my tattoos


today i’ve decided to tell you a little bit about my tattoos. i’ve gotten questions about them and requests for better photos, and while this is the best photo i have at the moment, i thought i would show you where the original art came from.

the tattoos across the backs of both arms are a series of illustrations that i found in a book titled i saw esau, edited by iona & peter opie and illustrated by none other than maurice sendak. you would most notably recognize his work as the author and illustrator of where the wild things are, which is soon to be released as a motion picture directed by spike jonze. yes, i’m excited. sendak is my hero, and i pretty much decided to get the tattoo the moment i saw the image. if you’re in the bay area and you’re interested in the artist, i got the tattoo at everlasting tattoo by mike davis. he did a really good job of diluting the ink so it looks like watercolors.

some people ask me to tell them the meaning of the tattoo. all i can really tell you is that it is an illustration for the classic childhood poem/song:

TO THE RAIN

Rain, rain go away,
Come another summer’s day;
Rain, Rain, pour down,
And come no more to our town.

i scanned this image from my copy of the book.

my other tattoo is a drawing of a bear hugging the state of california. apparently i have a strong hugging theme when it comes to my tattoos. i found this image in a book titled bear in mind: the california grizzly. it’s the image found on the songbook for the state song, i love you california. as you can probably already tell, i have a deep love for my home state of california.

image from wikipedia.org

and that is the story of my tattoos. i do have a few more, including a little stick-and-poke quail given to me by my boyfriend, but maybe that will be another post!

oh yes, and wearing:
j. crew ruffle dress, jeremey’s
american apparel sash
brown saltwater sandals, mysaltwatersandals.com

38 comments

  1. I'm in love with your California tattoo – what a fantastic idea! I've been a Californian my entire life so it was very cool to see this tattoo here.

    Great post!

  2. Love the tattoo story. My dream tattoo is to get one of the illustrations from The Little Prince. I just have to get over my intolerance for all things painful…

  3. oh wow!!!!!!! i think that california bear is the greatest i've seen! My boyfriend recently got the outline of the state of West Virginia with a banner that reads "Wild and Wonderful" (the states slogan) on his foot as a friendship tattoo. I wish I had the courage, but I'm just too fickle and scared to change my mind about them later! :( but yours are so good!

  4. Oh, I love these! I've only got one tattoo thus far, but I'm really looking forward to getting more. And I would like to fix up the one I have to make it more… something!

    By the way, I'm a new reader here and I love you already. I found you through Keiko and I'm happy I did.

  5. wow! i LOVE that california bear tattoo.

    and i LOVE maurice sendak .. esp the entire little bear series.

    i got radically inspired by a photograph and part of me REALLY wants to have it tattooed, but i dont know if i can deal with the permanence. i'm sooo tempted though.

  6. Such great tattoos! Little works of art.

    I think I loved my boyfriend a little more when he got Max from Where the Wild Things Are tattooed on his back.

    I will have to take a sneaky picture one day and post it on my blog

    xxx

  7. such cool tattoos! I especially love the one on your calf. Think its the pear and the position on the calf, looks very sexy to me! :)

  8. wow, awesome tattoos! i always want to have tattoo with meaningfull stories behind it… but i haven't find any. and yet the guts. but yours is truly swell!

  9. Ahh, I love this post. I have a (minor) obsession with tattoos. I REALLY like your bear one–it's pretty and so meaningful.

  10. You have great tattoos. I was crushing on your California one in particular. Bear hug…amazing.

    Someone recently suggested I do a tattoo post, but I only have two. One is pretty big and covers the side of my torso, but the other is straight up embarrassing. I can't write about the one without the other one being called out by one of my big mouth friends. haha.

  11. Great post! I really love your tattoos. I think girls look so pretty with them, particularly when they're bold like yours (and not a tiny speck of a butterfly!)
    I'm yet to get any but have quite a few ideas in the pipeline… Hope to get the main one before Christmas.

  12. I LOVE your cali tattoo. I am born and raised here and have a couple of cali-inspired tats( and even named my georgia born cat Cali) but nothing as brazen and awesome as yours. RIGHT ON

  13. Aw that's such a pretty dress! So soft and feminine, but then your post is about tattoos! Lovely juxtaposition.

    Florrie x

  14. Your California tattoo is unbelievably awesome! It's just so so cool that your love for your state runs so deep. \m/

    *Now back to your Q&A

  15. i love the bear tattoo.

    about 6-7 years ago, i really started identifying as a california girl. i've always lived here, but it wasn't until leaving the state became a possibility that i realized how much it had shaped my identity. i love this state, even with all it's problems.

  16. Ive been wanting to see more pictures of your tattoos for a while im glad i found this,you have some great work on you.

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