... after the final session with harry at flamin' eight to complete the eclipse tattoo. photoset here.
the part that hurt most was the top end of the line at the base of my neck - not nice. after that was the line on my forearm, surprisingly - i was feeling it in my fingertips. it also hurts when harry goes back over freshly tattooed parts to perfect them. and then it's really sore afterwards on the way home.
the genesis of this tattoo is in the total solar eclipse of 11th august 1999. as a child in the late 60s i had an astronomy book which showed the paths of all the total eclipses to the end of the century. the 1999 eclipse was the only one that would be total in britain - the path just crossing the end of cornwall [the only one to cross britain in my lifetime - the previous one was 1927, the next will be 2081]. in 1969 1999 seemed a mythical date, far in the future, and i wondered if i would be in cornwall to see it. and i was - almost accidentally, i hadn't intended to go after warnings that cornwall would be booked out, but i went down on impulse anyway. it was strange and astonishing to stand on the headland at st ives, knowing that i was on the line in my childhood book. and it seemed to me that my life to that point had had the shape of an eclipse, from a sunny childhood through many dark years and up again, and that the eclipse closed the door on those years.
[pause to mop tattoo gunk leaking out of clingfilm on arm]
i thought of having a tattoo immediately, but i couldn't nail the design. meanwhile i did the labyrinth tattoo as a smallish try-out to see how i felt. on a second visit to st ives in 2002 i saw work by local artist sir terry frost which seemed to me full of suns and eclipses - this gave me my idiom, but frost died before i could ask him for a design ;) and it went through various half-finished forms until this spring when i decided i had to get it done.
obviously a key feature of the tattoo is the line from wrist to neck, which resembles the thick black eclipse-path on my childhood map. the one thing you can't see from the final photo is its starting point. above my wrist are some dark freckles which curiously i have had since the time of the astronomy book, 68 or 69. now they have a circle drawn round them to make a solar disk with sun-spots.
very nice. been thinking about the one i want to get and how i should get it before i do the live show i'm working on (whenever that will be).
Posted by: Daniel | June 17, 2007 at 12:54 AM
that means it will be visible during the live show [so the tattoo could be anywhere depending on what kind of live show it is ;)]. so the kind of tattoo is part of how you wish to present yourself [arachnids or flowers]?
Posted by: steve collins | June 17, 2007 at 01:25 PM
Steve
Hail to the Dark Arts of Kentish Town!
I am intruiged and will wait patiently under this thorn tree for the full significance of this to be made known.
Posted by: nic paton | June 18, 2007 at 03:18 PM
@Steve: forearm. Right arm is the only place I've ever considered getting inked. As for "before the show," only because the tattoo and the show are both concerning love.
As for arachnids or flowers: the latter, certainly...albeit singular. The former is a very intriguing idea, though. Will be considering both now.
Posted by: Daniel | June 21, 2007 at 06:00 AM
given your love life the arachnid should be inside the flower ;)
Posted by: steve collins | June 21, 2007 at 08:02 PM
HA! True!
Posted by: Daniel Miller | July 08, 2007 at 10:28 PM