Tattoos, Their Stories, and Great Artists
Or Shelby and Sydney share their various ink and the reasons why
By Shelby and Sydney
Sydney and I are…addicted to tattoos. As someone who is not a fan of needles, drawing blood, any of that medical bullshit, I have my fair share of tattoos. Each one for me, and I know for Sydney too, are important in every way so we decided to share with you the inspiration and stories behind our permanent artwork.
Shelby’s Pieces:
At 18, I was finally allowed to get a tattoo. Not because of my mother, but because of IL law (and the surrounding states, I checked) stating that regardless of parental consent, the recipient must be 18. Before I turned 18, my brother’s best friend, another older brother to me, passed away, so my first tattoo is dedicated to him. From there, I really didn’t stop and don’t plan to. There are many pieces I still want done, and I have yet to have a tattoo with color, so here’s to many more appointments of masochism and emptying my wallet for the value of art.
In chronological order, my tattoos plus a mini description of why:
Joe’s DJ symbol + “Raise your weapon” :: Right ribcage
Joe was a DJ, and like any proud 20-year-old DJ, he had a symbol that representing his DJ name (DJ BrainFr33ze). This literally is a brain, frozen, with headphones and then the words from a DeadMau5 song, “Raise Your Weapon,” a favorite of his, written underneath it. He’ll always be by my side.
Anchor :: Left inner ankle
A matching best friend tattoo is a necessity for young white girls, so here’s mine! My longtime best friend, and glorious cousin also named Sydney, sat down with me as we each got a little anchor to represent our friendship. Very basic, very sweet—like us!
“Words are magic” :: Inside right elbow
This is actually a Chinua Achebe, novelist and literary critic, quote where he said “Words are like magic” and I decided to change it to fit my inner writer. The “words are” portion is written in Times New Roman while the “magic” portion is actually my handwriting!
“Six feet under the stars” :: On top of left shoulder
My favorite All Time Low song, I got this tattoo while my friend Tina got her first one. I chose the shoulder because I believe everything above the shoulder is always six feet under the stars. These first four are all from the same parlor, Good Family Tattoo in Antioch, IL.
Orion + “Some are born great” :: Outside left bicep
Orion is my favorite constellation. Did you know that he’s more than just a belt and actually consists of 19 stars? And, the coolest part, is hanging off his famous belt is a star nursery, where stars are born. So I paired this with a third of a Shakespeare quote: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them” from Twelfth Night and/or Dumbledore.
Tombstone + “vacant” :: Inner left wrist
This is actually from a Catholic Instagram I follow and it is supposed to represent the rising of Jesus from his grave on Easter Sunday, hence the tombstone saying “vacant.” While I’m not inherently a religious person, to me this symbol represents that I’m not dead yet. The placement is also key, somewhere I can see it every day (also in a common self-harm place), to remind myself of this message.
Rubyetc. drawing :: Outside of right ankle
Rubyetc is a hilarious, mentally-ill person who draws these ridiculous little doodles to emulate her emotions and frustration. This one, found in her book, always stood out to me. A little person (perhaps Ruby herself) squats next to a tiny flower while, off page, people tend to their own, glorious, hugely bountiful flowers. Don’t worry about what other people are doing, grow your own thing.
A Court of Thrones and Roses abstract mountain peak with three stars :: Above right knee on thigh
This book series is one of my favorite and in the second book, it is revealed that Rhysand (the main, swoon-worthy male character) has matching tattoos on each kneecap: a mountain peak with three stars. This represents he will bow for no one but his kingdom and I too will bow for no one but mine. This amazing detail was done at Yant Studio in NYC.
Snake with hydrangeas :: Right wrist and forearm
My newest piece (and an instant favorite for sure) was done here, in Columbus, by amazing artist Hannah, here in Columbus. When I made our appointment, I was determined to get a different piece done, but when I went in for our consultation, I was just hit with the idea of a snake wrapping around my wrist and that’s what we went with. Her name is Lady Macbeth (Lady for short).
Sydney’s Pieces:
Same as Shelby, I am terrified of needles. However, as I have gotten older I realized what I am really afraid of is shots. I don’t want a whole needle being pushing into my body!!! Tattoo needles are way different. They don’t push nearly as deep into the epidermis and so it’s less scary to me.
I got my first tattoo at 18 and have no plans of stopping, although my parents always give me pause. I desperately need their approval and I know when it comes to tattoos I am never going to get it and it kills me. My dad and I have had more than one fight about me getting more tattoos so when I do decide to get a new one, I always feel really guilty, like I am doing something wrong. Somehow that never seems to stop me though…
In chronological order, my tattoos plus a mini description of why:
“Love Is Louder” :: Outer right forearm
Love Is Louder Than The Pressure To Be Perfect is a mental health movement founded by Brittany Snow through the Jed Foundation. It was also the basis of a community service project I spent over a year on which earned me my Gold Award (a highly prestigious award through Girl Scouts of America). I felt like if getting a tattoo was something I never wanted to do again, this was a tattoo that meant the most to me due to my own struggles with mental health.
