Not a very good picture, but it is hard to get a photo with a PDA of your own leg (right leg, for those of you keeping score). I had an amazing artist, Carrie Bell. I had checked out her gallery on-line, so I knew the quality of her work. I was delighted to find that in person she was wonderful too.
She was finishing up on another customer when I arrived, but we started chatting away like old friends. Turns out she was also born in Michigan and has lived in Texas. Over the course of the next 2 and 1/2 hours we shared a lot of stories and experiences, as well as book reccomendations. Carrie told me a little more about the life of this little town and I told her about how fortunate I feel to be here for this month to write. She said that a lot of the time she finds herself doing cute little tattoos for tourists, so she enjoyed the chance to do custom work with personal meaning. When we were finished (after checking and re-checking carefully; she's quite scrupulous in her work), Carrie shared with me a couple of her tattoos, commemorating the important experiences of her life, the things she had survived. Some amazing and detailed work -- I had to smile when I saw the familiar face of Ganesha who dances on her left arm, honoring two women who removed obstacles for her. It was just one more indication that I had chosen wisely.
Thank you, Carrie! I just love meeting new phenomenal women.
5 comments:
If you're interested in the symbol, I can offer this link from Kalevala Koru. Although they refer to it as "St. John's Arms," it is of course far older, but the significance is much the same. A simplified version of the image is used to mark interesting natural or historical sites in Finland.
Kate, that's a way cool tattoo.
Elena
Isn't it wonderful?! I went back yesterday so Carrie could take a picture of it for her own website, and we just stood and yakked for a long while again. It's great to make that kind of connection.
Oh, and one more analogue -- the simplified version of the hannunvaakuna is also the same as the symbol for the command key on a Mac (I say, typing this on my Powerbook G4).
Carrie --
Don't feel bad -- I did the same myself (of course, I could go in and edit out my mistakes!). Glad you had a chance to see the blog. You're a terrific artist -- everyone is in awe.
I can't wait to come back to Eureka Springs. I'm making the most of my last few days. Have to head up to the Crescent and take in the wonderful view from the bar (and a few drinks, too!).
Kate
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