I'm in Portland visiting the lovely Cammie, and having a wonderful time! She wants a new tattoo, and for me to design it. Since she's envisioning a vine winding itself around her arm, I thought it would be best to sketch something out on her skin, rather than on paper, for the true 3-D effect. So we got some henna! Here's what we came up with:
I'm getting my first tattoo soon (December) and this is my design sketch. It'll go on my upper arm, with the bird looking up at me. I love helicopters so much! I've always had important relationships with trees, and the maple is, to me, a protector as well as a powerful symbol of the sweet and the playful. It was important to me to design my own tattoo, in order to lay claim to my body as the body of an artist and a survivor, through which sweetness and inspiration can flow, unhindered by past damage. A shower of helicopters twirling in the wind can transform the worst moment into a magical one. (And I've always wanted wild birds to come singing through my window and perch on my finger, like in Mary Poppins!) I may make that bird a little more fancy, but all in all, I'm really happy with this design.