The Tattooed Glam-Ma

We first met Mo Deeley, the self-proclaimed tattooed glam-ma back in 2011 at the London Tattoo Convention. The following year, we spent a day in her life up in Yorkshire. We told her story in our second print issue. Meet her here…

Photos: Heather Shuker

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I started getting tattoos in the late ‘80s after my divorce, a whistling worm on my ankle and two smaller ones on my shoulder blades, but never anything more than that. The bigger ones I have now were started in May 2011, when I went to my local tattooist to have the small ones on my back covered up. At the consultation, I explained that I was unsure what I wanted, but if I was a little bit younger I would have a full backpiece with a theme.

I honestly thought I was too old to get a full back tattoo. I’m 56-year-old grandmother. However, Tef the tattooist told me I should do as I want and it doesn’t matter at all about age – I should follow my heart. And so he started work on the back tattoo, which just seemed to creep over my shoulder and onto the front of my shoulder.

_MG_0189This was never enough and I kept thinking of different ideas, which we sat and discussed together. Then I started getting tattooed every weekend, I absolutely loved it. I also became very friendly with Tef the tattooist, which always helps, and I completely trust him.

I suppose my tattoo inspiration comes from happy memories of my childhood and, in a profound way, the loss of my dad spurred me on to keep going. I just thought life was too short. My Audrey Hepburn tattoo I got in memory of my dad, as we played Moon River at his funeral and I think he fancied her a bit.

 

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I’ve got six children, and my son who’s 20 still lives with me, so he gets very spoilt, he’s my baby – I even bought him a full sleeve for Christmas, he loves tattoos too. At first, my daughters were against the idea of me getting so many tattoos and kept telling me I needed to stop. But now I think they are quite proud that I am who I am. They were very quick to state, “That’s my mum” when we retuned from London to find Things&Ink were looking for me on Facebook

I had been at the London Tattoo Convention with my Husband, Paul, and I felt like I was being chased by the paparazzi. I’m a nan of 18 being followed by photographers from the USA and everywhere. I had been to a smaller event in Liverpool, but that was when I didn’t have as many tattoos. People would look at me, but nothing out of the ordinary. But when I was at the London Tattoo Convention – it was mental, I couldn’t sit down anywhere without people asking for a photo with me. I felt like Cheryl Cole [this was in 2011]. This reaction took my breath away. Paul spent most of the convention carrying a rather fetching handbag and vanity case for me, so I could oblige people who stopped me to look at my tattoos and pose for picture. I loved every minute of it. It was my photo taken by Things&Ink at the convention that has turned me into a bit of a celeb and won me a subscription to the magazine – which I adore [We had a competition to win a subscription to our print mag, we got got people to pose as it they were on the cover of the magazine and Mo won! Of course…]. I have never won anything before, and I couldn’t believe how many comments the photo received on Facebook.

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After that, I got invited down to London for the Things&Ink launch party. As soon as I saw the Things&Ink launch issue cover, I knew I wanted it tattooed on me. I was just unsure how to incorporate it into a design. I told Tef my intentions and we set to work on a design. I think 2012 was an amazing year in my life and I tried to incorporate this into my tattoo. I also have a Yorkshire terrier to represent the amazing time I had at Rockalily vintage salon – they have a salon dog called Ellington – even there I was treated like royalty. I feel like it is a place that I just fit in, with my vintage styling and tattoos showing. I am also adding a wallpaper pattern to the tattoo, which reminds me of my best friend Pat – she has just put up some new beautiful patterned wallpaper and has the best taste in interiors. Pat’s home is lovely and full of vintage knicknacks, which I love.

_MG_0086-2 (1)My grandkids, all 18 of them and another on the way, live very near to me, and sometimes my granddaughter comes in to see me when I am getting tattooed, she loves showing me off as her nan. Don’t think any of her friends have a nan quite like me, and they all seem to find it quite cool. My grandchildren call me Glam-ma and always bring their friends to meet me – they all say they wish their nan was more like me.

