When I was growing up I never thought I would get a tattoo, but now I am so happy that I did. The tattoo I got has so much meaning to me. I love hummingbirds and so do many people in my family. My dad passed away August of 2016 from cancer, while he was sick he would have a hummingbird visit his hospital room everyday and each time it made his days so much better.
I knew that I wanted an all black tattoo and for sure that I wanted a hummingbird, that part was obvious. I also wanted some flowers in the shape of a moon. So, why not combine the two? I found an artist that works out of his house that I had had some friends go to and loved his work. I contacted him, and he made up a drawing with my specifications "I want a hummingbird drinking out of flowers in the shape of a moon, I want there to be three flowers that are the same and grouped together and other than that, have fun" and he came up with the perfect sketch, first try.
The appointment was booked quickly and I couldn't have been more excited. The night before I didn't get much sleep. I was worried about the pain (I was getting my first tattoo on my ribs...) but I was so excited for this to be apart of me. I woke up and had a busy day before the appointment, school, a meeting about internships and then a quick sprint to get to the appointment on time. I brought a friend with me for moral support. Picked him up and on our way we went. We got to the house and it was such a cute little place. The artist, whose name is Stacy, had two adorable cats that I enjoyed playing with very much. We decided on a size, and placement and then the time came for the process to begin. Stacy cleaned the area and set up his equipment taking everything out of fresh packaging.
We talked briefly about how it was my first tattoo and how it was going to be on my ribs and what to expect. Lets just say nothing was sugar coated. I really appreciated it! No one wants to be told it's "just going to be a pinch" and it ends up to be a stab. Stacy was very relaxing, he got me to lay on the table and positioned me the way that was best. I had to have my arm lifted which was really fortunate because there was a head rest right above me that I held onto and when it really started to hurt I just had something to squeeze. It took about 45 minutes, during which I almost fell asleep. Well, I almost fell asleep as he was doing the lines, when it got into the shading I was most certainly awake, that hurt a bunch.
He told me how to care for it, put a clear bandage over it and gave me another one for the next day and I was sent on my way. It was an amazing experience, extremely professional and I would highly recommend him as an artist in the Vancouver area. You can find him on instagram @unclegabes
Watch my experience here!
xoxo