[studiosugarlove]

My Tattoo Diary

I currently have five tattoos, all flower or insect related, a theme I never intended but seems to have developed naturally. It was time to get another one recently, and this time it was to be my second largest. I contacted my favourite tattoo Artist, Jade Chanel (https://www.instagram.com/jadechanelp/), asked for two large delicate, peonies, and booked an appointment.

Jade’s work is perfect for the female body, she has worked on men, but most of her clients are women due to her feminine style and precision to detail, exactly what I was looking for.

I currently have five tattoos, all flower or insect related, a theme I never intended but seems to have developed naturally. It was time to get another one recently, and this time it was to be my second largest. I contacted my favourite tattoo Artist, Jade Chanel (https://www.instagram.com/jadechanelp/), asked for two large delicate, peonies, and booked an appointment.Jade’s work is perfect for the female body, she has worked on men, but most of her clients are women due to her feminine style and precision to detail, exactly what I was looking for.

When you enter a tattoo shop for your booking, you will be handed a form to write in your details, tattoo, cost and any health issues you may have. You’re also asked how long it is since you last ate, which is extremely important. Not only may you be sat in pain AND hungry, but if you may feel a bit faint if your body is going through this distressing process with no energy in your belly.

The next step is the stencil. A word of warning, most reputable artists with a style tend not to show you the design till you meet them on the day. If you’re going to an artist, you should trust their style, however it is understandable to be anxious, especially for your first tattoo.

5:45pm: Jade scanned through her design on transfer paper and placed it on my bicep. I wanted the flowers to peek around the front a little and wrap around my arm, perfect! It was at this point when we both realised how close the design was to the delicate skin of my armpit, I was not prepared for this.

Time to begin! Jade started with the outline of the bottom peony. Every time I get a tattoo I forget the pain, it definitely depends on where you get it done on your body. The outline was bearable, yet still pretty painful on my scrawny arms.

The atmosphere in the studio helped take my mind off the pain, loud music, people watching outside, and speaking with Jade.

6:45: Once the entire outline was done (basically all the purple areas of the stencil), Jade changed her needle for a thinner one to work on the detail. Now this is where I am going to be brutally honest, the pain was pretty bad, especially as she got closer to my armpit. I tried a lot of things to take my mind off the pain including:

Waggling my toes

Rubbing my feet together

Digging my left hand thumbnail into my finger to confuse my brain on the pain (this worked!)

Counting the ceiling tiles

Moaning to Jade about the pain (this didn’t work)

During this painful session I had to keep remembering Jade’s attention to detail is why I absolutely adore her work and want it on my skin. Every tiny painful stroke of the needle was worth it, I really am so honoured to have such a beautiful design on me.

8:30: Fini! We both took some pictures of the finished tattoo, and I literally couldn’t hide how ecstatic I was with it. Jade put a vitamin gel over my tattoo and then loosely wrapped my arm in clingfilm to protect it.

I got three sachets of the vitamin gel to apply myself, whenever my tattoo looks or feels slightly dry. I have been lazy in the past with aftercare, and so the dry tattoo has scabbed over and unfortunately some ink does fall out. But I refuse to let anything ruin this beautiful work so I will make sure she is all goo’d up 24/7!

Before I went to bed that evening, I washed, applied my vitamin goo and wore a loose t - shirt to bed to ensure my arm got all the air it needed.

Middle of the night: Unfortunately sleeping Shannon has no perception of her new tattoo and rolled onto it, resulting in a painful wake up.

Morning: Goo’ed up, time to swagger into work and show off my tattoo…and slightly swollen arm. It looked a little red in the morning, but I did receive a lot of compliments from my colleagues who noticed the addition.

Someone said it looked slightly purple, at that point I felt like Violet Beauregarde and shuffled back to my desk.

Two days into my new tattoo, the lines are 3D ridges as they scab and heal. Still painful when it is touched with fingers, but it no longer hurts wearing something long sleeves.

I will update in a few weeks once the healing process is completed!

S x

To see more from Jade: https://www.instagram.com/jadechanelp/

[studiosugarlove]

Begin.

TO START this simply, I will introduce myself. Shannon Lane, 21, previously a freelance artist - now journalist. I live in Camden.

I had been a freelance artist since I was 18, I use that term lightly, because I wasn’t selling artwork till I was in my 20s, so not long ago. I have been exhibiting for this entire time, around London, and curating exhibitions. At one point, I was the curator for gallery in Hackney Wick.

I had learnt a lot from networking, meeting other artists and curators, and I even reached a point where I was selling work regularly, however I couldn’t shake off this feeling that something was lacking from my life.

This got to the point where I fell into depression and severe anxiety, we’re talking not long ago - October 2015 - this is when I saw the light at the end of this, self absorbed, anxiety ridden tunnel.

You see, as an independent artist, I was very alone.

My branding, social media, networking, is all done by me, for me. I was looking at myself 24/ 7. I began creating work that I needed to sell, which consequently caused me to force ideas. I was analysing my ‘vibe’ too much, from my appearance, to how I came across to new people. I know this is a normal thing to go through, especially as you mature into an adult, but this loneliness and self obsession was digging a hole of which I couldn’t escape, and I was the only one creating it.

Here comes the part which you wouldn’t ever be able to guess. On the 15th December, English astronaut Tim Peake went on his mission to the international space station. Watching his launch, I remembered being at school studying physics, planning to be an aero physicist.

On that day in December, as an adult woman, I cried to my mum about how I wanted to be an astronaut.

The point here wasn’t that I wanted to be on the Soyuz rocket on the way to the ISS, but that my life was on track to be a self absorbed, thin layer, based on my artistic skill (jack of all trades, master of none). I’d forgotten that originally somewhere down the line, before I failed my physics A Level, that I wanted to ‘make a difference’ (ouch cliche).

April 2016, four months later, I joined a company called Barcroft Media and began my career as a journalist.

I am still an artist - it’s right in the core of my being to be creative, however without that pressure comes freedom.

That freedom is this blog.

Hi.