
Elliott came in with an old tattoo band around his arm. It was unfinished and faded, and it was a somewhat painful reminder of a part of his past. However, he didn’t want to totally obliterate it by covering it completely. He wanted to transform it into something else. He spoke to me for a while about his life and explained that he has been going through many changes in his life. I immediately thought of a cover up method i have seen that effectively covers an old tattoo but still allows it to be seen, if you know what the old tattoo was. Also, he really liked part of the old tattoo, so i planned to create a design that would not wrap completely around his arm. He is a spiritual man who meditates, who lived in Asia for a while, who seemed to have as much of an interest in Asian art as i do. I thought of some beautiful Tibetan calligraphy i had collected from master calligrapher Tashi Mannox which says “transformation.” To me, it just fit him perfectly, as well as being a perfect fit for his cover up. However, there was something missing. It didn’t quite cover the whole area we wanted to cover without wrapping too far around the arm, so i needed to find something to add to the top and bottom of the calligraphy to complete it. I tried adding flames since he is a speed demon on his motorcycle. He didn’t love the flames, but he kept referring to them as roots. That spoke to me. I sent Elliott some photos of tattoos i really admired, including a tattoo by Jondix Mahashakti of a lotus flower. He responded strongly to that one. Another thing about Elliott is that he has dedicated much of his new life to planting gardens and teaching young and old people alike to plant gardens and grow food. It is a true passion. The pieces finally fit together. I did my own version of the lotus, added some Thai style leaves to represent a garden, and added roots growing down through the calligraphy. When i showed him the design, his response was simple but clear. “The seed has sprouted.” Then he told me, “I see your heart in this design!” He was right.
Obviously we have only completed the outline. There are several sessions and phases to come. I’ll show each phase as it happens. Next phase in 2 weeks.