I live in a small mining village, Maltby in Rotherham, and seem to attract a lot of attention – some nice comments, but mainly stares from people who don’t know me. People I grew up with accept me as I am, I have never really been one to conform to other peoples idea of “normal.” My husband says I’m a prototype not a stereotype.

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I love big and bold clothing mainly in a ’50s style, I am also looking into collecting more garments from the 1940s. I have followed every fashion trend since my teens. Tartan, shoulder pads – the works. I love shoes and they used to be my overriding thoughts, but shoes have now been replaced by tattoos. I think about ink all the time.

I like to spend time with my family and friends, and I am quite lucky that Pat likes a lot of the same things I do. We can spend a whole day trawling vintage fairs and second-hand shops. I also often pop and see my daughter in the fish and chip shop she works, she recently won the Guiness world record for being the fast chip wrapper, so she’s a bit of a local celeb too. It must run in the family.

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My life in a nutshell – born in a sleepy mining village, married very young to a mine-worker, with whom I had five children, which kept me very busy. I think I only ever really wanted to be a mum and love having my kids around me. I divorced in 1989, went a little bit off the rails I think. But my second husband, Paul, put me back on track. We have been married for 17 years now and have a son together. Paul’s my rock, he’s so placid compared to me, so we’re the perfect fit. He treats me like a queen and I love him with all my heart. During our marriage, we have travelled around a bit, but we always end up coming back to Maltby, it’s our home. We ran a pub together in Scotland, but I missed my family too much. Home is where the heart is and I am a very content and happy lady, even if some people think I look a little out of the ordinary. ❦

Interview with blogger Pale Ginger Pear

We’ve been following Cara, AKA Pale Ginger Pear, on Instagram for a while. She talks openly and honestly about illness (she has lipedema and lymphedema), being fat and tattooed. We caught up with her to find out more – spoiler alert, she loves Disney tattoos as much as we do.

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076B09ED-0C9C-4FA7-9FA2-F67A696A679FTell us about your tattoo collection. When was your first? My first tattoo was a tiny roll of film on my left shoulder, it was done by Tyree Patrick of Big Nerd Tattoos – he is the only person I have been tattooed by. I had it done in the fall of 2002 shortly after finishing schooling for photography. Pretty quickly after that I added a camera to the right shoulder.

In 2006, I added some CD artwork. Then I took a few years off from getting inked. Before adding my gluten-free baking logo to my right wrist in 2013 (I am a celiac). July 15, 2014, my mom’s birthday (five years after she passed), I got a Wicked Witch and Flying Monkey from her favourite movie on my left arm in her memory. I remember thinking the Oz tattoo was big! In typical Ty fashion, he started talking to me about my next tattoo while tattooing me. The idea of an Ursula and Cruella half sleeve formed – which eventually evolved into my Disney Villain sleeve. As we were wrapping up the Disney Villain sleeve, he asked “what next?” I mentioned that the only other thing I liked enough for years was The Muppets. Next thing I know I was scheduled to start the thigh piece the following month. 

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What do you like about getting – and being – tattooed? I love getting tattooed. I enjoy the pain as crazy as that sounds. I jokingly call it “ink therapy”. Ty has been a sounding board during many sessions about all the crazy DMs and offers I receive (one guy even asked to buy my pubes). Ty has also been great at helping me ramble about possible ways to grow Pale Ginger Pear.

I love how being tattooed makes me feel. I know my tattoos are pretty amazing so it’s an easy way for me to brush off people staring at me. In my head I justify it to myself that they are looking at my ink not my fat arm.

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Do you have any more tattoo plans?  The Muppet thigh piece isn’t complete yet. There’s a spot above Swedish Chef beside Bunsen that I feel there is room for another Muppet. There will be some touch-ups and background added too, for sure. Other than finishing that, I don’t really have any plans for more ink. I like the contrast of one arm inked and the other pale and freckled. As much as that drives Ty crazy to be “unbalanced” and not take advantage of all that great “real estate”. We have talked about doing a pear with a tattoo on it but I can’t picture where it would be placed. 

