
"About three years ago, this buddy of mine told me there was this guy who was doing his apprenticeship and he needed some clients. He had a good-sized portfolio, but I still felt a little like a guinea pig…
Though the spirit of the tattoo is very meaningful to me, I didn’t tell him much when it came to design. I just said I wanted a tribal design on the back of my neck.
He did the tattoo in his living room, and drew out the picture then and there. I decided I wanted the edges to done in a kind of ink that glows in black light. At that time it was not considered totally safe, so I only had a little of it done. Now that you can get safer black light ink, I’m going to get more of it filled in.
The tribal theme stems from my heritage. I am Spanish, Sicilian and Apache. My family is very close, particularly my father and I. He showed me many Apache traditions as I grew up. For example, when I first killed a deer, my father told me to taste the animal’s blood, and eat a bit of its heart. This was to show respect for the animal. The heart is where the Apaches believe a being’s strength is kept. By having a piece of the heart, my father showed me how to respect the strength of the deer and to honor it."
