which in my opinion was the only painful part, partly because it was on such a delicate area. It seemed like a nerve in my leg pulsed every time the needle passed over it. Weldon therefore had to place one elbow over my hip to keep my leg from shaking. At this time several people, apprentices I was told, came in and proceeded to watch the rest of my tattooing. This was especially embarrassing because I discovered that the feeling of the needle was sexually stimulating for me as well as tickling. It was very difficult to hold back my laughter. Weldon explained the whole process to me, the outlining and the shading and which part might hurt the most. After the shading was done with what felt like a thicker needle he said I was done and told to me to sit up right so he could clean the blood and splattered ink off my hips. I walked over to the mirror and couldn't help but to smile, I was so excited to see how they turned out.
They were beautiful...beautiful...beautiful. I instantly loved them and all at once forgot what my hips looked like before the swallows. I even named them: The left one was Vera, and the right one was Esperanza.
After I was done gloating over my tattoos Weldon had to bandage me up. This took a lot of tape and a lot of bandaging. He told me not to put any sort of irritating lotion on them and recommended Lubriderm hand lotion to keep them moisturized. Weldon also recommended that I not wear any tight clothing or belts for at least a week; the sheer irritation of anything touching my hips was enough to convince me not to. He then told me to come back in a week so he could check them; any touch ups were free.
It took at least two weeks before I stopped peeling enough to show my birds off to everyone; while at the same time trying to conceal them from my ultra Orthodox family who would disown me at the sight of anything permanent on my skin. This was accomplished until one day while hugging my sister my mother caught a glimpse of my left bird Vera. Damn low cut jeans, damn them.
So it's been about six months since I've had my tattoos and everyone who has seen them instantly loved them. They think they are completely appropriate for my personality and my new boyfriend thinks they are the hottest thing ever and loves to kiss them, which is a major perk. He even got his first tattoo with Weldon, which is the reason we bonded in the first place. I am already planning my next tattoo, this time with some color, maybe purple. I can't seem to decide whether they should me on my back or my ankles. My ultimate goal is to be a Suicide Girl or at least Betty Page for Halloween. It's still up in the air.
Since I've gotten my tattoos I've noticed that people do see me differently, but all I can say is that this is who I am and I love it.