It’s spring break. Senior Molly Sutton has been waiting for this for awhile now. She walks into the shop, nervous but excited. A creepy guy begins drawing on her skin while cracking awkward jokes at her. She sits in the chair waiting for the pain, but less than she expected comes. Her first tattoo is complete, and she is ready to get more.
Sutton, now 18 and with four tattoos, began inking up at 17.
“I got them because they are artsy,” Sutton said. “I like art and I figure that my body is like a canvas so I want to decorate it.”
Sutton acquired her most recent addition on Nov. 15 of two Chinese characters and a Yin Yang with a koi fish.
“The one on my back is for love and happiness,” Sutton said. “I got them for my friends and family. The koi fish in the middle is for courage and perseverance.”
Tattoos can symbolize everything from a loved one’s memory to a college fraternity tradition. Communications Arts teacher Laura Wilcoxon has five tattoos: one on each foot, one on each wrist and one on her shoulder. The tattoos on her left foot and shoulder correlate to each other.
“The one of my foot is a koi fish,” Wilcoxon said. “It symbolizes determination. If a koi fish can swim up a waterfall, it will turn into a dragon. I got that one after I got divorced. The tattoo on my shoulder is a dragon with fish scales to symbolize the fact that I made it through, but I still have a way to go.”
Wilcoxon’s most recent addition is a memento to her family that she had done on her Grandma’s birthday two years after she died.
“I have four flowers on my foot,” Wilcoxon said. “A carnation, a rose, a daisy and a cherry blossom. They symbolize my grandma, my aunt, my mother and I’s all favorite flowers.”
Tattoos cost, at minimum, $60 and go up from there. All in all, Wilcoxon has spent $800 on all that ink.
“You get what you pay for,” Wilcoxon said. “Spend the money to get a good one. A bad piercing will eventually heal but a tattoo will be with you forever.”
Wilcoxon says she is not done inking herself out and would someday like to get more tattoos.
“I would like to get a derby tattoo,” Wilcoxon said. “Probably more flowers as well. I would really like some thing to do with [Edgar Allen] Poe because I’m an English dork like that.”
“I got them because they are artsy,” Sutton said. “I like art and I figure that my body is like a canvas so I want to decorate it.”
Sutton acquired her most recent addition on Nov. 15 of two Chinese characters and a Yin Yang with a koi fish.
“The one on my back is for love and happiness,” Sutton said. “I got them for my friends and family. The koi fish in the middle is for courage and perseverance.”
Tattoos can symbolize everything from a loved one’s memory to a college fraternity tradition. Communications Arts teacher Laura Wilcoxon has five tattoos: one on each foot, one on each wrist and one on her shoulder. The tattoos on her left foot and shoulder correlate to each other.
“The one of my foot is a koi fish,” Wilcoxon said. “It symbolizes determination. If a koi fish can swim up a waterfall, it will turn into a dragon. I got that one after I got divorced. The tattoo on my shoulder is a dragon with fish scales to symbolize the fact that I made it through, but I still have a way to go.”
Wilcoxon’s most recent addition is a memento to her family that she had done on her Grandma’s birthday two years after she died.
“I have four flowers on my foot,” Wilcoxon said. “A carnation, a rose, a daisy and a cherry blossom. They symbolize my grandma, my aunt, my mother and I’s all favorite flowers.”
Tattoos cost, at minimum, $60 and go up from there. All in all, Wilcoxon has spent $800 on all that ink.
“You get what you pay for,” Wilcoxon said. “Spend the money to get a good one. A bad piercing will eventually heal but a tattoo will be with you forever.”
Wilcoxon says she is not done inking herself out and would someday like to get more tattoos.
“I would like to get a derby tattoo,” Wilcoxon said. “Probably more flowers as well. I would really like some thing to do with [Edgar Allen] Poe because I’m an English dork like that.”