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You are very open on social media about your illnesses and your size, do you think instagram transparency is important? How do you hope to inspire others? I think transparency is important to a degree. I keep my kid and my dating life (for the most part) off of my IG. I don’t feel they factor into what I’m trying to show about lipedema/lymphedema. It’s nice to have somethings about my life as mine that can’t be judged and picked apart. I already judge myself enough for being a single mom, I don’t need strangers adding to my self doubt. I also don’t post my weight as I don’t feel the actual number is going to change anything for the person reading it. People carry weight differently so my number might look different on other people, but it doesn’t change my conditions.

I hope to inspire people, especially women with lipedema and lymphedema, to embrace their body as it is. There is no reason to not wear the little black dress while wearing your compression stockings or showing off your large upper arms, thanks to lipedema.

Can you tell me what having lymphedema and lipedema means, and how it affects you day to day? Lymphedema is where the lymph fluid flows down but, in my case, doesn’t flow back up from my lower legs properly. The lymph flow pools in my lower legs causing swelling. I wear compression stockings daily to keep the swelling to a minimum. If I don’t, my legs feel super tight, almost like they can explode. Lipedema is when fat cells absorb lymph fluid, damaging the cells causing it to not react to diet or exercise like typical fat cells. Lipedema is a dull constant ache. It also is very sensitive to the touch and bruises easily. It hurts if I try to sit in a tight seat where the arms can’t be adjusted.

When were you diagnosed? I was diagnosed in 2008 with lower leg lymphedema. It wasn’t until about 2016 that I was told I had lipedema as well. Then it wasn’t ’til 2018 that I found out lipedema was the cause of my bigger upper arms. I had originally been told that it was just hips/thighs/buttocks. Lipedema is more frustrating to me because there isn’t much relief for it, short of liposuction to remove the damaged fat cells. But most US insurances don’t cover the cost of the liposuction as they view it as cosmetic.

Does it affect you getting tattooed? Lymphedema areas can’t be tattooed, which is why my Muppet piece will be just on my thigh. Cuts or injections are to be avoided as lymph fluid will leak out of the opening and can be difficult to heal. Before I started my thigh 6D8DD8B4-E490-466B-9EFC-5CED267A500Dpiece, I reached out to some specialists in lipedema asking about tattoos. They had no real information or studies on it. Basically, the replies back were: “Not really sure, but if you go through with it, update us afterwards.” It wasn’t until mid-summer last year that I realised I had already tattooed on lipedema damaged area with Ursula. It made a lot more sense looking back at how Ursula was harder to heal and seemed to be “too wet.” My thigh has been really tender during the actual tattooing. My skin puffs and pinks up in the lipedema areas pretty quickly and makes it more difficult for Ty to see the saturation of the ink. It also seeps lymph fluid, which can be annoying.

4C5C3166-DE34-4E48-82BC-9F11F8FF1D62Healing the thigh has been interesting. There is a very fine line of just enough ointment to keep it from being dry and cracking and too much that keeps it too wet that doesn’t allow it to scab over. The lymph fluid can cause some deep scabs which are really painful and sore. Ursula and The Muppets have been harder to heal than any of my other tattoos but not bad enough that it keeps me from completing my vision.

There are a lot of fat shamers online, how do you respond to haters? I tend to ignore the hate. I believe that they are just hurting, so they want people to hurt with them. There’s been a time or two that I’ve responded if I felt I could explain something in more detail to them. 

What made you start blogging and instagramming as Pale Ginger Pear? I started my IG (and website) as the result of a bet with someone very dear to me. “Schmidt” had felt that I would get a lot of followers due to dressing well for my size/shape and having a story to tell. I thought he was crazy. We playfully bantered back and forth about it. February 11 2018 I decided to start PGP Instagram to prove him wrong and for the longest time I thought I was. I remember hitting 50k and his reply was: “So no followers…”

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I often hear women say they don’t want to get tattooed on the parts of their body that they hate, but to me, tattoos are about owning your body and feeling happier in your skin in a way you can control, do you feel that too?  I NEVER used to show my arms. I hated how different my upper arms were in comparison to my forearms. But now I get so bummed when it starts to get cold again and I have to cover up my arm. I used to hide my legs and rarely wore dresses. Now I find myself picking out skirts or dresses, so when people talk to me about my tattoos, I can show them the Muppet thigh piece. My ink has helped me embrace my size and condition, things that I can’t really change. I feel more me with the brightly coloured ink than I ever did before. 

