Helena and the Tree of Life

The finished tree of life. Sorry...tattoo is straight but the camera angle ain't! Will post outline when I dig it out of my camera.

EEKOON:

Some of ya'll readers who follow this blog might remember that a couple of months ago, Randy and I decided to do our part and chip in to help raise funds for a LGBT (Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans) benefit held near the shop back on Feb 12.

For those who want to read about our thoughts before and after the event called Justice for Sisters, the links are as below:
Pre-event ponderings:
http://us-skin-grafx.blogspot.com/2011/02/right-to-be.html
Post-event thoughts:
http://us-skin-grafx.blogspot.com/2011/02/right-to-be.html

If you'd prefer the short version, here it is: We heard about this fundraiser to help out the local Mak Nyah (male to female transgender) community via an old friend, Central Market Annexe Gallery curator, Seksualiti Merdeka co-founder, gay rights activist and multiple hyphenate Pang Khee Teik. This man is so multi-talented, it makes my head spin.  Anyway, a few Facebook posts, a couple of e-mails, a couple of phone calls and we were officially committed. The second Justice for Sisters show featured a Dutch auction, in which two prizes, an above-the-belt piercing and a RM1000 tattoo gift certificate from US Skin Grafx were won.

The bidding at the auction for both prizes were as speedy as they were fierce. Not only the audience, but the project staff members and volunteers did their part to help out. The momentum of the Dutch auction, so ably handled by Shelah aka the oh-so-talented Edwin Sumun, especially picked up for the tattoo prize. I remember sitting quietly at the back of Blackbox@MAP (at Solaris Dutamas), and hearing a minor furor behind me as some of the lighting crew went through their change, dug in their pockets and finally produced a winner -- Helena Foo.

It was a noticeably excited Helena that I met at our first consultation, in which she brought printouts of concepts and ideas. I really appreciate clients who take the time to do their own research and offer what they have come up with -- it removes the guessing game of custom drawings, and it allows a quicker insight (for the artist) as to what the person is like, and what would best suit their style and taste. One of her ideas was a figure in motion, as Helena herself is a theatre director with a penchant for physical theatre. In the end, though, we decided on a tree in the middle of her back. I've always loved  the concept of branches reaching up into the sky and the interlinked style of Celtic knotwork, so suggested to her why not meld the two together, to create a Celtic tree of life.

It was a good sign, I think, when she jumped on the idea immediately. So measurements were taken, specifics were discussed and the area to cover was confirmed, and I set to drawing the next week. Celtic knotwork almost seems to mix calculated symmetry with randomness, but above all, it has a sense of being the organic and kinetic all in one breath. I drew a few versions and tossed them into the reject pile before coming up with one that had sharp points and rounded ends together. While there are some Celtic trees that are circular, Helena wanted something more natural looking, so I pointed the roots up slightly, and spread the branches out, though root and branch never touch.

Celtic trees of life tend to equally signify foundation -- deep personal roots (note in the pic how they reach wide and low) -- and experiences -- signified, in our version, by branches reaching almost in random towards the sky. It really is one of the few symbols out there that attempt to and succesfully capture life all within a single graphic depiction.

About a fortnight after the consultation, she came to view and approved it on the spot. Due to the size of the piece, we thought it best to split it into two sessions. The tattoo would also try to bring her three existing small back pieces together(on the left and right shoulders  as well as one on the nape on the neck). Some of the branches of the Celtic tree would lap over the one on the nape of the neck, a tribal cross done at another tattoo shop in Kuala Lumpur nearby as well.

The first time, we put the outline in over the space of about two and a half hours of inking, talking, and taking a couple of breaks. I had planned to work the detail on the branches a little in the first session, but due to schedules and timing and Helena being savvy enough to listen to her body (a must-read topic we will cover in a future post), decided to leave the shading to the second session. We gingerly put her t-shirt back on and she went home.