“Love You” in my Mom’s handwriting :: Left inner wrist.
“Love You” in my Dad’s handwriting :: Right inner wrist.
I have a really strong relationship with my parents. They’ve been super supportive of me my whole life and we generally really get along and like spending time together. In order to get this tattoo, I had my sister send me a photo from one of my birthday cards I kept in a box in my bedroom and the tattoo artist was able to scan it onto the transfer paper to be tattooed! It also helps that both my parents have really cool and distinctive handwriting.
“Always” + Deathly Hallows + Lightening Bolt + Stars :: Left ribcage
This tattoo is an excellent reason why you should heavily research your artist and not just walk in willy nilly. It is not great, but the meaning behind it is really special. Growing up, my dad would read Harry Potter to me and my sister before bed. He literally read aloud every single Harry Potter book which is like, super hard. We are a Harry Potter family. That’s why I love that I was able to combine a few different symbols from the books for this tattoo, even if it’s not the best execution.
Semicolon “;” :: Outer side of left wrist
I got this tattoo in Notting Hill when I studied abroad in London. It is representative of the Semicolon Project. "A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life." While I have never been actively suicidal, I have gone through some extremely dark times and I liked that it was something other people could see and understand that they are not alone.
Pawprint + Cursive “O” :: Left inner ankle
This one isn’t too complicated. My sweet puppy dog Oliver passed away in the summer of 2015. It was sudden and he was not with us when it happened (we were on vacation sadly). My sister and I got these matching tattoos for him.
“23” :: Left upper back
No, I am not a big basketball fan. I just believe in lucky numbers and this one is mine. I wanted it for so long, but I thought it might be unlucky to get it before I turned 23 so I waited. It was really cool because an old roommate from college ended up becoming a tattoo artist and did it for me!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :: Left middle finger
This is probably my dumbest tattoo. I used to shrug a lot at MoviePass because everything was shit, people started associating me with this emoticon. I named him Mel.
Bell + “S” :: Left arm above elbow
This one is the one that means the most to me. I got it less than 24 hours after finding out he had passed away. It is a play on his last name as well as a reference to John Donne’s famous line for whom the bell tolls. When Sam died, a part of myself did as well. Shout out to Drexyll at Blackfish Tattoo in K-Town. He really pulled through for me on this. He also tattooed Mel for me.
“סבבה” :: Right shoulder blade
סבבה (pronounced Sababa) is Hebrew slang that I learned on my Birthright trip. It’s just this funny little word that means “good” or “cool”. When I came back from the trip I met up with a couple of the people on my trip and we all went back to Drexyll and got this word tattooed to represent how special Israel was for us.
Peonies :: Right thigh
This is the largest and most intricate tattoo I have, done by my dear friend Barry (who also used to work at MoviePass). This one actually does not mean a damn thing. It’s special because it was done by my friend when he was still a little new to tattooing. It is a sign of trust and friendship for me.
Sailor Moon “The Crescent Moon Wand” :: Inner right forearm below elbow
This is another tattoo by Barry. We decided to do it spontaneously during one of my 4 (5?) sessions on the flowers. He knows I love sailor moon and we’d always talked about him doing a Sailor Moon tattoo for me and he’d just done a flash sheet of them…Not everything has to be perfectly planned out.
So those are our tattoos. We’ll make sure to update you when we get more which will probably be shortly after Quarantine is lifted.
Shit We’re Loving: PEOPLE
Sydney Pick: Mira Mariah a.k.a. GirlKnewYork
Mira Mariah (@girlknewyork on Instagram) is a tattoo artist at Fleur Noire Tattoo Parlour in Brooklyn. She’s also a mother, a friend, a disabled person, a body-positive influencer, and an artist. Not to be all I followed her before she was cool but like… I did. I loved the aesthetic of her one-line drawings of girlhood (lots of glitter, female bodies, flora). It is both my and Shelby’s dream to get a tattoo by her.
Sydney’s dream tattoo by her:
I am dying for a glittery mermaid on my bicep and I feel strongly that the only person fit for the job is GirlKnewYork. I’ve seen her tattoo one mermaid before and I was instantly in love. I like that she’s realistic in her drawings of the female body, which is what I want out of this tattoo.
Shelby’s dream tattoo by her:
GirlKnewYork has this amazing devil girl, but what I really want is a woman, hugging a devil (so the devil’s back is to the artist, while the woman reaches her arms around him). I’ve seen this image around in a few different capacities, but with her incredible linework and whimsical art, I think that could make this piece something super special.
Daily Intentions
Today I will…
Rejoice! It’s Friday! And even though I treat every day like the weekend, there’s something so delicious about not doing anything on a Saturday versus a Tuesday.
Here’s some nifty buttons for you to press, enjoy: