Nautical Star tattoo. This was my first tattoo. I used to fight MMA inside of a cage. It was a fight house & I was a part of a group called Northern Pain. It’s a nautical star to remember where you came from and where you are going in the future.

I had just come off a deployment. I was 20 years old at the time. I had a buddy who had died in combat. I got this tattoo to remember him. One of the things you had to have with you when going out on a mission was a gas mask. He could not figure out where his gas mask was. I passed him mine. For him, I got the biohazard symbol. It’s a piece of a lost art for a brotherhood.

Dragon, woman, and koi fish tattoo. This was default always to have someone to love. And a dragon for honor and strength. The koi fish is for luck.

Samurai with bear flag tattoos. The samurai was for the art of battle, respect for yourself and others, and humility. The bear flag is from my partner. They used to call me polar bear because I lived in Alaska for so long. That was my way of adding my partner to the tattoo. It was to show I belonged to somebody; that I was already taken.

At the end of the day, it just shows I once had money to blow on a tattoo.

I got courage as my first tattoo. I traveled to Danville, VA, to get this tattoo. My dad took me for my 17th birthday present. I had gone through some personal stuff the year before. I got courage tattooed on my foot. When I look down, I see this word on my foot and know I have the courage to get through the day.

The symbol of Venice tattoo. It is the symbol of a female. I got this to represent female empowerment. I did this myself as a stick and poke. Stick and poke as it’s real ink and a real tattoo needle, but it’s a hand poke.

Musical note. I have done a lot of choir and singing throughout my life. I did this one myself and thought it would be fun.

Tulip flower tattoo. I studied abroad in Amsterdam for three weeks in arts administration. We went on many museum tours and met with a lot of the heads of art organizations. We went to the Van Gogh museum. I fell in love with the area. They have tulip fields in Amsterdam. I got this tattoo to commemorate my time there. It was incredible.

Moon with Star tattoo. This is also a hand poke. I am really into Sailor Moon. This is one of the first hand pokes I did on myself. I just thought doing the shape of the moon would be interesting.

This tattoo looks like a “y,” as it is not done very well. It is supposed to be the constellation Sagitta. It is part of Sagittarius. My brother is a Sagittarius.

Triangle tattoo. In college, I did a show called Sanctuary. The three of us got to create our own spaces, perform, and be very vulnerable in front of an audience. It was a show that allowed us to do a therapeutic performance. The three of us did it together. This is another hand poke to commemorate that experience.
The triangle is the strongest shape.

Constellation Phoenix tattoo. There was a point in college when I started going to therapy more heavily. I started to unpack some trauma. I did this on myself to commemorate my rebirth, start to rebuild, and feel more comfortable in my skin.

Flower tattoo. This was another hand poke I did. It was very late; I had the supplies. I was kind of bored. I was like, I bet I could do a flower. I free-handed this. I think it turned out ok.

Sunflower tattoo. While I was in college, My uncle lived with us at the time. He committed suicide in our home. About a year or two before this, when he first moved in, he gave me a picture of a sunflower. I took this picture to college with me, and I still have it. It is one of my favorite pictures. The picture has a flower written in French under the sunflower. This was because we had both taken French in school. When he passed away, I got a replica of that picture tattooed, so I would always have him with me.