Three weeks later, she was back, walking through the door with an anticipatory grin on her face. "Do you think we can finish everything today?" she asked me. Oh hell, yes, girl! We asked her what she had for lunch (as it turns out, not enough), dragged her down to the mamak downstairs where we each wolfed down tea and roti canai, before returning back to the studio for the ink
I started bringing out the greys, the white and we were off to a running start. Each time while tattooing Helena, it felt like time didn't really pass at all, because we kept up a pretty constant flow of conversation. About friends, siblings, parents, lovers, inspirations, aspirations, the past, present and future. (Contrary to the opinion held by a surprising number, not every artist sits in a surly intense silence while the tattoo machine is running. And no, with me, you don't need to talk about just ink)  It didn't really dawn upon me that we were done, until I saw my ink caps of grey running low and the only thing left to do were a few white highlight spots.

So, at that point, the only thing left to do was to point Helena to the mirror, snap a couple of photographs.  And, of course, help her to gingerly get back into her t -shirt again :)

I called her 3 hours before writing this, to see how she's doing. "It's all healed out already, and it's good," was her report.

For me, the best part about meeting Helena and doing what I do each day, is not only getting to do ink on new skin. In getting to know clients, before, during and after the tattoo, artists, if they so choose, are also exposed to alternate perspectives, different and fresh new ways of thinking and new lessons in approaches to life. You get together and exchange information and experiences, and pretty soon, you're not just talking to a client. Today, we consider ourselves lucky to be able to call her a friend.

For the record, yes, this pretty cool gal is single. And mildly amused at my attempts at helping to find her that someone special. I'm batting zero at this point, but if ya'll readers know a similarly nice, laidback, intelligent girl that might make my friend happy, be sure to let us know!
Hasty disclaimer!!!! US Skin Grafx does NOT matchmake. Instead, we just throw people together for the hell of it, and for some odd reason, some pretty great results occur. (We have had similar experiences with Randy's shop in the United States in the past)

Helena Foo is currently working on a very cool theatre project that is currently in its planning stage. Look out for this young lady's name in the future. I've a feeling that it will, quite soon, make waves.

The first cut ain't the deepest (not with us, anyway)

EK:

I love virgins. (At this point, will all my friends on Facebook kindly refrain from cheeky comments... thank you! LOL)

Without sounding too jaded, depraved or downright creepy, let me clarify the previous statement. I love tattoo virgins.  You know, the kind of individuals who have always wanted to get a tattoo, or are preparing to get their first piece of ink and have absolutely no inkling (aha!) of what the experience entails.

Walking ya'l through the process. First, the sketches, drafts and linework on my messy desk

Randy and I have always concurred on the notion that a person's first tattoo experience often colours his or her future pieces of ink.  If you got chewed up and scarred in your first tattoo, or if the artist was a heavy-handed mofo that had a sadistic streak, or if you felt that you were working with someone you disliked or at the very least were not very comfortable with, it doesn't make you very inclined to get more ink in the future.

Of course, every ink enthusiast was a virgin once -- and while most of us attest to the incredible addictiveness of needing to have your next tattoo, a few of us successfully resist the saying 'this one's going to be my first and last one' -- every single one of us remembers getting our first tattoo.  Randy got piece no. 1 and no. 2 within the space of 24 hours (come by and ask him to tell you that particular story some time), which was proof positive of a happy experience in someone's tattoo chair. 

I waited about seven or eight years between my first and second. My first was gotten when I was still a university student, and was pretty ignorant about properly preparing to get tattooed.

After a shave,  a stencil

First, to drum up the money, I worked the tables at an Italian `godfathers' catering service. Now, by 'my Italian godfather', I meant that I received this familial connection in a roundabout manner -- his daughter was my classmate and a good friend, and the family adopted me as one of their own that they regularly fed, hugged, loved on and spoiled, not that I became a member of La Cosa Nostra.

