My Inked Lady

I got my second tattoo this week. After months and months of consideration, going back and forth between designs, watching way too much "LA Ink" and feeling certain that, yes, now is a good a time as any, I took the plunge.

I am coming up on my last week in Seattle, after all.

What better way to celebrate three exciting/arduous/life-changing/educational years than with something, well, beautiful?

This is my new, inked Lady. She is now a permanent fixture on the inside of my left forearm. The original drawing is by the divine Garance Doré -- a French fashion illustrator, photographer, and blogger -- whose work I have loved and followed for about a year now; her drawings have always stood out to me as the definition of simple-yet-glamorous feminine beauty. (I even featured one of her drawings on this ol' blog post of yore!)

The original artwork for this piece can be found here on Garance's blog.

Unlike all of the other tattoo ideas that came to mind over the last several months, getting one of Garance's drawings as a tattoo was not a decision I labored over; on the contrary, the moment this particular one struck me as a possibility, I knew it was the one. I didn't second guess myself -- a rare thing, and something I took as a sign.

She's lovely, isn't she?

So why this design? Why not the totally rad ampersand I was seriously, this close to getting?

Simply put: I love having a reminder of why I think women are so beautiful (the softness, the delicacy, the hair), and to remind myself that, yep, I am too! Even on my worst day, which is admittedly hard to believe much of the time. Plus, of all Garance's stunning illustrations of lovely women, this one was the most demure, candid, and "it could be any girl!" of all the drawings.

I'm thrilled with the results.

I got the tattoo at a spot down the street on Broadway in Capitol Hill called Laughing Buddha Tattoo, from an artist named Nina Collier. Girl is one of the best tattoo artists at the shop, and she seems to always be booked up. I was lucky to get an appointment with her before I move, and I'm so glad I chose her; her lines are amazing, and she put up with me cringing and hyperventilating whenever the needle touched the tender spots (i.e. the entire inner arm).

It was worth the pain.

(Psst... Just for shits and giggles, here's a look back at my first tattoo!)