| At A Glance | |
| Author | Bill K |
| Contact | Bill K@bme.anon |
| IAM | Bill_Krueger |
| When | A month ago |
| Artist | Dave Campbell |
| Studio | Flesh Chamber |
| Location | Appleton, WI |
Up until recently, I never had any tattoos. I've been more into brands ever since I first saw one! Unfortunately my Dave (my brander) had moved to a new location, which it was illegal to do them. So my thoughts started on tattoos. For me branding was much easier to decide on due to their simplicity. I like simple pieces of work. I figure why not keep this in mind for my next tattoo.
For a while I've given it some thought on the location. I've always been fascinated with facial tattoos, but knew they carried a heavy burden. I had to weigh my life style now and what it may be in the future. One main part that held me back for a while was the new management at work. I've been talked to in the past about my blue hair and at the time six-gauge septum ring. I was told I looked unprofessional and it would not be allowed. So getting any facial tattoo could jeopardize my position at work, which has made a huge jump as of lately.
I finally decided that I would get my eyebrows tattooed on in dark blue, and get my ear tattooed. I have very thick eyebrows, so it would be easy for me to let them grow out and cover the tattoo up if it ever became an issue.
The ear tattoo that I wanted was just a mental image at the time. I never had seen anyone with one before. I took a search on BME and found a few, but nothing really like what I had imagined. My main goal was to have what looked like stitches going around it, and a small tribal piece on the inside. I knew it could be done, but wasn't sure how it would turn out, or even feel.
Eventually Jenny and myself went up to get some tattoo work done. She was getting her wrist tattooed and I was going to get my eyebrows and ear done. Unfortunately when we got there Dave did not feel comfortable tattooing my eyebrows due to him not having any cosmetic ink. I trust Dave and went with his opinion. We talked and he said he would order the cosmetic ink I needed.
Jenny was up first to get her tattoo. It started out good, but got pretty bad for her. The bottom of her wrist is very sensitive and she did everything she could to hold it together. When she was done she told Dave she wanted to see me cry when I got my ear tattooed. Dave told her that he didn't think I would. This is the guy who has branded me for an hour and asked repeatedly if I was still awake.
Dave free handed the out lines on my left ear to a nice spot. I told him that I did not really want to go around the lobe at this time since I am still stretching them. He agreed with me that this would be a wise decision. The inner tribal idea I kind of left up to him. I wasn't really sure what to put on there. Originally I wanted just the high spots done, but that would not have looked very nice. He finally got something on and I told him I liked it and we started getting ready to do the tattooing.
At first the tattoo gun tickled when he did the lines. Jenny was not very happy about this. Slowly as he moved around it started to get to be a little bit of pain. Not too much though. It seemed to take a while and he had some trouble due to it being a small area and the angles the ear laid. Finally he got to the inner part of the tattoo, and yeah! That did not feel to good! It hurt like hell but I didn't want to make a face in front of Jenny. She was just waiting for me to bust a tear! She was pretty disappointed!
It was soon done with and we discussed the fee. They are way to nice at Flesh Chamber to me! I walked out and purchased some tattoo goo, and some new jewelry for my lobes and septum from Damien.
After that we went out shopping. I felt that endorphin rush again and absolutely love it. It wasn't as good as any of my brands, but it was still enjoyable. On the way home Jenny and myself talked about our experience. One thing that stuck in our minds was how clean Dave was. He must have gone through over a dozen pairs of gloves just on Jenny. Any time he had to touch o non-sterile area, off went the gloves and a new pair on. The office had that smell of sterile. He was even kind enough to go over some of his ways with us, like building the gun from un-opened autoclaved bags and why its important to do so. I've been to a few places that don't do this. Even one place would answer the phone and not change his gloves. Flesh Chamber is the most sterile shop we have ever been to!
Well, not many people noticed my ear tattoo at work right away. And when they finally did they all thought some one drew on me with a sharpie. Most people's reactions to it are "its cool" but they would never do it. The supervisors all really don't care for it, but don't see it as a problem. The head guy I know has seen it, but hasn't said a word to me yet. I guess that whole anti blue hair & piercing thing got him into some hot water. So lately he's been pretty nice to me!
Early on the color faded a bit. I figured it's just due to the location, and after a few weeks it looks pretty good. I'm very happy with the work and can't wait to get my eyebrows done!
This was a big step for me in my evolution as a person and my stance on who I am. I really don't know if I would qualify as part of the facial tattoo crowd yet, but it doesn't really matter to me. My work is just who I am, not me trying to fit into a certain crowd. Slowly my body converts to reflect who I really am!
Freshly done!