If you know me at all, you know tattoos cover a lot of my skin. Many of my tattoos are centered around family and memories of childhood. This one in particular is inspired by a photo I love of my grandmother, Olive. I am just so enamored by this woman. She is the kind of grandma that everyone needs. She’s often trying to feed me immediately as I walk in the door to visit her. She loves big. And she accepts and adores you precisely as you are. I will forever be grateful for this amazing human that I’ve gotten to share my entire life with.

In this photo, she was around 27 years old and was at a lake in Wisconsin. I’d had this idea for a while, wanting to make it into a tattoo and it finally came to life! I gave Steve, the tattoo artist, my ideas and the original photo for inspiration.

When I walked into the shop on tattoo day a couple months later, it made me emotional seeing it drawn out so beautifully. I wanted roses around the frame since my grandmother has always been a gardener and loves flowers. I chose the sailor’s rope for the frame since she was sitting on a beach. After all was finished, I drove straight to grandma’s house to show her. She giggled and said “Well I guess I’m with you forever now”.

Tattoo Shop: Steve at Southside Tattoo