No one would have expected that my family would end up having a tradition involving tattoos, however my brother set the ball rolling which, after thirteen years, resulted with six of us getting inked on a regular basis, even sharing some designs.
It all began with tranquillity in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA in 2002.
This is how my brother's 'tranquillity' tat looks thirteen years later, in 2015:
That's on his left shoulder.
So being the first one in the family to get inked (I still remember the phone calls with my mother. "Did you hear what your brother did?"), eventually he wanted to get another one.
In 2008 he got tat number two in Santa Fe, New Mexico at Four Star Tattoo.
His second tattoo, on his left wrist, was inspired by the lyrics of John Lennon's song 'Instant Karma',
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
And it looks like this (artist J. Green):
Not long after that I was visiting the family in New Mexico and my oldest son expressed a burning desire to get a tattoo. The year was 2009, so he was 19. An adult. No parental permission required.
He also had the concept for the tattoo figured out; chain links with one broken to represent liberation.
The parental part of me sought to ensure that he was aware that the tattoo would be with him for many years to come, so it was not a decision to be taken lightly.
There was no indecision in his mind. So off to Four Star we went for a consultation.
At the tattoo shop we met the artist, J. Green, who had inked my brother, and he listened to my son's concept for the tattoo and went to work sketching up an image. We returned and now my son had his first tat (left wrist like his uncle!):
It was at the same time that my brother and my son came up with the idea that it would be cool if we all got the same tattoo. I liked the idea, the tough part would be deciding on a tat that we all liked. An initial idea was the kokopelli, a very well known symbol in Santa Fe. Not a bad idea, but we were not all in agreement yet.
In 2013 I again visited my family in Santa Fe with my two kids and my wife, and this time my son wanted a second tattoo. He had an idea about intertwined snakes and DNA, and after consulting with Mark at Four Star he was inked again:
That same year son number two had ideas about getting inked with an image from the manga Fullmetal Alchemist.
The consultation with J took place at Four Star and he applied his skills (Left outer thigh):
In 2015 six family members got inked.
Since 2009 the whole family had been considering whether there was a tattoo that we would all be happy to don. In 2015, it turned out that the youngest one amongst us found the most promising solution.
My niece had done some research and found a viking symbol or rune with an inspiring meaning; create your own reality.
The simplicity of the design and the meaning inspired four of us to have it inked in varied sizes and in various locations.
The tat shown above on my niece's arm was done at Four Star by Scott.
Mark at Four Star did the one above for my brother.
Scott inked the rune and half-Zias pictured above for my oldest son.
So those are the four runes. Of the six family members that got tattoos in July 2015, four got the runes, and four got other tattoos. Not bad math, overlap!
My nephew got a tattoo that I promised would not appear on the Internet, so you will just have to imagine what that looks like. I think it was based on a symbol in a comic book. A wheel within a wheel, but I am afraid I may have already said too much!
My younger son got his second tattoo, this time going for the big dipper in a design he worked up himself, inked by Scott (inner right forearm):
My niece, who came up with the idea for the rune, chose to get some zodiac ink on her neck, also done by Scott.
My brother found a tree of life that he thought would settle in well on his left shoulder blade, which it did (inked by Mark);
Which brings us to the last tattoo, what I referred to before as the 'half-Zia'. To give some background on this one, it developed from a combination of the symbol on the New Mexico state flag which is called the Zia, and a concept I've kind of held since around 1984 (yeah, I'm THAT old) in which the equation 0=0 represents 'truth'.
As the original Zia symbol has four groups of four lines emanating from the center, I call this a half-Zia since there are only two lines in each group.
You've already seen how my son squeezed a 'half-Zia' between his two existing tats. Mine got inked by J into my right inner forearm as so;
So that's our family saga of regularly heading down to Four Star tattoo when we visit Santa Fe.
New tattoos have already been planned for our next visit, whether that is in 2017 or sooner. Two of us will get purple stars inked somewhere, one will get a phoenix, who knows what else will be done!
Whatever does happen, I'll surely do another blog to update the tale...
It all began with tranquillity in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA in 2002.
This is how my brother's 'tranquillity' tat looks thirteen years later, in 2015:
 |
| First tat in the family |
That's on his left shoulder.
