Gladiolus flower and Ball-peen hammer tattoo. The gladiolus flower represents strength in adversity, overcoming obstacles, not succumbing to weakness, and having tenacity and endurance when you are faced with really difficult challenges. The Ball-peen hammer is used for welding and metalworking. It’s not meant for building houses or destroying things. The hammer is really for specific craftsmanship. It came from the idea they really like that iron forges iron to make something new, different, or stronger. It works itself. They like the idea of consistently becoming a new person, or strengthening yourself from your own inner strength through the difficult times you endured.

Man on a boat tattoo. A little man on a sinking ship. The words “But oh! But oh! How very blue the sea is.” This is the last line from a poem from the book, Abarat, by Clive Barker. The complete poem is:

“Life is short
And pleasures few
And holed the ship
And drowned the crew
But o! But o!
How very blue
the sea is.”

When everything is absolutely fucked, there is are still things. Don’t make your situation of suffering mean that you have to suffer through it. There is always some sort of beauty around you even in the worst possible circumstances. The man in the boat is about to drown but he is still looking at the sunset. It’s a poem that does not connect to the rest of the book at all. It’s just sort of an illustration and it’s whimsical.