I was almost 30 when i got my first tattoo. I had started riding a harley i customized and all my friends had them, and i thought tattoos were so cool. My dad had 2, one on each forearm, an outline of alabama with "alabama" in it, and a USAF symbol. Mom hated them and he never would talk about them but they always fasinated me. I had tried cutting my initials in my arm at about 15 with little luck, and kind of forgot about body mods till i started runnin with bikers.
My first tattoo was a simple drawing i made of a rebel flag and an american flag crosed with a heart and a cross in the v. A friend of mine did the tattoo in his kitchen, he had pro equipment but he was just learnin and it showed. I was so tense and scared when he started that the releif from finding out there wasnt anything to it almost made me pass out.This was the start of my addiction. Later i had the tattoo reworked by Ms. Deborah.
This was my second tattoo, done during 50th anniversary of Bike Week at Daytona by Ms. Deborah.. All my work has stories behind them, they remind me of where i was and what was going on in my life at that point and time. Kind of like a photograph that only i can understand.
I have been lucky to have some excellent artists work on me,( like Tony Olivas of Sacred Heart Tattoo in Atlanta Georgia who is doing my back piece)the only real regret i have is that i didnt plan some kind of overall theme to start with instead of one here and one there. If i was going to give one piece of advice to the virgin going after their first tat ( and i know this is almost impossible), it would be to realize that this will be with you for the rest of your life. Take the time to find a good artist, really think about the design and how you might feel about it at 50, and plan ahead, this could easily be the first of many.
:)
