Pixie in Paradise

Since the deed is done and I won’t argue or negotiate on any of my life choices these days, I will just tell you about the experience. It was very cool. I wish all of the times that I got tattoos before this could have been as pleasant as my time spent getting one a few days ago by Damián at La Tinta Tropical, in Costa Rica. I have been following Damián’s artwork postings on social media for months and love his work. To me, the aesthetic is Afro-Latino, Caribbean and jungle vibes, the perfect depiction of this part of Central America: the diverse people, animals and lush landscape that we live in here.

I’ve always been an animal fanatic, even more so since heading closer to the equator. I’m completely head over heels in love with jungle animals: monkeys, sloths, brightly colored birds and frogs…and Mo, my somewhat domestic/somewhat wild, tomcat. Damián’s art, from paintings to tattoos, is vastly representative of the people and animals in this region and the vibrant range of colors you find here. His tattoo studio is painted that calming ocean blue that I use at home in all of my interior decor and he has his prints and paintings hanging on the walls as well as one fresh canvas sitting on an easel, partially created in a corner. This isn’t your typical tattoo parlor. Inside and out this space is calming, inviting and clean. The studio isn’t chaotic or full of people which makes it a very serene space, although once in a while a special event is held and great live music can be heard through their second story windows. (There’s also two sweet street cats that nap out front every day, so the space also has that going for it). I don’t want to move into Barbie’s Dream House, I want to live in Damián’s tattoo studio!

As much as the studio and art has this cool ocean meets jungle aesthetic, so does Damián. While originally from Argentina, Damián looks as though he’s been in the Límon province a while. Tattoos everywhere, of course, shaved hair showing some brilliant geometric patterned ink on the sides of his head, with long twisted locs down to his waist in the back. It’s seriously the coolest hairstyle ever and I realize you will all scoff when I say this but you have never seen a mullet look this sexy before. Because let’s face it, is it EVER possible for a mullet to look sexy? No, no it is not, so I assure you this is the one time it does and the only time anyone is allowed to describe a mullet haircut this way. 

Damián has a great external aesthetic with the hairstyle, tattoos and beach town chic clothing, but he also has good internal stuff going on as well. I made a dangerous assumption that because his artwork was so gorgeous and visually mesmerizing and I connect with it so much, that he would be a quality human being, someone I would want to spend time with. As far as I can tell, my assumption was correct. Damián has great energy, you can feel it. He’s extremely professional and personable. We had to communicate well with each other, since neither one of us were fluent in the other one’s language.    With a 60/40 (Spanish/English) mix, or something close to it, everything got figured out.

I am proud of myself though. Once I got confirmation that he only uses brand new needles for each tattoo he does, I was pretty okay with whatever came after that. “Back in my day” tattoo artists would autoclave (liquid re-sterilization) needles so that they could reuse them. I may have had a couple of tattoos done this way as well as one done in someone’s tiny apartment – back when tattoos were still illegal in the state of Oklahoma, and I was only 17. (Look ma, no hepatitis!)

Thanks to modern technology when I met with Damián last week, he took a photo of my arm and a couple of days later sent back a simulation of what the tattoo would look like so we could check out placement options. The new tattoo doesn’t really match my others, but this one is meaningful and it doesn’t have to be a perfect match. I’m past that. I will enjoy it for now and after several more decades of amazing adventure, love and travel, the new tattoo will get cremated with the others and scattered over the Caribbean Sea. Remember: it’s only skin, and no one gets out alive.

Damián had to use some colored markers to map out placement for the ink    on the front portion of my right shoulder, then he got to work printing out the image that would transfer the pattern to my skin. I laid back on his tattoo chair with my left arm still in a long-sleeved shirt and the right arm hanging out. I anticipated needing to have a shirt that didn’t get in the way of the spot we would work on so I just did what I always do down here: I threw on a bikini under my clothes because we always need to be beach-ready. In this case it works because the bikini top ties around the neck so it stays out of the way of my shoulder.

As Damián got his tools and accessories ready he looked at me and seemed a little surprised saying that I looked really relaxed. I guess he’s seen some really tense skin art recipients in his chair over the last two decades. I was incredibly relaxed, to be honest. The studio had great energy, Damián had great energy, and I’ve gotten a few tattoos before, so it’s not like any of it surprises me. I’ve never felt any unbearable pain – not even close –    while getting tattooed, so I didn’t expect any now. I wasn’t concerned about yet another tattoo on my body because it’s just ink on skin, and it wasn’t like I was getting the Charles Manson forehead mark. Nah, I’m good.

I took a couple of selfies to commemorate the event and suddenly realized that lying on my back with a couple of ring lights above me, surrounded by that luxurious tropical humidity and mid-morning Caribbean light, had reversed the aging process. This lighting made me look decades younger! I decided that in the future, meeting new people while lying down with soft lighting near my head, would be optimum. That could make for an awkward social scenario, though.

Speaking of awkward, getting a tattoo on some places of the body not only requires creativity in drawing and placement but also in the actual position you have to sit or lie in to get the ink, so that your butterfly doesn’t turn out like a drooling dragon or something loco. Because of the location we chose on the front of my right shoulder, I was lying for most of the tattoo and sitting, reclined, for the rest. Because of that, it was best for Damián to make sure his arm and hand holding the tattoo machine was steady and grounded. He had to rest his forearm on something somewhat flat that wasn’t moving. Well, that describes my chest perfectly. Damián rested his forearm across my sternum and was able to outline the whole tattoo, while I almost fell asleep.

It’s science, people. Temple Grandin did all of that research on how calming squeeze chutes/hug machines are for cattle/humans, and we also have a version in the form of weighted blankets. Well, Damián was using the same concept whether he knew it or not, when he applied a little pressure across my chest to outline the tattoo. The whole experience was incredibly calming. And, thanks to a little sternal pressure combined with Damián’s great energy and my complete surrender to the process, I was so relaxed that I almost fell asleep while needles were penetrating my skin hundreds of times per minute. He probably thought I was medicated but I assure you it was just me, sober, living in paradise and connecting with another beautiful human. 

I’m so sensitive to my environment and people in close proximity to me. I wouldn’t let just anyone shove ink into my body and I had met Damián before we actually finalized this tattoo. I could feel what I was getting into. Maybe in the future as I meet new people I should be more discriminative as to who gets to shove what into my body. No time to start like the present. Namaste, fellas!

Oh, as for the tattoo? Mo and I now have matching patterns on our right arms…