Name // blog name: Donna from Deer Donna!
Age: 30
Occupation: Office Admin / Bookkeeping
Age of first tattoo: 19 or 20 I think..
Favorite tattoo: My new "nanna" tattoo and my anchor with a bow on it, which matches my boyfriend's tattoo!
Featured tattoo/location: A pin cushion heart with little heart pins in it, a sewing thread, a "nanna" banner and some flowers. In honour of my nanna of course!
Artist/shop/location of feature tattoo: Third Eye Tattoo in Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia....by the wonderful Zoe Dennis. It is located on my right forearm just near the elbow ditch.
1) Tell us about your featured tattoo- is there a background story or special meaning? Why did you choose this particular piece of art?
My nanna passed away just over a year ago, and I got a rose tattooed on my right shoulder blade in her honour, not long afterwards. But it wasn't enough! I wanted to do something special, with her name in it, as she was very special to me, and taught me how to knit and sew.... So I got a heart shaped pin cushion with little heart pins in it, and a sewing thread and needle, and some pretty flowers, with a "nanna" banner in the middle, to remind me of her daily! I love it so much. Zoe did such an amazing job, and I will be going back to her again soon to re-do my left sleeve!
2) Do you have any other tattoos? If so, what do you have and where?
I have about 13 pieces all up, but my left sleeve has been tattooed on over 7 times I think, by all different artists. It includes a rhino beetle with cogs and wheels inside him, two yellow sunflowers, a hummingbird moth, a butterfly, some birds, a fob watch and some blue ribbon. I am actually about to have it worked on, and completely changed, as I am not happy with how it looks in certain places and it is very unfinished. Zoe, who did my nanna tattoo, will rework it for me over the next few months and I will end up with two massive peacocks spanning my whole left arm.
I have a rose on my right shoulder blade.
An anchor with a bow on it, which matches one my boyfriend Christian has. He loves old school tattoos and we love getting tattooed together, he actually has a Tumblr dedicated to them... http://swifthungryswallow.tumblr.com/
We also have matching wrist tattoos, I got a love letter with roses, and Christian got a bird holding the same love letter.
I have a cuckoo clock with a deer head on it on my right upper arm, which isn't finished yet.
I have a spotty bow on my left thigh which I got done years ago, and a few other smaller pieces, including my very first tattoo which was a Smashing Pumpkins inspired tattoo of the word "Adore" - etched into my left hip when I was either 19 or 20.
I have another anchor on my right side of my stomach, just under my ribs, and I have two Gloomy Bears on my lower back on the right hand side, which are just outlines... never finished or coloured!
3) Do you plan on getting more?
Definitely! As mentioned, I am going to end up with my whole left arm covered in flowers and two peacocks, which will also symbolise my nanna and my family, as some peacocks used to fly into my nannas backyard all the time when our family was living with her growing up. It is already in the works with Zoe! I also want a flamingo on my right sleeve, and some more family tributes, including a blue diamond for my mum, a bunny for my sister, and two bluebirds for my twin brothers. I might get tributes to my two kitties Falkor and Sailor Jerry one day as well.
4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)? Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them? Do you have a significant other? Does he/she have tattoos?
Believe it or not, I hid my tattoos from many people for years. No one really saw them, and my workplaces have never known about them as I work in a Corporate environment. I recently decided I am going to be the true me, and even though I didn't like my left side sleeve for a long while after rushing into it, I showed my family what I have, and they were very accepting and wonderful about it. I had one laser session on my left sleeve, as I wanted to rework it, and the laser session was painful and didn't work the way I expected, so I am grateful to have a great artist in Zoe, who will help me achieve what I want my sleeve to look like!
It was exciting when I got my nanna tattoo, because I was able to send the sketch to my mum and sister to show them and get their approval beforehand, and then on the day, I was able to send pics to them and share the beautiful moment with them! I am so glad they love it, and are accepting of my others tattoos as well. Yay for my awesome family! I know they can see that this is a creative outlet for me, and that I just love tattoos and pretty things.
As for my significant other.. Christian, he LOVES tattoos. He is amazing. Because we are both very arty, and love the old school style, he has helped me so much in both new tattoos, and reworking old tattoos. He has lots of old school tattoos too, and we love spending time visiting the many amazing tattoo artists in Melbourne, getting walk ins, or planning bigger pieces. I love that we have matching tattoos too, and I am sure we will end up with more in the future. I know he loves my tattoos, and finds them attractive, and when we are old folks together, we will love looking at them and remembering this time in our life where we were collecting tattoos together.
5) Any advice for those interested in getting tattooed but haven't gotten one yet?
Really, really, really make sure you want what you are getting... FOREVER! I am a perfect example of someone who rushed into some tattoos, and even though I love tattoos, love most of mine, and have every intention of getting more, I wish I had've thought about the ones on my left sleeve more before jumping in. When I started that sleeve, I had 5 tiny birds, then I got a yellow flower, and after that, instead of thinking about my next tattoo, I really rushed, and before I knew it, I had a mess of bugs and flowers happening, which meant nothing to me. I then tried laser removal, and realised that is harder than it seems, and the colours on my ink were going to be very hard to remove... So now I am very lucky to have a tattoo artist who will rework my arm into something beautiful with more meaning to me ie: the peacocks I have planned.
Another word of advice, make sure you are totally comfortable with your artist, and choose someone who suits your style. Before finding Zoe, and my more recent tattoo artists, I was going to artists who didn't specialise in old school tattoos, so it wasn't working out the way I have inititally planned. That is why sometimes in your mind you think "awesome, I am getting an old school fob watch" and then you end up with a new school clock, which isn't what you wanted, even if it is pretty.... So yeah, just plan, plan, plan! We spend heaps of time online looking for cool artists.
Ask people who did their work if you like it. Don't be shy, most people are pretty cool with it, as long as you aren't grabbing hold of their arm and touching them without permission, it's pretty cool to say "I really like your ink, do you mind me asking who did it?" It's happened to Christian, my boyfriend, before, and I have been told my tattoos are lovely by all kinds of people, including and old Italian man at the beach once! So cute!!
I guess one more thing is, have fun with it! Getting tattooed is awesome, and whether you get something because it is meaningful to you, or just because it is cute or pretty, make it fun, and take someone you love with you. I love getting tattooed with my man beside me. I still want to do it with my sister one day. I know it'll be awesome fun!
Thanks Danielle for letting me ramble on!
Love Deer Donna xoxox
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