Tiny Corners: It's been a while...

I haven't written in quite some time. Not sure why, really.

I guess life just kind of took over and I lost my drive to write.

I'd like to get it back now.

I've missed this.

I don't think I realized how much until I began writing again tonight.

Ok, to get back in the game I am going to start small.

I got another tattoo.

(Ok. Maybe that's big.)

The Tattoo Story. Take 2.

For almost a year now I have been staring at my right foot. I always thought it was finished and said everything it needed to say. In the last four months or so, that has all changed. I sit in my living room everyday, in my comfy chair and a half, and see my David Arms painting hanging on the wall above my TV. I see that precious little hummingbird and the symbolism behind it's fluffy and perfectly still body perched so quietly on his tiny little twig.

"That looks right."

I want him too. He belongs there. He's what is missing.

So, the search began. For the PERFECT little guy to accompany my daddy's pen.

I told myself if I couldn't find the perfect one I would not do it.

I searched and searched.

'Hummingbird tattoos.' 'Hummingbird drawings.' 'Hummingbird illustrations.' 'Hummingbird paintings.' 'Hummingbird photographs.'

I would venture to say that 99% of all images I found were of the birds flying. Now, trust me, I get it. Hummingbirds DON'T sit still. Flying- it's their thing.

They rarely stop.

Ever.

But for me, he had to be sitting. And again, he had to be perfect.

Finally, after about a month or so of searching I found one.

He was what I wanted; sitting on a twig, soft and chubby and little, muted greens, reds and browns.

He was so great.

BUT, he was a water color painting. I don't like watercolor tattoos.

They just seem somewhat messy.

I contacted the parlor I knew I was going to use and sent them an email of the image, (and told them I didn't want the watercolor look) and a photograph of my foot.

My foot with a black and white printout of the little guy taped to it.

Right where I wanted him.

I got a reply back that basically said, "He's too small to maintain the integrity of the line and the realism of his look. If we make him the size you want he will blur over time and won't look crisp anymore. He'll look like a blob and not a bird."

I didn't want a blob, but I also wasn't sure I wanted him any bigger.

The big day came and three of my girlfriends went with me to get him done. For the first 35 minutes we just played around with my foot and the stencil looking at different sizes and where it could be placed. I knew I didn't want an ankle tattoo, and it couldn't go too close to the outside edges of my feet or it would fade over time. Finally, I just decided to "suck it up" and go with the suggestion from my tattoo artist, Kid. (Side note- is "sucking it up" a wise attitude to have when dealing with permanent ink on your body?? In my case- Yes. It was.)

There are seven colors in my tattoo;

two shades of black, a red, a brown, a tan, a green, and white.

The first color hurts. The second makes you squeeze the stress ball until your hand hurts almost as badly as your foot. The third is about the time when you stop laughing with your girlfriends. The fourth, fifth, and sixth are all about practicing your lamaze breathing and trying your darndest to stay relaxed and not focus on the fact that the needle is currently piercing AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN the exact same spots it has been 5,000 times already.

(That was a run-on sentence on purpose!!)

By the seventh color I wanted to pass out.

I am not a wimp. Never have been. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain.

I am proud of myself. I didn't cry at all, but... this. sucker. HURT.

Ok. Maybe I fibbed a bit about not crying, but I didn't cry during the tattoo.

I cried when Kid told me to "Hop up, Baby Girl, and go look at him in the mirror!"

An hour and 20 minutes after the first needle stuck me I did just that.

I looked in the mirror.

I cried.

Such good tears.

My little hummingbird is the piece I didn't even realize was missing.

Until he was there.

Perfect.

I have had so many people tell me that it is one of the most beautiful tattoos they've ever seen. I think because he's simple. And his shading is gorgeous.

He's not flashy or arrogant.

He's just still.

And thoughtful.

I like that.

Have I mentioned how much I love it??

Here is a bit of a peek at the process.