Tattoorism: Tammy from Texas

Last summer, my wife Melanie met Tammy on the staff message board of their company's website, where she and other employees across the country can exchange ideas and feedback. As a leader for Weight Watchers, Melanie often comes across members and co-workers who have used tattoos for inspiration and to mark milestones.

When talking to Tammy, a leader in Texas, she learned that she was inked, as well. She sent her the link to Tattoosday, and Tammy sent us photos of a few of her eleven tattoos.

We'll let Tammy describe them for us:

"I got my very first [tattoo] when I was 21 in Virginia while getting a tattoo for my younger brother but I didn't get another for several years at which time I had my uncle in Arkansas place a rose under the butterfly I had done first. It is old and faded but holds so much meaning to me as my uncle passed away in his 40s about 5 years ago so I have him with me at all times...I then waited a couple more years and had a dolphin put on my left ankle as a reminder of a trip we had made to Florida. About a year later an apprentice in Shreveport added an ankle wave under the dolphin.

I then took a long break from tattoos and the rest have all been done in the last 5 years here in Wichita Falls, Texas, with the exception of the tribal butterfly [seen below]. I had it done in Lawton, Oklahoma, when my son was getting his rib piece finished up [a subject of a later post].

On my right thigh I have the New York Yankees logo:

On my left shoulder blade my husband and I got kanji symbols for Eternity for our 19th wedding anniversary. I have a tribal butterfly (the only tattoo I have ever picked off a wall) put on the top of my left foot and I love it:


When I hit 50 pounds gone, my oldest son paid for the star that everyone sees in pictures I post:

And a Pisspot with my husbands name [pictured left]. My husband just retired with 26 years in the service and was AMMO-I always wanted this but was never brave enough nor skinny enough for that so called "tramp stamp"... it actually looks awesome although this picture is a little blurry.



And of course when I hit Lifetime [when a Weight Watchers member reaches their goal and maintains it for six weeks], my rib piece came alive:

The photo above is the tattoo right after it was completed. Here is how it healed:



Most of Tammy's work was done at A Different Drummer Tattoo Studio in Wichita Falls.

Thanks to Tammy for sharing some of her photos with us here on Tattoosday!

A Lull

On January 20, I logged the following notes:

12:10 PM. Rather than wander in search of ink, I am trying something else. Staying put, here in front of the Amtrak Departures board in Penn Station, and seeing what walks to me.

I have only successfully met 2 of the inked nation in the last 27 days, and I'd like to resume posting more regularly.

I figure, sooner or later, this wintry drought will end.

12:20 A woman walks by with two interlinking gray hearts behind her right ear. I hesitate and decide not to approach her as she walks by. The tattoo didn't speak to me.

12:35 Still nothing. 5 minutes left in my little experiment.

12:36 Ed Hardy baseball cap.

Experiment Fail.

Daniel Returns with Another Machine Head Tattoo

Last month I featured a leg tattoo belonging to Daniel, who was visiting from Australia. At the time he alluded to the fact that he had a pretty cool chest piece, as well. Understandably, he wasn't about to whip his shirt off in Penn Station in December.

Anyway, Dan was kind enough to send me this picture. Although not the best quality from a photographic standpoint, it's clear enough to see what a great tattoo this is:


The inspiration from this art, also related to the band Machine Head, can be seen on their main web page here. Like his other tattoo featured previously, these pieces were done by Jonny at Abandoned Art in the Wanneroo section of Perth, Australia.

Daniel says they took two sittings and about five hours to complete.

Thanks to Daniel for following up with this photo here on Tattoosday!

Eric Shows His Dedication to Being a First Responder

In what was the first new instance of inkspotting outside of a tattoo shop since Christmas Eve, I met Eric in Penn Station and he shared this, the newest of his four tattoos:


Eric explained that he is a volunteer firefighter and EMT out on Long Island, and he wanted a tattoo to represent both sides of his service to his community.










This was done by Debbie at Skin Deep Tattoo in Levittown, New York.


Work from this shop has appeared previously on our site here.

Thanks to Eric for sharing his new tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!