tree tattoo backpiece

*Tattoo done by Durb [link]*

Click [link] to see the second view of the back
Click [link] to see the front
Click [link] to see the first session video

Alrighty. She's FINALLY done! After over 2½ years and over 100 hours of work... DONE! It's hard to believe. But it is finally done. I'd grown so used to my monthly trips to the shop. I'd seen a lot go down in those 2½ years. I imagine some people might be curious so I shall explain the significance of this tattoo....

So originally it started out as me knowing I wanted a tattoo, and being pretty sure I wanted it on my back, but then not knowing what I wanted… So I started thinking… What would be something I’d want on me forever… I came up with a couple ideas. Mostly geometric type things. But they didn’t strike a chord or anything. I don’t exactly remember how I came up with it, but eventually I thought of a “tree” and it just clicked. At the time the reasoning was just because I really liked trees mostly. My name means tree. I loved climbing trees. And I just like nature in general really. It was something that I have always liked. And so that kind of had a couple months to sink in.

After a couple months I still liked the idea of a tree and started doing some sketches… This is when I really got serious about it. I happened to be reading a book at the time, and this is where the true and current meaning of the tree really comes in to play. The book was "Jungian Archetypes" by Robin Robertson, which is a really great book, by the way. Anyways, in the book it talks about a 14th century alchemical illustration in which a man is shot in the side with an arrow and a tree grows from his genital region…. The arrow represents some sort of pain or trauma. The man is forced turn on himself, acknowledging this arrow, and through that he is then able to access his anima (A Jungian concept) which is represented by the tree. The anima is the generally repressed feminine characteristics in a male (while the animus is the generally repressed masculine characteristics in a female). So for instance, sensitivity, creativity, passion. These sorts of things. So to make a long story short, essentially, this tattoo is a memorial for my mom and the acknowledgment of who I am as an artist, and what I’ve gone through to get to where I am.

I have a vivid memory of my dad explaining how my mom is buried under a tree, and how they specifically picked that spot so it could give her shade in the summers and provide shelter from the snow and rain...

I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out...

* I have given permission to *Full-Back-Tat to post this tattoo in their club. They've got some nice work in there. Check it out...