Author: Alice Snape

Feature girl: Keely Reichardt (her blog is here)

Oh well, hello there Keely. My new tattoo feature girl. A talented make-up artist, who has taken her quest for beautification from her flawlessly made-up face to her body. Keely is covered in beautiful ink, feast your eyes on this th’inkers…

What a pretty skull you have…a girly, modern twist on a traditional tattoo idea. The skull was created by Matt Difa, who used to work in Tusk, Covent Garden.

As a striking pin-up style girl herself, Keely decided she would also like to pin-up her body.

This piece is a work in progress. Created by – the very much in demand – Nikole Lowe of London Ink fame. Keely would love to get this piece finished, but is not quite sure when or if this will ever happen. Keely tells a funny tale about her inking experience…

“The second sitting was extremely painful after a particularly easy first sitting with the outline – probably down to the fact that I was a little stoned so felt nothing. Although an old hells angel style character came in and told me it was going to feel like I had been hung and was being beaten with sticks….he then proceeded to show me his bull dog tattoo on his knees.”

Keely I wish I had been there to witness this, sounds like an interesting experience to say the least…I also wish we had a picture of the man and his bulldog-branded knee!

Now we move on to Keely’s beautiful feet and possibly my favourite tattoo of all time. This piece was inspired by the Japanese Manga artist Junko Mizuno. This inspired ink is a collaborative creation by Paula, at Into You. Paula and Keely picked out the images they liked from comic books and combined and changed them to create this piece of art.

This dramatic and awe-inspiring back piece by Matt Difa, at the Jolie Rouge . Stigmatas, Latin meaning ‘Branded with tattoos’.

DWBH – Don’t Worry, Be Happy. The lip tattoo was done by some guy in a random parlour in Middlesex for a tenner! He thought DW and BH were initials, hence the big gap.

Love Heart – by Adam, Into you. This piece was done by hand, not using a gun. Keely originally wanted a pineapple, but apparently this would be too intricate for a finger design.

Keely’s creative approach to tattooing has made me feel utterly inspired. I also really fancy a mince pie, anyone else?

Photos: Olivia Snape