JoJo's Body Art

Q1. Where did you get your first tattoo and do you know by who?

A. After spending almost 10 years debating about getting tattooed my boyfriend finally got sick of hearing about it so he took me to Ancient Art Tattoos in Roanoke Virginia . The tattooist was Mark Green.

Q2. What was going through your mind when you got your first tattoo?

A. That’s sort of a loaded question (lol), sort of like ‘What’s the last thing to go through a bug’s head just before it hits your windshield?’

Actually there were two things that were going through my head at the time. The first thing was that I had always wanted to add something permanent to my body, something original and something that made a statement unique to me.

The second thing that was going through my mind was how light headed I was because I was about to pass out. It had nothing to do with the pain, actually it didn’t really hurt at all, but no one had bothered to tell me that I should eat something before getting a tattoo. My boyfriend ran out and got me a candy bar and a soda pop and once I had some sugar in my system I was just fine.

Just a quick reminder to anyone going for their first tattoo – eat something just before you go!

Q3. Is there a meaning behind your first tattoo and what is it if you care to share?

A. As you can see from my picture's I am really into dragons and have been since I was young. Naturally my first tattoo had to be a dragon, this little fellow right here on my left shoulder.

Now, for the meaning, well it’s a little mushy but I had finally met a guy that I really loved and we had just moved in together about a month before. The dragon tattoo is there to protect both of us and to show the bond between us. And believe it or not it worked, we were later married and we have been happily together ever since. Secretly this is my most precious tattoo.

 

Q4. What is your favorite tattoo, where is it and why?

A. I would say that I have two favorite tattoos.

First off there’s my Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on my left hip. The detail that is in the work is incredible. We took it a step further than just going with the normal picture. We found a wood etching done in about the 17^th century and reworked it. Just for fun we changed the horsemen a bit, they are all Punk, complete with Mohawk style hair.

My other favorite tattoo is of Eddy, the Iron Maiden mascot, incorporated into my sleeve on my left arm. Eddy has always been one of my favorite characters so I had to have him added in ink.

 

Q5. What advice can you give people who are looking to get ink for the first time?

A. hahaha – eat something first! Sorry, just being a little silly here.

I guess my advice to someone thinking about their first tattoo would be to think long and hard. Don’t just walk into some place and grab some ‘flash’ off of the wall – THINK! – it’s going to be on your body for the rest of your life.

I have a drawing at home on my office wall done by Norman Rockwell of a tattooist doing a touch-up on a sailor’s shoulder tattoo. The tattoo reads something like ‘I love Julie (crossed out), Mary (crossed out), Barbara (crossed out) and so on. Here’s a guy that just didn’t think his tattoo through.

The other thing I would tell someone is to check out the tattooist, see their work, check out the studio, talk to people. There are so many good tattooists out there, don’t settle for some hack.

 

Q6. What is your inspiration behind your body art?

A. My inspiration? That’s a tough question. I think that my body art is a collection of things that have inner meanings for me. Some meanings are more apparent like having Eddy, the Iron Maiden mascot on my arm. I like Iron Maiden’s music so Eddy is simply my tribute to the band. Some of the meanings are really quite obscure and are almost impossible to put into words.

Q7. What would you say was your most memorable piece getting?

A. I have two very memorably pieces. There’s the sun around my belly button that remains unfinished because it just hurt too much. I couldn’t believe that this little piece could be so painful. I guess I should clarify this by saying that it’s not the area around the belly button that hurt, it’s the area inside the belly button that caused all the problem. I actually had 2 guys literally sitting on me to hold me down while the tattooist was working.

The other really memorable piece is the dragon on the side of my head over my left ear. This piece went on with absolutely no problem and with really no pain at all. What makes it memorable is it’s the first tattoo that most people comment on. They seem to think that it would have been the most painful of all of my ink. It’s a great conversation starter!

 

Q8. Do you have any new ideas for any more work lined up?

A. Hahaha – I have so much more ink that I want. I have tons of ideas and I’m always getting more ideas.

 

One of the big problems for me is that I am a professional model and I work all over North America and Europe . I am always meeting new people and new models and falling in love with their style of ink. I met another model just the other day in Amsterdam that has the most fantastic chest piece. I have never seen anything like it in North America and it has caused me to totally rethink the chest piece that I have been thinking about for the last 2 years. I spent almost 6 hours during my flight back to the US drawing my new chest piece using some of those ideas. Now comes the really big problem, finding a tattooist here in the US that can do the job.

 

Q9. Who was your favorite artist that has tattooed you? Plus what did they do.

A. That’s not really a fair question. There are a couple of artists that shall remain nameless that I wouldn’t go back to. But they are far outweighed by the number of really good artists that I would go back to at the drop of a hat.

 

I guess if I had to make a list in no order whatsoever it would include,

- Reno (I have no idea where he is now) for the dragon on my right hip

- Roger (I have no idea where he is now) for the Four Horsemen on my left hip

- Shane of Toronto for the two dragons on my chest

- Eddy for the oriental dragon and phoenix on my forearms

 

Q10. Do you like staying with one artist or do you like trying to go to new artist each time?

A. I like to stay with the same artist to maintain the continuity of his/her style. But then I like to have different artists because it broadens the styles and accentuates each different style.

 

Q11. Do you believe tattoos are addictive? Why do you like getting tattooed?

A. Addictive, yes but not like drug addiction. Tattoos are a fun addiction. It’s more addictive in the way of Chinese food – an hour after you get a tattoo you want another.

 

 

Q12. When would you say you like getting tattooed the most is it at a certain time in your life or when you get that itch to get one done.

A. I have that itch right now and I carry a sketch book that’s full of drawings of tattoos that I am going to get. For me it’s a little more difficult. You have to remember that I am a professional model and as such I can’t show up at a photo shoot with a half finished tattoo.

 

For example if I were to start my chest piece today with the outlining it would take a week or so to heal before the shading could be done. Then I would need another week or so for that to heal and then another week or so for the excess ink to come out so that the new tattoo would blend in with my other ink. So there goes a month to six weeks that I would be sidelined from modeling.

 

With my schedule, I’m heavily booked for 2007 and starting on 2008, I just don’t have six weeks in my back pocket that I can sit around with my feet up.

Q13. Any additional comments?

A. I could keep going for about a week with additional comments but I’d like to close this interview by saying that I really love my ink. I have tried to plan it all out and tried to hold true to the plan. Ink is something that I feel I would be incomplete without and I can not visualize myself without my ink.

Thank you for interviewing me and for allowing me to ramble on about a subject that is so close to my heart.