Originally, when Cyd came in for their first consultation, they were mostly concerned with an old outer arm tattoo they wanted covered up. Now we are working on adding two more creatures to the mix. When we are finished they will have a Phoenix on their left arm, an Owl for their chest and an African Dragon on their right arm-- all three cover up tattoos.
They say, "Once upon a time, 'tattoo' was only a dictionary word for body art that other people had. I didn't judge--tattoos just weren't my thing. That changed when I turned thirty-five. Suddenly, I was jonesing to have one. My first was a small gryphon silhouette. Within a few years, a red ibis, a line of personally significant glyphs, a line of tattvas, and a stylized phoenix chest piece followed. They didn't go together, this hodgepodge of images and over time, they meant less to me. After a surgery that was going to require the phoenix to be modified, I wanted a change. "I didn't regret the tattoos or wish I'd never got them but I knew I wanted something different. At first, there was the issue of what to do with them. Some research led me down the path of removal through various means, some of which worked better than others. Eventually, they were lightened enough that I could look at repair, revision, or replacement. "Finding the right artist for the project was another journey. I interviewed quite a few. By the time I met with Victoria, my plan was to have the gryphon covered up and see what could be done with the other four pieces. Victoria took my request in stride and assured me that, of course, we could make some changes. In fact, we could cover all of them up with a thematic tableau of images that are relevant to me now. Victoria has been fantastic to work with, taking my ideas and rendering them as art. When we're done, there'll be a cohesive trio of tattoos that I'm excited to have on my body."
Here are some pictures of the drawings--chest (Owl) left arm (Phoenix) and right arm (Water Dragon)-- before, outline and partial gray shading photos of the chest piece and the final arm pieces.