Logan Seballos, 3-year-old, looks over the shoulder of his grandmother, Willard has tattoos of her grandson and her daughter, Tanya
Few year back, Suzanne Willard bought herself a one-unique Mother’s Day gift- It was a portrait of her daughter, Tanya, tattooed on her right shoulder blade as she looked when she was 8.
A couple of years back Suzanne Willard had a sundial tattoo clock inked on the back of her neck. The clock time is set at 8:12 a.m., the time her grandson – Tanya’s son – Logan Seballos was born. Now she tattooed her grandson portrait, Logan Seballos, on her left shoulder blade.
Tony Carrillo, of Top Notch Tattoos in Elgin, who did Willard’s Tattoo art said something
Tony Carrillo said such tattoos are the ultimate expression of love.
“They want to remember their kid at a certain age. They want to show their love for family, for the kid,” said Carrillo, who plans on having his own two children’s portraits tattooed on his body soon.
One Day Willard’s discussion with his friend- Willard’s tattoos sprang from a discussion she and a friend were having one day about money and that led to talk about things you can take with you when you die and things you cannot.
And it was that chat that eventually led her to have images of her loved ones — Tanya, now 24, and Logan, now 31/2 — permanently inked onto her body.
“My tattoos are always a part of me,” said Willard, a teacher’s assistant in Canton Middle School in Streamwood. “I always have my babies on my back. The biggest thing (I was thinking) is they’d always be there. I always have a glimpse of them in the mirror. People make comments about them and it just makes me feel good.”
Willard also said that- Though she has other tattoos, the ones of her family, which cost about $600 each and took about 10 hours each to complete, are the most endearing.
Tattoo Artist Carrillo said – Carrillo said that when he began as a tattoo artist 10 years ago, tattoos were considered more of an underground art form.
But today, he said, everyone from doctors and lawyers to grandmothers are expressing themselves and commemorating their loved ones through tattoos. He has seen women have up to three generations represented by tattoos: children, parents and grandchildren.
