Updated Ink

Life has a way of changing things. Things wear down or wear out, they change purposes or meaning. As they say, change is inevitable. Ink is not impervious to this life rule. With this truth in place, 26 years after its origination, the need arose to update my original ankle ink. 

I got the tattoo the same day that John proposed to me (it was not planned that way, but it happened). Now, so many years, trials, tears, triumphs, and joys later, I felt that the representation was not complete. I came up with a design, not to cover it, but to transform it to better represent life with John. 

A while back, I had taken note of a quote that very much struck a chord with my heart. St. Benedict has a notable quote that reads "Always we begin again". This quote so stuck with me for a multitude of reasons that I knew it had become a life quote. I wanted to incorporate it, but I didn't have a glaring idea of how to do it. 

I've also taken to heart the beautiful phoenix and the meaning it holds for new beginnings. In the same way that life is a constant of change, relationships (of all kinds) are in a non-stop state of ebb and flow, and to a certain extent, they are frequently being redefined. I knew I wanted to incorporate the phoenix but wasn't tied to a particular representation. After months of pondering, I was finally inspired and I drew up a mock image that I was sure would work and then I made an appointment with my artist.

I expected to give my artist some freedom to express my mock up in light of his talent, and truthfully, I had hoped he could one up me and make the design even better--and he did. I was thrilled with his rendition and he did a great job of upgrading/updating my ankle art. I was able to get both cherished messages into one design and now it feels more representative of us in this life.

While I was at the studio, I also had my artist touch up and update a transformation piece he did for me last summer. He had altered for me a wrist piece, but only after I returned home did I realize that I had made a mistake by not having him use a capital letter in a critical spot. Thankfully it was fully fixable and he quickly altered the image while deepening the color and the outcome is perfect. The message is clear and helps to keep me on the right track.

I am so thankful I have the opprtunity and the help to secure such important pieces. Updates are important. And with permanence, it has to be right. A huge shout out to Hector for his help with these heartfelt transformations.