by: Emily LeVasseur
Many cultures dated as far back as 3370 BC have used art on their bodies as an expression of their lives. Archeological findings have shown that even way back then, a tattoo was used as a symbol of expression, of power, or meaning. Did you know that there are over 49 different places that have had mummified findings with tattoos? Not only have tattoos been a huge part of different cultures, history, power symbols, but it has become a popular present-day practice. Now, not every tattoo has a story. There are those who just love the joy of going to get a random tattoo. And that’s okay! But have you ever wondered about the stories behind some of the art?
I had the amazing opportunity to interview several people who have stories to tell. Are you ready? Let’s dive into the Stories Behind the Art.
Patrick Tansem
(trigger warnings: history of drug use, violence)
Meet Patrick Tansem from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. When he was 15, Patrick’s friend Rob and his older brother created tattoo machine using the inside motor of a cassette player and a Bic pen. He chose to tattoo a dagger on his left arm for his love of swords and it’s a wonderful memory with a friend and an experience he will never get again. Although his dagger is a fond memory, it will forever sit hidden in his skin as Patrick is in the process of getting an entire arm sleeve alongside his wife. Each arm will be half of one bigger picture showing the love and dedication they have to each other. Two halves make a whole, what a beautiful way to make art!
Another tattoo was a half skull, half rose which at the time was just a cool tattoo that he saw and wanted. Today it has faded but rather than covering it up with something else he sees it as a symbol of life and death. Life isn’t forever and memories fade, but you never lose the memories that come with the ride of life.
Patrick didn’t always have an easy life and had a history with drugs leading to a face tattoo after he had been high for eight days. “So, I originally got (horror story) a tattoo on my face when I was high for eight days straight and it looked like a giant duck stepped on my face,” said Patrick during our interview.
Today, Patrick has been clean since December 26th, 2015, and has a beautiful family. He dug into his history finding that he was Scottish, Irish, Norwegian, Welsh, and European and he wanted to honor that heritage. He found an amazing artist who helped create a cover up for him, Fenrir, a giant wolf from Norse mythology. He later added Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) to his other side, which represents strength, honor, determination, and courage, also paying tribute to him being sober. He continued and added Elder Futhark writing for protection and binding runes running in a line from his forehead down his entire body to his foot. The writing translates to “f*** around and find out” followed by his sons names, showing he will always be there for his children.
Another tattoo that has special meaning wasn’t planned like his Norse ink: his “Demachu”. “Pikachu has always been my favorite character from the beginning. I walked into a tattoo shop, saw a new artist, and asked for a demonized Pikachu smoking a bong. The artist created it in 30 minutes making Pikachu’s tail use his electricity power to light the bowl. Definitely one of my favorite tattoos.” You can always have more than one favorite and favorites don’t have to be the most planned pieces!
One of Patricks’ other favorite pieces is a Trauma Bear on his left calf representing trauma from his life, such as being stabbed and getting his ear cut open for surgery; it’s “also one of my favorites because he’s just so cute”, says Patrick. Speaking of cute and favorites, another favorite of Patricks’ is a set of silly little characters from the business, Ooey Gooey Extracts. This is a concentrate company that Patrick found through Instagram. He said their products are amazing and have helped improve his lifestyle. He wanted to show appreciation by getting not only one character but half an arm full! Shout out to Ooey Gooey Extracts for the inspiration!
Patrick recently started an entire full backpiece. He stated, “I plan on having my whole body covered before I die and plan on donating my skin to my tattoo artist when I pass.” This tattoo has so much meaning and knowledge behind it. It is a tribute piece to his Pagan History and lifestyle. The piece will include Odin, Odin’s wolves, and ravens. Patrick explains, “It’s in Odin’s writings that Odin would turn into an eagle to watch over humanity. It also states that you pass through the gates with either a sword in hand or between the thighs of a woman, getting you entrance to Val-Halla where the gods will be waiting for you with a feast and a drink.” He will be adding writing that states: “My death comes without apology, I don’t apologize for my death because I did what I could in life and that is that.”
