Yellow is a woman in her mid 20s with a tattoo on her forearm of a skeleton with dying daisies and blueberries growing out of it. The tattoo is located on her forearm in the location where she has the most self-harm scars. Yellow got the inspiration for the design when she saw a collection of water colour paintings with skeletons and flowers. She showed it to the tattoo artist, Laura, and asked for blueberries to be included, and the artist brought her vision to life. Prior to getting the tattoo, Yellow says that her “self-confidence and worth were at an all-time low, while [her] anxiety was at its peak.” To cover up self-harm scars, Yellow would wear long sleeves in the summer, which resulted in funny looks. Alternatively, not wearing long sleeves led to “prolonged staring, people trying to figure out what they were, or worse, knowing and having a look of judgement.” Having her tattoo has brought a sense of gratitude and relief because she feels that she can now wear whatever she would like.
Yellow says the tattoo is a mixture of a tribute to her grandmother and a reminder that she is “not the same person who made the scars underneath.” Yellow’s grandmother was named Daisy, which is why she chose to have daisies in her tattoo. She has fond memories of going blueberry picking with her grandmother, which inspired the blueberries in her tattoo as well. Her grandmother was her “biggest supporter and never once made [her] feel bad about [her] scars. [It] seems only fitting that she was part of the covering and the healing.” Yellow’s tattoo was done by Laura at Lady Lo’s Custom Tattoos in St. John’s, Newfoundland. “It was part of their Two Arrows project where they tattoo for free, to help people heal.” Yellow says she “cannot express with words how happy and relieved [she] is after getting this tattoo. It has given [her] back [her] confidence and helped [her] to heal mentally as well.” To Yellow, her tattoo means that “growth is possible, even when it seems you’re at rock bottom.”
STORIES FROM THE SKIN 