The daughter of one of my esteemed clients turned 18 yesterday and she wasted no time, she was in the studio TODAY to get her first tattoo. It has become something of a tradition in their family, and it does my heart good when happy parents tell their kids to patronize my skills. With this heart and triquetra pattern she celebrates her Irish heritage and her love of her family. My kinda gal!
Faithful Heart Celtic Tattoo by Pat Fish
A few weeks ago I read about the Fish Reef Project that will be placing large cement Reef Balls in a patch of ocean floor just off the Santa Barbara coastline and thereby encouraging the formation of a kelp forest. I was immediately enthusiastic and contacted http://www.fishreef.org/ and offered to donate a tattoo as my symbolic way of supporting this wonderful work. One of the principal volunteers took me up on it, and together we came up with this tattoo design that I installed on him today. The reef ball is shown in dots, as befits its surface of aggregate concrete, the better for marine life to take root on. Coming around the side is a mako shark, and I give credit here to the fabulous artist Guy Harvey whose shark t-shirt design i used as inspiration. Then I added kelp gently waving above, to give a feeling of how the balls will be the static root for the living forest to anchor on. On the reef ball are two starfish and a limpet. Last I added a tiny calico bass peeking out through one of the openings, safe in his home, watching as the shark goes by. All in all, a lovely way for the medium of tattoo to bring this vision of a restored ocean to life in skin.
Shark and Reef Ball Tattoo by Pat Fish
On their fourth wedding anniversary this couple came to me this week for permanent wedding bands > on their arms. Because tattooed rings on fingers blur unpredictably, I often suggest a band somewhere else to fulfill the symbolism. I particularly like that these two have the same pattern, obviously they are a set, but the size is proportional to their individual bodies and the coloring is done using the same colors but his is just a bit bolder. Seen together they make a pair, but apart they are complete, as one hopes their romance and marriage is lived.
Her Celtic Wedding Band Tattoo
His Celtic Wedding Band Tattoo
To see more matched tattoos, visit the Sets and Pairs tattoo portfolio page.
Dedication tattoos stand apart, the emotion attached to them puts them in a class of their own. The initial L was put on this woman's ankle when her beloved sister passed away a decade ago, and like all tattoos done only in color it has blurred. But because the experience of going with relatives after the funeral to have it put on is a touchstone, my suggestion was not to change it but that we incorporate it into an anklet of Celtic knot work. I used a glow of blue dots that mirrored the blue of the letter to give a glow to the circle around it, and also some depth to the band. This way the letter becomes an inscribed locket in the anklet. As long as anyone alive remembers us we have not entirely passed from the Earth. Dedication tattoos keep memories alive.
Celtic Anklet Tattoo by Pat Fish
