My New Tattoo

**Riverkilt** · 8th October 06, 02:50 PM

Nope, not kilt or Celt related, other than in a family way.

My local tattoo artist moved back east to Fayetteville, N.C. last I heard. Has taken a while to find a new guy who I could trust.

When Bradley was in Flagstaff earlier this year on his honeymoon he got a tat from Patrick at Burley Fish and reccomended him. That's where I wound up.

What I wanted was a tat for the time I spent working in the mines as a boy right out of high school. Didn't realize until I went back to the San Juans this spring how much they shaped my future - even though I was intelligent enough to get out of mining. The crossed rock hammers (what I used as a sample boy roaming the bowels of the San Juans) are a memory of that time...and a reminder that for some reason God let me live through all the explosions and falls of ground that could have killed me....and a reminder that its common medical knowledge that concussions from such events can mess up a person's brain.

There's probably some Gaelic to it since they also are in honor of my great grandfather Archibald Macdonald and my grandfather Murdoch Macdonald, both of whom were Montana miners.

Anyhow, thanks Brad for the referral to Patrick.

Ron

**Kilted KT** · 8th October 06, 03:00 PM

that is a very cool tattoo! Great to see someone getting a tattoo that actually means more than just "hey look at me!"..

great job.

**Tattoo Bradley** · 8th October 06, 04:27 PM

FANTASTIC!

You're certainly more than welcome, Ron. I'm glad you liked his work, and that everything worked out so well. He's a little hard to get scheduled with (as you found out.) But, I felt it was worth the wait. If we can make our way back that way, I'd like to get more work from him.

Not to highjack the thread. But, here's what I had done on me. It's a classic flash piece from the 60s, drawn by Sailor Jerry. There actually is a great deal of signifigance to it. Nikki's pet-name for me has always been "Piggy." I also had the hair changed from blonde to black (to match Nikki's.) Also, the cowgirl is riding the Piggy... errr... yeah...

**TimC** · 8th October 06, 05:12 PM

Nice, Ron!

-Tim

**Big Paul** · 8th October 06, 09:18 PM

Cool ink, Ron!

**keepoffgrass** · 8th October 06, 11:54 PM

nice tat!

**mudd** · 9th October 06, 07:52 AM

Looks like the tape took some skin off.

**Tattoo Bradley** · 9th October 06, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by mudd

Looks like the tape took some skin off.

Nah, there's no skin removal there. That's just where the blood pooled at the edges of the tape. Lovely eh?

**Pour1Malt** · 9th October 06, 09:23 AM

guid oan ya Ron

**John M.** · 11th October 06, 12:14 PM

Nice tat Ron. This old Rockhound immediately recognized the hammers.

The tat I posted a couple weeks ago was in honor of the side of my family (Norwegian, Danish, Finnish) who came here as miners. In fact I spent last weekend out there searching the tailing's & found a drill head that although rusted, appears to have been accidentally dropped & never used. I also stopped at the Eureka cemetery while out there & photographed the old family headstones to aid in my genealogy work.

My grandfather on my Dad's side was the last miner in the family & it's mostly his fault I'm so interested in mining, rocks, minerals & geology. Been thinking about great Grandma lately too. I always loved her strong Finnish accent.