Thank you so much for sharing your stories, Patrick, and it’s only fitting that we end this section of our journey with your own words: “It’s never too late. It’s never too late to change the way you live. It’s never too late to deal with your addictions. It’s never too late to handle your trauma. It’s never too late to try. It’s just never too late. That effort can always be applied to every aspect of life. It’s just never too late.”
Tina (Red) LeVasseur
(trigger warnings: mentions of past abuse, cancer/death)
Meet Tina LeVasseur, also known as Red, from Omaha, Nebraska. Tina has not had an easy life by any means, but she is a woman of perseverance, strength, love, and dedication.
Her tattoo journey did not begin until the age of forty. It’s never too late to start! She calls her first piece her “midlife crisis tattoo.” This tattoo is a simple but beautiful yellow rose on her ankle. Inspired by her husband to step out of her comfort zone, she decided to get the yellow rose of Texas. Not only was she raised in San Antonio, Texas, but her husband was also born in San Angelo. She still dearly cherishes this tattoo today, as she said herself: “the journey begins.”
Approximately one month later she was back in the chair getting a small red rose on her neck due to it being her husband’s favorite flower. She calls this tattoo “The Blob” and hates the appearance of it today but not all pieces of art turn out perfect and can still be meaningful. Though after “The Blob”, a deal was struck! If she got a purple rose on her left arm then her husband would get his very first tattoo, and he did! She now has a beautiful Rose on her arm to go along with the wolf that he chose to receive on his shoulder.
Another journey began that day when a second deal was struck months later. If she got another tattoo, then so would he. While he chose to get a skull, Tina decided to go for a bird of paradise on her other arm. Now as much love as Tina had in her life, she also dealt with abuse and a volatile lifestyle. In her words, “I got the Bird of Paradise to represent peace. I was searching peace in my life and thought having a symbol with me always might help me find it.” Yet another journey for her to begin.
The journey hit its climax when “Big Momma” was planned. A beautiful calf tattoo of a woman with luscious red hair, Indian feathers to represent her daughter’s heritage, a yellow rose for Texas, and an Oriental Bird to represent her being born in Japan. Her father was in the service when she was born, and she wanted to represent that along with other pieces of her life. This is Tina’s favorite tattoo stating, “It represents who I am and is my biggest piece of work.” She added 5 flowers later in memory of a trip to the Caribbean with her husband. “I can still smell the ocean and feel the sand”, she said. Keeping memories on her like a personal diary, she also added one more yellow rose on her back left shoulder from a Moody Blues concert her and her husband attended together. “They sang my favorite song, it was outdoors, full of good times and a night I will never forget.” She stated also, “I have a hard time staying out of the chair, if I had started sooner, I would be covered.” What a collection of memories.
Her final tattoo as of today is sadly a memorial piece to her husband who passed away from Lung Cancer, a dedication rose made of Black and white. This is her only black and white tattoo and says the word “Honey” underneath her rose. “Not only did my husband inspire me to step out of my comfort zone for my first tattoo but I enjoyed getting them for him. They would make him smile and he continued to inspire every tattoo thereafter, even after taking his last breath. Bill and Red forever and always.” She said she had finally found her peace at age 66. Strong, dedicated, loving, and finally at peace, thank you for sharing such dear memories.
Nico Bishop
(trigger warning: near death experience)
Meet Nico Bishop of Omaha, Nebraska. Now Nico is a man of many tattoos, so we are only going to cover some of his favorites and the tattoos most meaningful to him. Nico had always wanted tattoos, so his dad made a deal that if he did well in school, he could get a tattoo, but he needed straight A’s. By the 2nd semester, he was going with his dad to choose his first piece of art! His dad wanted to be there to approve the size and placement which Nico later was grateful for saying, “I chose a tattoo he approved but wanted it much bigger, I later was grateful he made me go smaller so that I could add to it.” He chose a Celtic cross in blue and white on his right bicep to honor his dad’s Irish heritage. Three years later he sliced through the tattoo by catching his arm on a nail. The scar healed as a white line, so he decided to go and change the colors of the cross to a green and yellow to match the Irish theme.
