I had tremendous response on my first blog about people in the Pepper who have tattoos. I received hits from all over the world on that blog. Because of the response, I thought I'd do it again. There is a never ending supply of subjects with tattoos when you are not looking for them. However, if you go looking....they are often hard to find. Once you find them, all are willing to talk about their tattoos. I found a nice variety of people this time, sooo let's get right to checking them out:
Tattoos of Culpeper Pt. 2
This beautiful woman is Laura Sizemore. My wife and I were shopping when she spotted Laura and suggested that I needed to record this woman and her tattoo. The bird is in honor of a friend who passed away. It symbolises a free spirit.
I noticed Melanie Herndon walking at Yowell Meadow Park. She was kind enough to stop and talk to me for a minute about her tattoo. This is a picture of an angel and her daughter's name, Racquel, directly under it. It is placed on her left arm because it is the arm closest to her heart.
Holy smokes!!!!!!! These folks are Jerry and Katie Dufford. I caught up with them at Walmart and they are simply a cornucopia of tattoos. There are lots on these two and more on the way.....this is just a sample. The truth is that they just love tattoos and maybe one or two of them have special significance, but most of them are just because they like them..... a good enough reason, I suppose. In the top picture, Jerry is sporting a spider web on his neck and Katie has a fairy in the middle of her back and a "sister knot" on her shoulder which matches the one her sister has. The forearm is Japanese cherry blossoms floating in water. Next on Katie is a cartoon worm and last, but certainly not least in this case, Jerry has a zipper tattoo on his back. These guys have it covered (pun intended). They were good sports to share their body art for photographs as people walked past.
This is Brittany Boggs. I saw her and had to know what her tattoos were about. On her arm is a wolf which she told me represents her mom....she said it was a positive representation and I believe her.....and a floral design that she said represented faith and friendship. Then she flipped over her arms and showed me these. She said that she had been lied to a few times in her life and this just speaks for itself. Her mom came up to see what was going on and she sported a few tattoos too. I think it is a family way of expressing things for these guys.
Andrea and I were walking in the park and I had my camera along just in case I ran into something for my blog. These young ladies asked me if I was a professional photographer because they wanted to have some pictures taken together. I noticed right away by their clothes that they were operating on different thermostats...one for cool weather and one for hot. Tori on the left is attending Germana Community College and wants to be a vet tech. She told me that she wants to be a vet tech because she likes animals and spiders. Good luck with that spider thing.... Her upper arm says "mom" and has stars...I think she told me that she has eight tattoos. Lynette has stars too because she is a "shooting star" albeit one who does not like the cold.
I pulled into the parking lot by Blockbuster one day and saw a leg sticking out of a car. That leg had a tattoo and so I thought I would see if I could get a picture. Scott Smith was on his phone and so I asked his girlfriend if she thought he would let me take this shot. She thought that he would not.....but he did! You have to look kind of close here but his tattoo is the faces of drama and theater.
Here is Julie Jarrells who is a Culpeperite through and through. She was born and raised her and even graduated from CCHS. I was very interested in her tattoo because it was set up kind of like a crossword puzzle. It is the initials of her children and is different. Let's see if I can duplicate it.
B W J
K
I W J
She has had it now for about five months. Kinda cool!
Only one time have I used the same person twice in my blogs, but if there is a good reason..... so here is Sarah redeux. When I met Sarah I started a conversation with her because she has several tattoos on her arms plus a large one that circles her neck like a necklace. I think she told me that it is called a Roman collar, although I could be very wrong about that. Then she called my attention to the studs that are stuck in her back. Sarah!!!!! Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!!!! It makes me cringe to look at this picture. Is she tougher than me? You better believe it!
I know that you are going to find this hard to believe, but...... I forgot Culpepper Day. I realize that last year I did one whole blog on it, but this year....zip! I had gone to my granddaughter's soccer game and the festivities flew out of my brain....until three o'clock that is. I remembered that last year there had been a cornucopia of tattoos at the celebration and obviously I was doing a blog on tattoos so I grabbed my camera and, inspite of threatening clouds, headed downtown. I got there at three thirty and two things were happening: 1. The vendors were starting to tear things down and....... 2. It was starting to rain. It is a good thing that you cannot see the light rain in these pictures. This is Chris Hollett and he has just barely moved to Culpeper from Walton's Mountain. He has a girlfriend here and he is a heating and air conditioning guy. I asked about the meaning of the artwork on his arms and he pretty much replied that he just liked it. I followed up by asking him if he had any tattoos that were significant to him and he opened his shirt to show me a portrait of his father. I don't see my picture on any of my son's chests in the near future......or forever for that matter.
Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. This is Greg Norris and he looks for all the world like someone you would not want to meet in a dark alley or a lighted one for that matter. Actually he is a nice guy and a corrections officer at Coffeewood Correctional Center which is a Virginia State penitentiary for men that houses about 1200 inmates. Now, I can totally see him in that role. He also was a mixed martial arts fighter for a while. What we see here in the way of tattoos is just a beginning. His goal is to have a complete body suit of ink. Let's look at a bit of it...on his left arm amid the swirls of flame and smoke you find his daughter, Peyton's name and his grandmothers. On his other arm is a wolf which represents his mother. He is not the first person whom I have run into with a wolf representing dear old mom. I don't get it, but they do, and that is what counts. Also is a haunted house and mom and dad. I don't think those are related...the haunted house and mom and dad I mean. On his hairy old leg is a tribal symbol. That is a lot of tattoos, but he has a long way to go. By the way he loves working in the penitentiary. When I ask him why, he said, "I am giving back to society." If you see him on the street, just say hi, you will find him most engaging.
I am going to wrap up this time with Katrina and her plaintive tattoo message. Katrina is the manager of Blockbuster here in the Pepper. She told me that she has a total of six tattoos. I usually ask people how they feel about their artwork. She said that she is ok with all of them except some that she did on her fingers when she was very young. She thinks that they may have cost her jobs. At any rate, as a manager she is doing all right with her life! Hang on for the message..... in Chinese her tattoo says, "Love Hurts."
You can contact me at: facesofculpeper@gmail.com
