The first one was Robert – a friend of Kat whose son, Allan, had died 11 years previously and Robert was finally ready to memorialize him with a tattoo. Kat did a portrait of Allan’s face, which was a particular challenge because he wore glasses.
Melody – the girl who got the pinup mermaid in memory of her dad. Her father was a sailor and would tell her stories of how the mermaids would lure the lonely sailors. Kat commented how she likes to add white highlights to black ink tattoos to add extra shine.
John and Gail – their baby died on her first day of being born. The doctors had told them there was a good possibility of brain damage, but they decided to leave it in God’s hands. So, they also chose a tattoo of hands holding their angel baby and the words “In God’s Hands” in script above the tattoo. Yoji, a new father himself, was particularly emotional about this tattoo.
Carolina – Darren’s wife. As a birthday present, Darren arranged to have Kat give Carolina a tattoo of the Virgin Mary. Kat really likes doing Catholic religious art and was excited about the project – until she got started and realized Carolina was going to be a crybaby through the whole thing. Kat thinks she was probably just faking most of it for attention. Kat gets really stressed out when people are in pain and she was really glad when this tattoo was finished – and so was Carolina. Her tears were replaced with smiles.
Alanna and Jessica – their friend and close family member, Devon Adair, died February 7, 2002, after falling asleep at the wheel. Alanna got a shooting star on the inside of her ankle, and Jessica got a sacred heart with wings. Kat added heavier lines and shading to the sacred heart to give it a more 3-D, bubbly look.
Ryan – the guy with the really big white sunglasses who was in a car accident and had been declared clinically dead for 20 minutes by paramedics, and as the bag was being closed over his head, he miraculously popped out of it. His mother had brought him a candle with a picture of “Our Lady of Guadalupe” (Virgin Mary) and he decided to have her tattooed on his side.
Oliver – Kat’s husband. He was visiting Miami Ink to see Kat and got some ink from her while he was there. He’s pretty well covered and doesn’t have much room left, but there was a nice spot at the back of his upper thigh. This sensitive area turned Oliver into almost as much of a crybaby as Carolina. Kat calls him a Drama Queen. She explains that they met in December and eloped in March, which didn’t go over well with the parents.
Josh – got an M.C. Escher tattoo to remind him of his sobriety. This tattoo was quite large and Kat didn’t feel like taking any breaks, so Josh was in a lot of pain towards the end of the tattoo. And then Kat says that she was stressed because he was fidgeting so much.
Last but not least – John – the father of Elise, the beautiful little girl with Tay-Sachs disease. John got a portrait tattoo of Elise sleeping on his chest, which was where she is always the most peaceful. Tay-Sachs is a terminal, but preventable, disease. For more information, visit The National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association
