08/23/2026
How it started and how it's going - JOHA style 😉❤️.
I was talking to my friend today about tattoos and the meaning behind them, which made me think of this old photo and spend WAY too much time trying to find it. So here's my tattoo story (I think you'll recognize the tattoo).
I drew him when I was in my late 20s because I was obsessed with Bob Dylan, liked the charming free-spirit cad but good deep down kinda guy the card symbolized, loved anything celtic, missed my grandpop Jack (who, like me, liked to play cards and gamble), and I decided if I ever did get a tattoo, I'd be the one to draw it. He was originally designed to be about 3 inches tops; and, after taking about two years to find a tattoo artist I liked, I almost backed out when he showed me how big he'd actually have to be to get all of the detail.
Now he's like an old friend I barely see, only to notice once in awhile in the mirror that he, like me, has been through a lot and the years are definitely showing. I do remember a guy coming up to me in a bar once asking why would I do that to my beautiful skin and telling me how horrible it would look when I was old. And me being feisty enough to bite back with, "I hope I have bigger things to focus on when I'm old than six inches of skin on my back." ... careful what you wish for.
Anyway - thank you to my faded blurred Jackohartz. You are a permanent reminder of the girl I used to (and still can) be.
Helen Keller says it best: “What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, For all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
And you are definitely a part of me. Everything I create, including this little cork Song of Solomon heart piece I made just today, is done with your adventurous spirit leading the way, and I can't wait to see what mischief we will get up to next.❤️🦄