tattoo
I’ve been pondering getting a second tattoo for a very long time but haven’t got round to doing it. I remember the pain and this puts me off!
One night, at home I notice my woodblock out of the corner of my eye and think what a lovely design it is – Indian flowers and tendrils. That would make a good tattoo, I think. Knowing that any design will be on my body permanently, I decide to mull it over for a while.
One Tuesday morning I know that this is the day. I phone the tattoo parlour to make an appointment and then off I go, feeling a bit nervous, but knowing that it’s something I really want to do.
The tattooist appears and I show him my design. He tells me to return in an hour, which I do. He has drawn the pattern out. It’s large. He then patiently draws it again, slightly smaller.
Eventually I am led to a back room, where my arm is disinfected and the design is transferred onto my skin. We fiddle around until we get it positioned exactly. I know that once the needle hits my skin there will be no going back.
I voice my fears about pain. Should I have got anaesthetic cream beforehand I wonder, to myself? My tattooist says that if it gets too painful he will stop. Then what? I’m left with a partial tattoo? How stupid would that look?
Finally he’s ready and I take a very deep breath. He starts to ink the design, yes, I can feel this but no it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would. He carries on, I sit and watch. We talk, he’s Italian, and so we talk about Tuscany and about Caravaggio. Over the course of about half an hour my design comes to life on my arm. I point little things out. “Could you make that line just a bit longer?"”See how in the drawing that line there connects to that line, could you do that?"
I sit back, smiling, self-satisfied. “Oh I love it!"I exclaim. “Thank you so much!"I know I’ll be back for another at some point.
I leave the shop and walk home feeling amazing. I have a tattoo and no-one else knows yet. It’s my secret and it makes me feel special and a little bit different.
Before I go I really want to tell you all about this great enigin PLC site that I have recently found. It is an employee site and is is therefore a personal blog, but has some really great insights to how the business runs.