Then, I drummed up the research by roping in the (willing help of) my aunt on a Sunday afternoon where we did a survey of almost all the tattoo shops in the city. There weren't many at the time, so it was a short trip. The thing I remembered most clearly about it was knocking on someone's apartment door, and when the door opened, I took one look, turned green and exited the premises -- perhaps a propituous experience as any self-respecting professional does NOT work of their apartment but a licensed shop -- at least, in the United States -- especially when they were starting out and didn't know anything about asceptic technique, hygiene and sterilisation.

Finally, to drum up courage -- and here's where I made my two big mistakes, folks -- I waited until I finished exams... and then proceeded to drink three gin and tonics in rapid succession on an empty stomach. Revved up with Dutch courage, and a mad determination to "do something that I get to hide from my parents", I picked out a tribal ankh and asked the artist, Jay Primeau (then of Primal Art studio) to plant it on my lumbar area.

Midway through the lining... sorry, picture senget...

Speaking of first times, we've noticed that tribal tattoos tend to be a popular choice for a first tattoo, on both sides of the Pacific. Come to think of it, both Randy's and my first piece was either tribal or had tribal elements in it. Frankly, you just can't go wrong with classic black and black always looks fantastic, no matter what colour your skin is.

A majority of tattoo artists, by seeming habit, have an aversion -- how strong or mild it is depends on the individual -- to doing tribal.  This is because it's done in one colour, and after running our machines, dipping into the same cap of black ink, and doing it over and over and over... it gets kind of, well, mindless. To date, I will never forget how I suckered myself (when I thought I was being pretty slick) into a 3.5 hour horror of an experience pumping tribal black ink into a large, no, gigantic Epsilon sign for a guy who wanted his fraternity symbol to span half his back.

That story comes another day -- in fact, Randy loves telling that story while I cringe in mild mortification, In actuality, most artists also have a specific strategy when it comes to dealing with tribal...they combat the monotony of the movement with minor mental strategies to while the time away. For me, I time it every five minutes or so, to see how much more is left before all the areas are covered black.

Aylwin, 28, visited US Skin Grafx about 10 days ago, for a consultation for his first piece, on his leg.  He wanted a tribal piece, incorporating his first name in way that suggested something more abstract yet retained a sense of clarity. We regularly try to move away from the norm, and reviewed some of the different options available to him.

Randy brought out different versions of how to dress up traditional tribal and pretty soon, we were circling the concept of turning tribal lines into cracked stone or carved stoned with a marbled texture. Aylwin dropped a deposit and we were set to work on the design.  Between the two of us, we drew two different versions.  It wasn't long before the concept began taking a life of its own and the process of designing and creating naturally evolved into something new, and the end result -- intertwining layers, and different textures came about.

While Aylwin started out wanting a direct all-black tribal piece, the design moved into layering and overlapping different parts to show the differences between traditional tribal, cracked stone in greyscale and his own initial in colour. Regarding the sensation of the tattoo needles themselves, Aylwin had a tiny bit of trepidation as to how they would feel, but after a bloodline test (where the tattoo needle is dipped into water, not ink thereby not leaving  a scar), all that flew out of the window.

At 'press time', he is still sitting for his tattoo, and the all-black areas have been worked on, leaving the stonework and the colour, and it's off for a quick cigarette before finishing up. Breaks are welcome to both clients and artists, because it allows opportunity for both parties to take a breather and relax.

All done. White highlights obscured under the redness, so we're waiting to see it when it's all healed  :)

As for Aylwin himself, he was interested when he first came for the consultation. He was both thoughtful and excited after viewing his design and during the entire process itself was really relaxed.  In fact, at the time of typing this (and waiting for the eventual results to be photographed), he is currently staring into space and sprawled on the shop's tattoo bed. The endorphins are probably flowing good and  well at this point, because he's got a semi-dreamy grin on his face...but let that be our little secret until he discovers this blog post and reads it.

Maybe I should just take a side bet with the hubby to see when he calls to discuss his next piece :)