After several temporary tattoos and some procrastinating, today was the day for the real thing.
After a brief recommendation and a quick look at his web site I book with Jay at Twenty Twenty Tattoo Studio in Niverville. Upon arrival the very easy going Jay welcomes me and I feel relaxed already. After all this is my first real tattoo and I’m a bit nervous but Jay and his studio vibe put me at ease, this is going to be OK. The studio is very clean and well decorated and there is some heavy metal music playing.
I sign a big disclaimer statement which releases them from anything and everything that may or may not go wrong. While I’m doing this he’s prepping the gear, getting the ink and miscellaneous stuff ready for the process. We talk about my design and it’s placement for a few minutes. Then he inputs my design into his iPad and prints it off on some special transfer paper. This gets positioned on my arm and some fluid is applied that transfers the design to my skin.
We talk about all kinds of stuff, mainly tattoos of course, and he’s been at it since he was 18. Jay’s tattoos as you might imagine are very extensive and sophisticated. My simple line art is done in about 1/2 hour, and it barely hurt at all.
Here I am with the finished product!
Why a tattoo and why this tattoo? I’m blaming Instagram as the source of the tattoo idea in general. I started seeing ads for Inkbox, and I thought it would be fun to put a tattoo in a fairly visible spot to have some fun and possibly shock friends and family. So without any pre-announcement I showed up with this nautical rope work on the back of my hand.
One thing lead to another and I tried out a few different possibilities.
However, the winner was the one that was done today. I really relate strongly to the symbolism of the three components, the anchor, the heart and the cross.
The Cross representing Jesus Christ and what he did for all mankind by dying on the cross, being buried and the resurrection on the third day. God’s salvation, the Living Word, Jesus.
The Heart representing the love, mercy, hope and grace of Christ as well as my heart and my soul.
The Anchor representing the notion that I’m anchored to His amazing love.
Over the last few years there certainly have been some storms in our lives and when I put together these three symbols it reminds me that I’m firmly anchored to the love of God by Jesus Christ’s redeeming work on the cross in my life.
The anchor holds in spite of the storm.
“We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold”
Hebrews 6:19 TPT
On the way out the door Jay says to me “Welcome to the dark side” 🤣