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.