Yep, it's that time again and boy do I have a Tattoo Tuesday for you! This one has been in the works for a while. This tattoo really is a culmination of a number of life influences, beginning way back in my childhood to collide with a number of vintage and current lifestyle influences. You see as a child, I had an elephant stuffed toy that I just LOVED. Not just any elephant stuffed toy, but a PINK elephant! Man, I loved that thing so hard. Since growing up, my fondness for elephants remains (in fact there is an elephant safari lodge in Bali that I really want to visit, where you can help bathe them, take them on walks, etc). But I digress.

  

As I grew up and became interested in the rockabilly and kustom kulture lifestyle and began searching for vintage items and collectibles I started to come across glasswear and kitsch little serving trays bearing adorable pink elephant patterns. Pin Up Girl Clothing even released dresses made from a pink elephant fabric for goodness sake! And then, one of my very favourite artists, Shag, began a whole collection of artworks based around pink elephants. THEN I actually got to meet Shag at Tiki Oasis AND I bought a pink elephant tiki mug from Tiki Tony. The signs were adding up!

 

 

So, what's the significance of pink elephants you ask? Well, pink elephants are a euphemism for drunken hallucinations. Lets face it, we all know I like a good drink. Think back to your childhood, do you remember that psychedelic scene in the Disney movie Dumbo, when the wee little elephant drinks from a bucket of water spiked with champagne? Let me refresh your memory.

 

 

So with all this swirling around in my mind and some of the pink elephant fate yet to come, I asked The Pizz to draw me up something while he was out here in June for Cooly Rocks On. The life of a travelling artist is a busy one, so it was only last week that my artwork arrived but I booked in for my tattoo straight away.

 

I knew fellow Beatnik Mark 'Suicide' of Voodoo Tattoo would do a great job and I certainly wasn't wrong. He banged this out in just an hour and a half yesterday and (I've said it before and I'll say it again) his shading is AMAZING! I changed a couple of colours here and there so there wasn't TOO much pink, but I absolutely love it!! The colours in it are amazing as it is, but I can't wait to see how they come up once it's all healed. I contemplated waiting until it was healed to post it, but I'm so in love with it I just couldn't wait to share! I'll be sure to post a pic of it once it's all healed though.

 

 

So, what should I name her?