Flames!!

Yes it's true, I have been craving flames for a long time. I love my torches, my sweet little workhorse of a Nortel Minor and my swanky little Blazer torch. A wood fire in the fireplace, a driftwood fire on the beach, a pile of fragrant autumn leaves to burn, beeswax candles, even lighting a stick of incense is a pleasure! Today was the day I acquired some perma-flames!
I won't go into the details of the inner symbolism and personal meaning of these tattoos, suffice to say they are the right symbol at the right time.
When in town I live in an absolutely wonderful 3 storey walk-up apartment building dating from 1932. Not only is the building great, it's full of interesting people! Turnover in this building is very low, it's so great people don't leave! My neighbour Anthony is a fantastic painter, sculptor, theatrical make-up artist, and a tattoo artist as well...so I gave him a call!
Take a peek at some of his work. It's really amazing!

Here is the friendly face of Lindsey at the front counter of True Love.

Anthony's cozy corner!

And the lovely and talented Anthony himself!

Deciding on placement...after choosing from the 30 or so samples Anthony drew up just for me! He admitted he got a little carried away with the drawings! Each one was perfect in it's own way and each one was a little different. The clouds were drawn to match the work on my shoulders and chest.
Stencilled!
Clouds shaded and flames outlined:

Both outlines done:

Completed! The clouds will be much paler when healed, they were done with a more transparent ink. Anthony has a particularly light touch but it's normal for the skin to redden up a bit. This will be gone in a few days.

Look at my big goofy grin! Heheheh!

It was a great experience. The shop is immaculate, the staff very friendly and it just has a nice relaxed mellow happy atmosphere. The calibre of art is very high, with an emphasis on custom design. I give it my five-flame rating!

I'm sending out good travel thoughts and bon voyage wishes to two travelling friends...Gail is off to Paris today, and Marilyn is on her way to Turkey. May your planes be on time and all go smoothly! Isn't is amazing, when you think of it, how easy travel is for us? I know, I know, there are lots of niggling annoyances...line-ups at the airport and lost luggage and obnoxious seat mates (not to mention airplane food) but when you think of how travel was even 50 or so years ago...well, I am quite pleased to live in a time in which I could be half way around the world in less than 24 hours.

So and I are off to the Bead Oasis Show in Toronto tomorrow morning. I'll get my set-up done and then we'll head over to Little India for wonderful vegetarian food and a browse through the colors and scents of the shops. The show opens on Friday and runs until Sunday, please stop by and say Hello!!