So being the first one in the family to get inked (I still remember the phone calls with my mother. "Did you hear what your brother did?"), eventually he wanted to get another one.
In 2008 he got tat number two in Santa Fe, New Mexico at Four Star Tattoo.
His second tattoo, on his left wrist, was inspired by the lyrics of John Lennon's song 'Instant Karma',
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
And it looks like this (artist J. Green):
 |
| The second tat in the family shines on and on and on and on... |
Not long after that I was visiting the family in New Mexico and my oldest son expressed a burning desire to get a tattoo. The year was 2009, so he was 19. An adult. No parental permission required.
He also had the concept for the tattoo figured out; chain links with one broken to represent liberation.
The parental part of me sought to ensure that he was aware that the tattoo would be with him for many years to come, so it was not a decision to be taken lightly.
There was no indecision in his mind. So off to Four Star we went for a consultation.
At the tattoo shop we met the artist, J. Green, who had inked my brother, and he listened to my son's concept for the tattoo and went to work sketching up an image. We returned and now my son had his first tat (left wrist like his uncle!):
 |
| Tattoo: The next generation |
It was at the same time that my brother and my son came up with the idea that it would be cool if we all got the same tattoo. I liked the idea, the tough part would be deciding on a tat that we all liked. An initial idea was the kokopelli, a very well known symbol in Santa Fe. Not a bad idea, but we were not all in agreement yet.
In 2013 I again visited my family in Santa Fe with my two kids and my wife, and this time my son wanted a second tattoo. He had an idea about intertwined snakes and DNA, and after consulting with Mark at Four Star he was inked again:
 |
| Once bitten twice inked |
That same year son number two had ideas about getting inked with an image from the manga Fullmetal Alchemist.
The consultation with J took place at Four Star and he applied his skills (Left outer thigh):
 |
| Son number two gets a tat |
In 2015 six family members got inked.
Since 2009 the whole family had been considering whether there was a tattoo that we would all be happy to don. In 2015, it turned out that the youngest one amongst us found the most promising solution.
My niece had done some research and found a viking symbol or rune with an inspiring meaning; create your own reality.
The simplicity of the design and the meaning inspired four of us to have it inked in varied sizes and in various locations.
 |
| My niece's 'create your own reality' tat with matching nail polish |
The tat shown above on my niece's arm was done at Four Star by Scott.
 |
| My brother's rune tat, right wrist inside |
Mark at Four Star did the one above for my brother.
 |
| My rune tat, done by J, my first ink job. Inside left forearm. |
 |
| My oldest son's rune, left forearm, between his first two tattoos and above another new one (known as a half-Zia) that will be explained later... |
Scott inked the rune and half-Zias pictured above for my oldest son.
So those are the four runes. Of the six family members that got tattoos in July 2015, four got the runes, and four got other tattoos. Not bad math, overlap!
My nephew got a tattoo that I promised would not appear on the Internet, so you will just have to imagine what that looks like. I think it was based on a symbol in a comic book. A wheel within a wheel, but I am afraid I may have already said too much!
My younger son got his second tattoo, this time going for the big dipper in a design he worked up himself, inked by Scott (inner right forearm):
 |
| The big dipper in powder blue |
My niece, who came up with the idea for the rune, chose to get some zodiac ink on her neck, also done by Scott.
 |
| My niece and her zodiac tat |
My brother found a tree of life that he thought would settle in well on his left shoulder blade, which it did (inked by Mark);
 |
| The tree of life |
Which brings us to the last tattoo, what I referred to before as the 'half-Zia'. To give some background on this one, it developed from a combination of the symbol on the New Mexico state flag which is called the Zia, and a concept I've kind of held since around 1984 (yeah, I'm THAT old) in which the equation 0=0 represents 'truth'.
As the original Zia symbol has four groups of four lines emanating from the center, I call this a half-Zia since there are only two lines in each group.
You've already seen how my son squeezed a 'half-Zia' between his two existing tats. Mine got inked by J into my right inner forearm as so;
 |
| My half-Zia |
So that's our family saga of regularly heading down to Four Star tattoo when we visit Santa Fe.
New tattoos have already been planned for our next visit, whether that is in 2017 or sooner. Two of us will get purple stars inked somewhere, one will get a phoenix, who knows what else will be done!
Whatever does happen, I'll surely do another blog to update the tale...
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