Tattoos - my lil art collection

Hi Steemit

I am very new to this platform, so I could be wrong, but I don't think I've seen any posts about tattoos as yet and thought it might be a cool topic of interest for some of you. I'm not a tattoo artist (I am a trained body piercer, but that's another story), but I am an avid collector of tattoos :)

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe199dc4b.jpg

Rancid band logo - i just love this image so much :) - done by Alex at Ink Nation in Barbados

I've lost count of how many I have at this point, but I thought I'd share a few of mine for whoever may be interested.

https://i.imgsafe.org/9007710b4f.jpg

my first tattoo - done when i was 16 - based on a drawing done by @tiffjane

I've been interested in tattoos for as long as I can remember and have used the process of being tattooed as a sort of therapy. It's a bit difficult to explain, but the pain and the process of being tattooed is quite cathartic.

I view tattoos as an art collection of sorts, telling a story about this canvas that they're on. Some of my pieces are very sentimental and have strong meanings for me.

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe157162b.jpg

A Jesus face with the crown of thorns done by Soap at Modern Classic Tattoo in London. This one represents for me a re-kindling of faith and a sense of hope. After struggling with some addictions for a few years, I was introduced to a 12 step program which helped in this process of finding faith and hope again, and although it's hard for me to define exactly what my faith is, I think of Jesus in this context as a symbol of love and sacrifice.

I'm also a rather chaotic person and so some of these pieces are nothing more than "hey! i feel like getting tattooed today" I also tend to go big.

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe17139d8.jpg

solid black half-sleeve with negative space design, done by Stewart Robson at Frith Street Tattoo in London

I'm a musician and music has been my savior in many ways, so I have quite a few tattoos relating to music, band logos and so on.

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe0f4d0e2.jpg

Dr Teeth and The Electric Mayhem done by Jonathan Foster at Soul Touch tattoo in Barbados

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe0da63ad.jpg

Zombie shredding a guitar - this image just came from a punk rock poster and i loved it

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe1420536.jpg

Caricature style Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead - done by King Len at Utility Tattoo in Halifax

I'm also a big graffiti fan

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe130db99.jpg

A Banksy piece - monkeys are a recurring theme in his work and the comedy of a monkey detonating explosives is perfect. Side note - I live in Barbados, and we've actually had an island wide power outage caused by a monkey - they're just as destructive as we are given the opportunity

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe104ac5e.jpg

who doesn't enjoy a good ole non-violent protest? :) the flower thrower is perfect - equal parts thought provoking and comedic

I have many more, and maybe I can do another post at some point - i love seeing people's tattoos - so many interesting stories. But for now, I'll leave you with the Devil. Hope you enjoy!

https://i.imgsafe.org/8fe11826fb.jpg

devil face done by Matt Owen at the Halifax Tattoo Convention