So over the past year and a half I've acquired 3 tattoos: a script piece on my back that is a French proverb translating to "There's no place like home," as well as my parents initials on each ankle representing their dichotomy through left and right brain. It would only make sense then that in Sweden, my year abroad, a time in my life I have no doubt I will remember and that it will shape me, that I shall once again get another tattoo. Over the past 6-8 months I've played around with various ideas, and decided that I definitely wanted an image this time..words take up a lot of space and although they hold a lot of meaning, I don't want to be a human book. Which lead me to decide on pink lily flowers; I associate these with my mom's home in San Rafael..whenever we have flowers in a vase on our dining room table, they are always pink lilies.
I did some research of tattoo shops in Copenhagen and found a really nice place that reminded me of Spider Murphy's where I got my first tattoo a year and a half ago. I emailed and talked on the phone with a woman named Rosaminna, who never failed to make me feel as if we had been good friends for 10+ years. She recommended Yanni to me, a guest tattoo artist who was only going to be at the shop for the month of December..reluctant to wait so long I asked if there was anyone else who was capable of tattooing beautiful flowers. She said yes but that she would recommend waiting for Yanni, because he would do the best job. Alright, sold. Consultation and tattoo appointment booked for early December.
Fast forward to last week, I go to Copenhagen, get insanely lost two times but finally get to my consultation at Brightside Tattoo. Rosaminna goes to fetch Yanni, we meet, shake hands and we go to his station where we are to discuss my tattoo. He immediately asks where I'm from, I reply "The states" he asks where, "California near San Francisco," and he says that he is from Santa Clarita near L.A. Well, fancy that..come all the way to Sweden, and then to Denmark to get tattooed by an artist from California who's traveling through Europe; I immediately feel more at home and comfortable with him. Fast forward to today, December 7th, my friend Sofia comes with me to the tattoo shop and because of my killer visual memory we arrive to the tattoo shop early. Yanni calls me back shortly after 12 p.m. and asks if he can just freehand the tattoo directly onto me (usually tattoos are drawn onto paper and then placed as a stencil on the body), I said that he most definitely could, but only because he was from California. I go back and he begins drawing and I was immediately amazed at his talent to draw so well directly onto my body with what appeared to be minimal mistakes. I okay the preliminary tattoo and we get to going. Ohhh that very specific pain that only comes with a tattoo..I don't see the point in expressing it because hell, I have two hours to sit through so no point getting dramatic although I do have a natural knack for that sort of thing. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'd like to think that I can handle pain quite well..yes I would occasionally grip the side of the table I was laying on, or look away and mouth "Ouch" but I've got a pretty killer poker face. If anything I enjoyed watching because the technique and the art of tattooing is so unparalleled and fantastic, especially when he was filling in the flowers and told me that the tattoo gun had almost a dozen needles.
In the end, I have never been more consistently ecstatic, besides the pain that was uncomfortable, I immediately fell in love with the tattoo..it is exactly what I had wanted and more: all thanks to Yanni Vera.
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