Missy Wilkinson

I write stuff about things.

  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact

Apr 03

Sibling tattoos: the pilgrimage to Portland

Apr 03

I‘ve already raved on this here blog about my sister Laura and how great she is. Among her many virtues: she is a tattoo collector with refined taste. I pretty much want to steal every tattoo she has. So it was part ink envy and part urge for sister bonding that led me to suggest we get matching tatts.

Laura was hesitant at first. It’s a challenge to get matching tattoos…we’d have to agree on a design, artist and body part. Then we’d have to get to the same tattoo shop, even though she lives in Rochester, New York and I live in New Orleans, Louisiana.

But I wore her down. And we built an entire trip around our tattoo adventure.

Laura is a meticulous tattoo researcher. She also has a policy of only being tattooed by female artists. She found a tattooer who did freaking amazing roses, was accepting new clients and seemed really nice. So we put down deposits, booked plane tickets and went to Portland, Oregon to get our sister tattoos done by D’Lacie Jeanne of Optic Nerve Arts Tattoo.

D’Lacie greeted us with sketches of four possible roses. After hashing out the finer details, it was needle time. I volunteered to go first, because I’d been marinating my shoulder all morning under a thick coat of Dr. Numb. If you’re planning on getting tattooed, do yourself a favor and get Dr. Numb. Spread that shit on thick, until it’s almost opaque white, like a cake’s icing. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let the doctor work for two hours. Unless you like gratuitous pain, in which case, maybe you should also munch some habanero peppers during your appointment.

“Pain is weakness leaving the body,” Laura reminded me.

“Sometimes pain is needles entering the body,” I said. “Again and again … for hours.”

Anyway. Here’s the sketch and color inspiration we decided on. See D’Lacie filling up a tiny cup with red ink?

roses copy

We started a little before 1 p.m. and the tattoo took about three hours. It was rough at points. The worst part was when we were ALMOST finished, and I kept thinking, “I’m not even halfway done.” Because I was coming back for rose number two the next day.

me getting tatted

Then it was Laura’s turn. I got nauseated and threw up after my session was over, which had never happened to me before, but D’Lacie said it’s not an uncommon reaction. Laura, however, sat like a champ.

laura

By 7 p.m., we were both very pleased with our roses. Perhaps a little too pleased, because we couldn’t stop talking about how great they looked over beers and grilled cheese sandwiches at StormBreaker Brewing, which must have made for dull dinner conversation for our lovely and gracious host Rebecca. If she got tired of listening to us gloat, she didn’t let on. (REBECCA IS THE BEST.)

laura admires

Sunday, I had a hearty brunch with Laura and Rebecca at Pine State Biscuits and then got rose number two. I have never sat on back-to-back days, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The roses took, total, about 6.5 hours. I’m glad to know I can handle sitting for that long, because it opens up an array of tattoo options. I don’t have to be limited to New Orleans tattoo artists (not that they aren’t talented and fantastic).  I might plan all my future trip destinations around artists I’d like to be tattooed by.

Here I am post tattoo session, a little shellshocked but very happy with the end result.

me after both

Here’s me and Laura with our matching sister tattoos. I am grateful for D’Lacie for sharing her incredible talent and being such an all-around wonderful person to spend time with. And I feel super lucky to have an awesome sister who’s down for sibling tattoos. Now every time I look at my shoulders, I’ll remember just how lucky I am.

siss

signature

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Posted by Missy 4 Comments
Filed Under: Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Megan Braden-Perry says

    Apr 03 at 12:40 am

    These look great! Sorry you threw up, by the way. And hey I like this cat-deer lady!

    Reply
  2. Missy says

    Apr 03 at 1:28 am

    I love the cat deer woman! She was designed by one of my Airbnbers, a graphic designer from Israel named Hagar. Talented lady.

    Reply
  3. Melanie Page says

    Apr 06 at 4:27 pm

    Did your sister get a rose on each shoulder as well?

    Reply
    • Missy says

      Apr 07 at 3:37 pm

      She just got a rose on one shoulder. The other shoulder is already colonized by a hummingbird and a different flower.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mostly writing, sometimes dancing, always scooping up random cats.

Search

Archives

  • August 2021
  • October 2019
  • March 2019
  • December 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014

designed by: Fastwebdevelopers

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.