Top Ten Best… Everything!

This won’t be a top ten list, because there weren’t 10 entries, but the entries we did receive were awesome. The judges had a tough time choosing and believe me, the numbers were close!

So, without further ado, here are the Top Ten Tattoo Contest Winners:

8. Jenn: Footprints Tattoo (we loved your story, but we couldn’t access the picture!)

Jenn describes the story behind her tattoo:

“My father is a minister and growing up my favorite poem had always been Footprints. It never really occured to me until a few years ago how much that poem and the meaning behind had helped me through so much in my life until my son and I were hours from any family and homeless. I’d already survived death threats from employees and my car being blown up in just the 4 months prior. As I sat there crying and wondering how I was going to get through yet another hard time I looked down and saw my son’s footprints in the mud. It reminded me of the poem and how I’d managed to stay alive and well this long because someone was watching out for me and ‘carrying’ me through the hard times. This tattoo reminds me how lucky I am even when I feel completely alone.”

7. Dawn: Ravens/Crows Tattoo

Dawn describes the meaning by her tattoo:

“The explanation behind it is that it’s a variation on German hex signs, which I think are a neat form of folk art. In my case, my last name means “bird” in German, and my ancestry is very German. I’m also terrified of birds, but these two “have my back.” The knotwork is because I wanted something quasi-Celtic (tiny bits of my ancestry that aren’t German are Irish), and if you look closely, you can see there’s a heart and a butterfly in the way the knotwork is shaped. My fiance designed that part of it for me. The star is my two favorite colors, and doesn’t have much meaning behind it, though originally I wanted it to be an 8-pointed star. It got drawn as a 6-pointed, and I didn’t notice it. Ah well. “

6. Keith: Sak Yant Buddhist Shaman Tattoo

Keith’s unique tattoo was applied with bamboo as opposed to a tattoo gun. Here, he describes the meaning behind it:

“My tattoo is a Sak Yant Buddhist Shaman tattoo. The tattoo is applied, not by a gun, but with a piece of bamboo with needles attached to the end. The tattoo artist then “pokes” you with the bamboo stick dipped in tattoo ink with the right amount of pressure to get to the layer of skin that will keep the ink.

The nine Spikes in the tattoo are called Yant Gao Yord ( Nine Spires Yanthra), Yanthra, or Yant, in Thai language, means a geometrical design with magical Powers to protect it’s wearer.The Nine Spires are actually Nine Buddhas with Nine sacred “Unaloem” (the squiggly spiral that shoots straight upwards above the Buddhas head. The buddha representation (of three oval shapes , one above the other), is called “Ongk Pra” (Monk Body).

These markings were a mix of Buddhist psalms and prayers, and shamanistic spells and sorcery that had survived the Religious transition from the pre-Buddhist era and been incorporated in the belief system of the newlyborn Buddhist countries. Since the days of King Nareswon, Thai soldiers have sought protection in the power of sak yant and the wearing and praying to of amulets.
Muay Thai Boxers (”Nak Muay”), also have a deep connection with sak yant tattoos. The art of Muay Thai was developed from the fighting arts developed by the warriors of Ancient times. As modernization and the industrial revolution arrived, the need for these fighting skills in war were no longer needed (we haved tanks and planes and cannons etc to do the job). As a result, the graceful fighting moves once used in real combat situations have developed into what is maybe one of the most graceful and also dangerous fighting sports on the planet.

I have been training in Muay Thai for 3 years now and i decided to get a tattoo while in Thailand. The tattoo took almost 4 hours.”

5.  Tara: Stars and Smoke Tattoo

Here’s what Tara says about her tattoo:

“This tattoo, to me, has a few meanings, it’s kind of a self portrait in art. One is simple, my name… Tara, means “star” in Sanskrit

The other is the stars coming through the smoke… showing the good (bright stars) coming out and conquering the bad (dark smoke). The reason there are so many stars is because they all symbolize all of the hard things I have been through in my life.”

4. Rissa: Hummingbird Tattoo

Click here for a link to a picture of Rissa’s tattoo, and here is the inspirational, goosebump worthy story behind her tattoo.

3. Tawnia: Tattoo Memorial to Her Grandfather

Tawnia talks about the symbolizm behind her tattoo:

“This one is for my grandpa Ted, whom I named my 1st son after. He is represented by the whale and I by the dolphin. I love marine life and he happened to have been the art director at Sea World for a number of years. We didn’t get to see each other very often but we had this incredible bond. He was one of those people who, when you met him, instantly loved him. He was so magnetic! He made everyone feel welcome, no matter what walk of life they came from. He died, also after being in a coma for a short time, 6 months after I lost my mom. 4 months before losing my mom I had also lost a baby in early pregnancy. During the time that pregnancy lasted, he was so supportive of me and the father. He was such an inventive, talented and amazing, wise and caring person I had to memorialize him on my body and show how special he is to me!”

2. Reb: Tribute to Her Brother and His Spirit Tattoo

Reb’s tattoo was inspired by her brother. Here’s how she describes the symbolism behind her tattoo:

“My brother passed away in 2001. We were very close and I still miss him terribly. I chose a sparrow because of the symbolism that dates back to Ancient Egypt. It is said that the sparrows are like the stars and when someone passes, the sparrow captures their spirit and that person is still “living” on. I also chose Japenese Cherry Blossoms that symbolize the circle of life. Even when we are feeling sad and experiencing grief, new life is created and born and little pieces of those that have died in our families, live on in the new faces.”

And finally, our winner is…

1. Tawnia: Memorial to Her Mother Tattoo

Tawnia talks about the heartbreaking, yet loving story behind her tattoo:

“I got this tat as a memorial to my mom who passed away in 1995 when I was only 17. I chose to have the portrait based on a high school pic of her, before her life got hectic, complicated and painful. She had been beaten, abused, and used starting with her first husband. Because of this man, she had to have brain surgery at 19. I was born when she was 23 despite her docs saying she couldn’t conceive. As the years went on we found out she was epileptic, bi-polar (which means she was suicidal at times) and used meth to self medicate. There were times when I had to call and beg family for a loaf of bread so we could eat. There were times she had to send me to live with someone else because she couldn’t support me. There were times I wished she were dead because of the hell of living with a drug addict. But, she was my mom and I love her. We had a rocky relationship but we always loved each other. After she died, she was cremated. To make it a little more unique, a small bit of her ashes was mixed into the ink of the tattoo.”

Thank you to everyone who entered, and congrats to Tawnia for winning The Top Ten Tattoo Contest!