Nico graduated with seven tattoos quoting, “Your body, that’s a lot of real estate. Marriage is till death do you part, tattoos are for 6 months after, in the sense tattoos are more committal than marriage.” They mean that much. The Celtic cross eventually became a half sleeve including a cross, a Celtic knot, clovers and a Claddagh, hands holding a heart with a crown, standing for friendship, love and loyalty, finishing with a Celtic tree of life.
The bottom of the right arm has several different pieces. It began with a Jack Sparrow logo that he got with his friends. He has Transformers on his right elbow which is a polar opposite of the Decepticons on his left elbow.
Then there is the big section which has a somewhat darker but reviving story behind it. On February 11th of 2011, Nico was working at a quality living center as a CNA and got off work late that night. He had just gotten a 24hr gym membership with his girlfriend and decided he would walk to the gym with it being so close. At around 1am a young, intoxicated woman on meth ran a curb running Nico over in the road. Nico was left lying in the road and ended up in a coma needing to relearn how to walk and speak. The first word he said when he got out of his coma was “lemonade” because that was what he wanted at that moment. This was Nico’s first visible tattoo on his lower arm and he stated, “It is a reminder of me coming back to life. I stopped nursing school and decided to get covered.” What a way to start a large tattoo journey.
Nico’s arm tattoos are all about symmetry. As the right side was largely dedicated to his father’s Irish heritage, the left side is dedicated to his mother’s Mexican heritage. His left side includes art such as stick figures for his family, being one of nine children, a dream catcher, crosses for his mother, and the opposing Decepticons on his elbow. He also later decided to add to the right side a tattoo in his writing from a dream journal. After his accident, he had vivid dreams that scared him and a friend who knew about Lucid Dreaming said to get a dream journal. He felt having the bullet points in his writing, from his journal would bring him comfort to not be scared.
Now, Lemonade is definitely one of his favorite tattoos, but let’s look at a few of his other favorites. This is a funny favorite: a Hello Kitty on his butt that he got because he said it makes people smile. Saying, “Laughter is the best medicine. Death is temporary but my love for you is forever.” Next, he spoke of having 3 hearts from the Zelda game on the back of his neck. When he had the accident, he filled in one of those hearts as to say he had lost a life, just as you would in the game. “One life gone.”, he said. Also involving his accident he has an ankh, an Egyptian symbol meaning eternal life. The last favorite he wanted to mention is on his middle finger. He got the elemental makeup for alcohol as to say “f*** alcohol”. He was honored when ten years later his younger brother got cancer tattooed on his middle finger and when asked why he said he was inspired by Nico. He told him the tattoo stood for “f*** cancer”. This meant a lot to Nico because he did not realize his brother had even been paying attention when Nico was originally speaking of his own tattoo. He told us, “It just meant a lot to me as his brother.”
Nico ended his interview with a simple quote. “The difference between tattooed people and non-tattooed people is that tattooed people don’t care if you don’t have tattoos. I hear all the time, aren’t you going to regret that later? No, just do it. You only live once and your body is your temple, decorate it the way you want to.” Well, you heard him folks, just do it! Thank you, Nico, for your time and stories!
In Conclusion
Sometimes when someone gets a tattoo for a personal reason or as a memory, they believe they must move on, cover it up, change it. Others see their bodies as a diary; would you read a book and then burn it? Would you write in a diary and then erase it because it’s a new day? Our bodies are our diaries, our tattoos are the written words inside telling our past present, our story. You wouldn’t write a story just to throw it away, would you?
Even a bad or difficult experience or memory can lead us to a beautiful beginning later in life. Thank you to everyone for being so open and sharing your stories with us.