Youthful indiscretion

I got my first tattoo, a silhouette of a slender black cat on my left foot/lower ankle, the day I turned 18.



I originally found the image -seen above - in an ad for the Magic Bag nightclub in an issue of MetroTimes (where I would later intern.) I tore it out and kept it until the day I was legal. Nearly a dozen years later, I still love the image and placement, and feel no regret.

The same cannot be said for my second (and technically third) tattoo; a set of three Chinese characters at the small of my back. The first, "Ocean," was obtained when I was 20. It looked lonely, so I added two more less than a year later ("air" and "earth," respectively. Sheesh.)

Talk about not thinking in terms of longevity. Of all the cliched, boring, cheesy tattoos in the world, Chinese Characters On Small of Back rank just below Barbed Wire On Upper Arm, and slightly above Butterfly On Ankle.

Every preachy, know-it-all ink naysayer was proven correct when several years after the fact, I wished it gone. But, tacky as it was, it never seemed an urgent matter. I lived in Michigan and hit the beach 10 times a summer, tops. Living in a slightly warmer, oceanside community, circumstances have changed and this image, it, vexes me.

But what to choose for the camouflage? Originally, I wanted a tree. But give it three years and trees will be the new Chinese characters, mark my words.

I hope to find a great South Florida artist who can take my foggy idea, and shape it into something more timeless and unique than a trio of characters that when grouped together actually mean something along the lines of "Air Ocean Sheep Ground."

Below are some images that I am toying with.

The work of Charley Harper. I would love to use one of his wildlife images, preferably of a sea creature or a bird. His style is clean and simple, but also technically sound, whimsical and well done. Very aesthetically pleasing.

Art deco. I gravitate toward images of women in long gowns with cigarette lighters and page boy haircuts, turn of the century skyscrapers or foreign travel, but these palms really grabbed my eye.