title: Personal records from my tattoo parlour: deep emotions drawn as life-long pictures on the skin's canvas.
abstract: The author, who has been a professional tattooist for years, reports four individuals whose tragic life events led to decisions to be tattooed with illustrations of their life stories. The authors' personal experiences with tattooist-client interactions and clients' expectations and demands are reviewed. During the last decade, tattooing has moved in the direction of becoming more individualized and is often very personal. The working process and the intimacy between the client and tattooist create a comfort zone of trust and loyalty.
authors.affiliation: Independent Tattoo Artists, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Liz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kierstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008602:Mental Healing; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D013653:Tattooing / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult