Nina Worthe

I just told my mom, and though she hates tattoos, she was like "oh, pretty", and that was the end of it. In the end of the day, I'm an adult, and I'm still me, so she still loves me, even if she disagrees with my choices.

I have a black and grey realistic owl, which I love, so yeah... I love their wings. Very few open winged owls out there, since the faces are so striking and with wings, the faces have to be much smaller. But ok. I've been told by an American friend that owls are seen as carriers of the spirits of the departed, which is pretty dark. Not so here (we're more of the 'owls are bad luck' or 'owls are wisdom' or 'owls make for powerful magic' persuasion), but worth thinking about.

What I struggle with is the person wanting the exact same thing. It's strange to me, looking at someone else's skin and saying: "yeah, give me that". Very Buffalo Bill esque, to my mind. Could it have something to do with how we perceive fashion and mass media consumerism nowadays? Similarity is good and desirable?

A fellow South African! I'm in Pretoria, but close enough, hey :) I know very little about tattooing, so I won't say anything at all about your work (though some of it looks nice, and some of it looks ok) This site had a great collection of tips and tricks and drawing skills for tattoo artists, but I keep getting a server error today (I was reading on there last week, so maybe it's just a temporary thing?) http://tattooroadtrip.com/artist-tips/

There's always http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com to ask as well... And for a good laugh too :)

Ah, that totally sucks :( At least there is some comfort in knowing that it won't be to the same standard as yours, because a good artist is likely to refuse an exact duplicate as well.

I would like to submit two shops from South Africa, both of which have great artists, a friendly atmosphere, and are otherwise top notch. True Blue Professional Tattoo - Just another WordPress site in Pretoria, and Fallen Heroes - Welcome

I've just hit scabby/just before serious peeling on my forearm. Not that there are any serious scabs, just a few really tiny ones in some spots. It's all dull looking now. It's starting to itch. I'm keeping my hands busy, but I catch myself rubbing against anything with any kind of texture. Slightly starchy bed sheets have never felt this delightful... oh, crap, stop scratching! Lotion, lotion, lotion. Or is it ointment? Bepanthen. It's gonna get worse, though, I've been told, before it gets better. How do you guys avoid sleep scratching?

Hello all, I very recently (Thursday, actually) got my first tattoo. I am quite pleased with it, an arrangement of an owl and flowers. It is a scar coverup, with the intention of making my arm something I'm proud of in stead of something to hide away. I've been hiding it for over 8 years, by the way, these are the first pictures featuring my left arm since then :) Added bonus? You can't see the scars at all. They're just gone. La, the tattoo artist, in fact used the deepest and whitest of them as highlights on the feathers and the beak, and many others are now bits of flower. It's amazing, how it feels to take something that you have been hiding for so very long, and to in one day, turn it into something you just want to show everyone. The idea is long in coming, with the owl being a reference to Minerva's little owl (and my love of nature). Sunflowers are my favourite flowers, and cosmos link to traveling along my country's roads. Mostly, though, it's because I find it beautiful. Fine line black and grey, with lots of grey wash that right now just looks dark, but that should lighten with healing (she said two weeks, maybe a bit more, to see the effect). This was taken the next day, so it's very fresh here. Done by the lovely La at Fallen Heroes Tattoo in Johannesburg.