Former lurker who decided to jump in with both feet.

[oboogie 2,073]

Hey, all,

I'm Jen, and I'm new round here. I've read a lot of posts here, so I thought I'd join in the banter.

I am a tattoo collector. 90% of mine are by Joshua Henderson at Brainstorm Tattoo in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who I think is crazy talented. I also have been tattooed by Richard Stell, and I'm getting another from him the Oklahoma Tattoo Convention at the end of this month. I'm a big admirer of Richard and Jennifer Stell, who are two of the coolest people I've had the chance to meet. I've been helping Jennifer with proofreading and updating the tattoo convention website. Good times! I guess I'll post a few of my tattoos in subsequent posts.

Thanks for letting me join here, and I hope to become a regular!

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[marley mission 2,034]

diggin this collection - welcome!

[oboogie 2,073]

Thanks so much, marley mission. Really glad to be here!

[SStu 2,284]

A very hearty and heart-felt welcome to you! Please tell Jennifer we miss her here.

[oboogie 2,073]

A very hearty and heart-felt welcome to you! Please tell Jennifer we miss her here.

I'll be happy to pass that along. Thank you for the welcome, SStu!

[Naiemh 40]

Welcome! :D I love the knife across the winged insect (my firts lenguage is spanish so I don't know what's the name for this, sorry, hahaha) tattoo. Your collection is awesome, such a good taste!

[oboogie 2,073]

Here are a few more of my tattoos:

[oboogie 2,073]

Here a few more of my tattoos. Again, all are by Josh Henderson, except for the barking dog, which is a cover-up by Kyle Seal.

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I posted this elsewhere, but it sort of explains how I got into tattoos. Seems appropriate to add here:

I got my first tattoo (a crappy piece of flash off the wall) by some random woman at a tattoo shop when I was in college. It was supposed to be a daisy, but my young niece thought it was broccoli! One of my professors thought it was a sprocket of some kind? A boyfriend at the time called it a "mutant flower, just like me." Flattering! I gave it zero thought, and it was badly done. About five years ago, just before my 40th birthday, I decided to cover it up with something I really liked — the barking dog by Keith Haring. Thus began my foray into tattoos! In the last five years I've gotten 30 plus tattoos, and I'm already signed up for more. I just can't stop! I started by getting them all on my lower legs (which are nearly covered now), but then I added the top part of each arm. One is a half sleeve, and I'm finishing the other half sleeve in May. I work in advertising, and I have facial piercings, so no one here minds my tattoos. If I ever have to go back to a more traditional office environment (hope not), I can remove the piercings, but tattoos are more difficult to remove. ;-) So I am sticking to half sleeves for now, but I'm sure that will change at some point. I get asked to show my tattoos a lot around here — there is one other creative here with full sleeves, and we are considered the wild ones, which makes me laugh. I'm a proofreader! I'm not particularly crazy. I just love the art of tattooing. It is addictive.

[Devious6 1,079]

I love your collection! Thanks for sharing. :D

[oboogie 2,073]

I love your collection! Thanks for sharing. :D

Thanks, Mark! Great to be here.

[mmmsarah 42]

Wow, love your elephant tat. You've got quite a collection! I only just got my first but I imagine I wont be able to stop at one!

[oboogie 2,073]

Thanks, @mmmsarah! It is addicitive. I stopped after one (really bad) tattoo for about 13 or 14 years, then I got a cover-up of that crappy tattoo, and I couldn't stop. Now 30+ tattos later, I am planning the next one all the time. :-)

[undudedude 3]

love the ganesha and the monkey with the skull :D

[oboogie 2,073]

Thanks, @undudedude. I love all of my tattoos, but my Ganesh was the first large, two-session tattoo I got, and it holds a special place in my heart.

[nick_v2 7]

Very nice collection, I'm new here as well.

[oboogie 2,073]

Thanks! And welcome, Nick!

[Devious6 1,079]

I keep coming back to look at your pieces. It gives me inspiration for my next - definitely going traditional.

[oboogie 2,073]

2 hours ago, Devious6 said:

I keep coming back to look at your pieces. It gives me inspiration for my next - definitely going traditional.

Thanks. You can't go wrong with American traditional! I love it.

[Devious6 1,079]

Leaning this way - have my artist working up something now with some additional cloud work, etc. It really speaks to my military service.

[Boiled Dove 551]

Found your intro thread to catch your back story. Nice to see someone else get back into getting tattooed after a long time away. I too got started by covering up some regrettable tattoos from my youth in my early 40s and I not seem to have hit a stride of about one hand sized piece every 6 months or so. Moving to Dallas with Olliver's convention happening regularly sure has helped. 

That is a nice collection you have going there. 

 

[oboogie 2,073]

@Boiled Dove, hey, thanks! I certainly took a very long break, but I'm really pleased with my ever-growing collection. I'm getting tattooed every two to three months, so I do need to slow down a bit. However, I can't seem to help myself.

[Boiled Dove 551]

I understand. I moved to Dallas for a job but my family is still in Indiana. If it weren't for the whole 'maintaining 2 households' thing I would likely be moving at a faster pace myself. I am considering moving below the elbows soon. I think when I make that move I will have to go back to Bloomington and let Jereme make that first tattoo. He did my mushrooms and the skull/wings tattoos on my legs. I think if he were anywhere bigger than Bloomington, Indiana more people would know of him.