Nicole Poulin

Deftones has been living comfortably at the top of my list for a few months now (I don't know how the fuck I didn't listen to them years ago), other than that its Alice In Chains (old and new), Volbeat, In This Moment, Mushroomhead, and American Head Charge.

I haven't had many jobs yet because I like the look of longevity on my resume, but I have yet to work in a place that is even generally accepting of tattoos. I have three and while none are visible, my minimally "hard" outward appearance (gauged earrings, rockabilly look) is usually enough to give people the wrong impression. I am a head infant teacher in a daycare, and it took a good 6 months before both parents and my bosses saw past everything on the outside and realized that I am truly capable and responsible enough to help care for 8 babies (not to mention I helped two be born last year as a birth coach outside of work and school), and that my Business Management A.O.S. proves that I know about more than just heavy metal and such. I am planning a sleeve for next year that I'm sure I'll be buying long sleeves for, but I don't plan to be in the child care business much longer. I've realized that it is so much more important to do what you're meant to do, rather than be subjected to the stares and hushed whispers of those with narrow minds.

I have an unfinished colored tattoo in the middle of my upper back of a mermaid holding her baby (the line work, no shading). I still love the idea of the tattoo but it will be finished by a professional. Her arm looks bowed and her face isn't very clear. I also had to rub the entire area with Vitamin E for a month before the lines healed because apparently the guy used the wrong type of needle. Unfortunately it was one of those "hey I know a guy who knows a guy who can do it for cheap" kind of deals. Never again!

I would love to have some red maple leaves with a caribou as parts to an upper arm piece! I had previously drawn up a woodland scene with a caribou that would be colored with different blue hues and white to give it that snowy, magical look :) thank you for the suggestion!

Forgive me, but she doesn't look like your typical client here (maybe I'm stereotyping, I'm sorry). They both looked as if this was going to be a cute girlfriend thing to do and didn't realize the level of discomfort you really feel. If she was intoxicated, the artist should have turned her away and asked her to come back when she was sober. I have a tattoo in the same area she was getting one in and its not finished because it hurt so much- but I also didn't sit there and wail like a pansy (instead I let countless tears and an endless stream of snot dampen my body pillow). That artist had a lot of patience with that woman and probably figured that the humor in her potentially bad decision (whatever design she got, we don't know) was worth more than dealing with her attitude.

I'm going to collect tattoos over time. My taste has matured since I had my first one done (a Bettie Page head shot on my right hip bone and I still love it to this day), and I want to give myself at least 6 good months to make sure that what I'm thinking of will still be what I want by the end of that time. It doesn't matter which tattoos get done first, but I plan to have the outsides of my upper arms, calves, lower back area, and possibly the sides of my thighs. All the parts that hurt the least! lol. I don't think I really have an artist preference in terms of who's tattooing me, but that could change. I know for certain that two tattoo ideas I'm currently piecing together (as separate tattoos) have to do with my grandparents and my love for Canada (I have family there and massively enjoy visiting). I am having an issue with my preference for the coloring of whatever I get next, as I don't want to have so much dark in any of them that years from now they'll look like dark blobs- but at the same time, I trust the artist I'm working with and the opinions on it that she/he will have.

Ex-boyfriend, tribal fox with colored butterfly sitting on its nose, about five years ago, in our old apartment, because I liked the design. Now I want to have it turned into something else and incorporated into a large lower back piece.

Hello all :) I have been interested in the art of tattooing since I was 16. I was lucky to be an apprentice at one point in my life, but my unhealthy relationship at the time did not allow me to get very far. I'm at a place in my life where I'm trying to reclaim that passion and get back in the saddle with drawing, and also open my own shop. I'm closing in on the tail-end of my time in college for my Business Management Associate's, and have been developing my shop plan. A year ago I wanted to graduate and work as a secretary in an office- but then I learned that in this day, doing what is expected as opposed to making a living out of your passion just doesn't feel right. I know I have a ways to go and will have to earn the respect of my future artists as a non-tattooing owner (my drawing skills are not yet to the degree where I feel comfortable picking up a machine), but the hard work will be worth it!