This tattoo is of a rose, in black ink next to his first one. It is of medium size and looks as though the two tattoos were done together at the same time. He picked his lower ribs, which is one place that hurts the most. As I sat in class looking at the picture I took of his tattoo, many things came to my mind, many questions arouse and I became eager to learn more about it.
As I pondered about this piece of art, it came clear to me that it wasn't there just for the aesthetic sense, it had to of had meaning. It made me think of my tattoos and even though there isn't much meaning, they mean something to me. It also gave me more interest in getting another tattoo, seeing someone so happy about this, like Austin, makes it that much more interesting. While I was connected to him in this sense, I needed to learn more.
As I interviewed Austin, I had a few questions I wanted to ask. First off, he told me he got this tattoo in remembrance of his grandfather and his family in general, this shows he cares a lot about his background. He picked this spot and specific color because he wanted to keep with the theme of his first tattoo, of the name "Thomas". It also was to make it look as though it was connected instead of two entities. He mentioned he got this tattoo at Wild Zero Studios, the same place as his first and it was done by the same guy, Eric Carlson. If he were to get another tattoo, he would go back to him and the same place.
He had a good experience with this place and artist. It hurt less than his first time and took about an hour and five minutes. He wasn't allowed to talk due to the placing of the tattoo but Eric talked to him and told jokes to lighten the mood. Austin gave me specific details of what was going on, what the room looked like and the positioning of himself as well as Eric. This tattoo was meaningful to Austin and brought memories back when I asked him to tell me about it.
Austin's grandfather had passed away, he knew he wanted this tattoo to be of a rose. His earliest memories were of him and his grandfather in this garden working in the flower beds. While gardening, his grandfather taught him very valuable lessons. He gave him advice on what type of man he should be, things he should and should not do, advice and taught him morals.
This experience of learning about Austin and his tattoo shows me that he is a sentimental, caring and family means a lot to him. I was very interested in getting to interview him, learn more and become informed about why this tattoo and why a tattoo at all. He was very welcoming and excited to tell me more, you could tell this was very important to him. All in all, this process was a positive one and I learn a lot.
I definitely think you asked every possible question that you could have asked to help come to a conclusion about the tattoo and how it defines me! Obviously, being that we are so close as friends, it was easy to be interviewed by you about something as special to me as a meaningful tattoo. It was definitely interesting to see how you percieved things and how you viewed it from an outside perspective. This was actually the first time I have ever really shared the entire background of the tattoo so it was very nice to have someone else possibly appreciate its sentimental value.
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