Art to carry with me for ever...

I have a happy secret to share with you...

A while ago we did a fabric round robin with the Sweet Sistersgroup and Zoë's book was titled : " I wish I listened to my mother"...

What did my mother say or do that I will carry with me my whole life ? 

Pondering about it, I came to the conclusion that I had a warm nest to grow up in although my mom was a widow with two small children. She was quite severe, but also did give me and my sister a lot of freedom to develop ourselves.

A few years ago I found a little musicbox with the quote : " give sturdy roots to little children, give wings to bigger children" and this quote immediately spoke to me.

That's what my mom did for me and this is also my lifequote...

I made my pages for Zoë around this quote and I gave my daughter Gaia dragonwings ( fairywings are a bit too cute for her.... Her personality needs stronger wings :)

I tried to give my children a good base in life and now they are flying out.

This is also something I want to give my handicapped children of my Poppyclass : give them trust, give them sturdy roots, but also give them little wings to become who they are with the posibilities they have.

I also try to do this with the people surrounding me : family, friends, collegues, people I meet in life .... give them wings...

Life hasn't always been sweet and we had our sorrows : I lost two fathers and my only sister, I have a son with autism ( who is a treasure :), I have a body that doesn't always behave very well because of fybromyalgy and backproblems,... but I try to stay positive in life. 

My other life quote is to "enjoy life everyday".

So, I try to give myself wings everyday and try the same with the others.

"Now what's the secret ? " I can hear you think...

Well, I'm wearing my lifequote on my body for the rest of my life ...:)

I've always loved tattoos, but as a teacher this is not so "allowed" to have, although times are changing.

When Gaia got her second tattoo done by tattoo-artist Jenzie, I knew the time has come. I loved the detailed work of Jenzie.

In the meantime I had become 45 years old and I thought I was finally old enough to decide for myself and have a tattoo: I don't need permission of anybody.... It's my body and it's my life...

I waited for so long, so I wanted it all in one big tattoo.

The tattoo starts on the side of my shoulder and runs over my back to my neck where my lifequote is tattooed.

Every image in the tatoo has it's meaning...

The tree on my shoulder almost makes a circle. I love circles and rounds...

Life is a constant circle of death and (re)birth.

The tree represents this life. In winter you think the tree has died, but then in spring... flowers are growing from the bare branches.

The little flowerchild represents my love for children. My own children, but also the children I raise and care for in my Poppyclass.

The flowerchild is a design of Mary Cecily Barker , a watercolorartist who lived in the beginning of 1900 and who's paintings and drawings in her books I cherish for decades.

The child is a "two year old" : I love this age. They are still innocent, but their character starts showing through. She's still close to the tree and the sturdy roots, but she's already getting little wings.

" your children are not your children" said the poët Kahlil Gibran " they come through you, but you don't own them"... ( his poem in Dutch you can find here ). I want to raise children according to his poem. 

So, give them wings...

It's a fairy... cause fantasy colors my life since I was born. Fairies, gnomes, witches, lord of the rings, ... anything fantasy inspires me.

The circle of the tree was also inspired by this image of Emily the Strange, a comiccharacter I like.

This image is painted on the wall of my daughter's bedroom...

What I especially wanted on my body for ever, are the names of my children : Freek, Aran and Gaia.

My branches reach out for them, but also give them a lift to fly out.

Who also couldn't be absent is a cat... 

We have six cats in our home and I couldn't miss any of them. They all have their personalities and they color our life a lot.

Six cats tattooed would be a bit too much, so this cat represents my love for cats.

The cat is inspired by the cats of Steinlen ( 1859-1923), a French artist I love a lot too. I own several books of him and images that decorate my house...

I have my tattoo for months now and I'm still happy I finally decided to have "Art on my body". 

Mostly it's not visible cause it's covered by clothes, but I know it's there and I 'm happy about it.

To my joy I discovered on thursday France Papillon, a Belgian artist I like, had her first tatoo too : a butterfly with inkstains.( Papillon is French for butterfly) It's awesome ! 

I commented on her photo on facebook about my first tattoo on my 45 th and Lorraine Parkinson (Grannypoppy) commented also : she has been a teacher too and had her first tatoo on her 55 th ! 

Now I know I'm not the only happy creative person with Art on her body ! :)

Inge