We feel that too. Follow Pale Ginger Pear on Insta and check out her blog.

 

Sasha Nicole: The Black Heart Project

Tattooer Sasha-Nicole works out of Gold Irons Tattoo Club, Brighton and is the founder of the black heart project. Sasha tells us all about the creation and inspiration behind the charity tattoo project and how you can get involved…

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The black heart project is something I created a couple of years ago, with the sole purpose of raising awareness and funds for mental health. Primarily the charity ‘Mind’. I designed a simple image to hold a word relevant to the client’s own experiences, whether that be their struggles or their triumphs, to display as a badge of honour in place of the stigma we’re often subjected to when it comes to these things. I wanted people to be able to be proud of who they are, despite how difficult things may be.

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I was going through a particularly rough time myself. I’ve struggled with a variety of things in my lifetime, and I guess I just wanted to put that energy into something positive and help other people along the way.

We all know that we need to talk more, and that doing so helps enormously, so the idea was to create a chain through these blacks hearts.

One person has a black heart tattoo, someone may then ask them about it, opening up topics that may have otherwise not come around, they may then tell someone or even get one themselves, and so on. When people come in for these tattoos they really open up to me, whether I know them already or have never seen them before in my life. The tattoo chair is a fairly vulnerable place and with this project solely based around mental health, I think it kind of gives people a safe avenue to open up and talk about it. I’ve seen people around town who have come up to me weeks or months after their tattoo, and they update me on how they’re doing, or tell me that their friend got one. I’ve had people from Brighton to Scotland get involved in this project so it’s nice to know that even a handful of people from different parts of the country have been made to feel a little better about what they’re going through.

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I generally advertise on my Instagram when I’m going to be doing a flash day, and then take bookings and cram as many people in as possible! I’m looking to expand this project over the next year, I won’t say too much now but I’m planning on taking it into schools (obviously not the tattooing element), but I want to spread the general idea as far as I can.

I get asked what word I would have in a heart on every flash day and I honestly still don’t know! I think I would probably have a blank one, just as a starting point for the logo and the concept, and then if people ask I can direct them to the black heart project from there!

Interview with Tattoo Artist Liv Frost

24-year-old tattooist Liv Frost works out of Tattoo HQ, Chesterfield, UK where she creates amazing blackwork tattoos. We chat to Liv about her recognisable style and love for patterns found in nature…

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When did you start tattooing and what made you want to join the industry? I joined Tattoo HQ seven years ago in March. I had been searching for a shop to take me under their wing as an apprentice for quite a while beforehand and then I got introduced to Brenden Jones and Chris Cross the owners. Who I not only look up to as inspirational tattooists and bosses but also like father figures (I’ve got a tattoo for them on my leg saying “HQ Pops”). Truly lucky and grateful to have to them in my life and for everything they have done for me over the years.

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What did you do before tattooing? Did you study art? I did an art and design BTec at Chesterfield college when I left school, specialising in ceramics and jewellery making in my first year and then textiles in my second year. Looking back at old sketchbooks and pieces drawn/made throughout this time, they all reference tattoos, whether that be the style or the history. Tattooing was something I’ve always just been drawn to and interested in. I’ve always had a strong mindset – if you want something bad enough, you have to go out and do it, regardless of what others say, you’ve got to do it for you!

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How would you describe your style? What drew you to blackwork?  I originally started out wanting to tattoo traditional based work, but something wasn’t quite right. I’m a lover of textures, a mix of line thicknesses and patterns. I think that’s why I use a heavier lines for the main outline of my work though as I like that bold statement that traditional work gives. When I was apprenticing I used to draw on little wooden boxes to sell and Bren and Chris suggested I tried some dotwork out on them. I loved it and I would happily sit for hours dotting away on them. I then drew flash sheets of bugs and butterflies in this style and it all started from there. Just black, dots and lines. Various textures creating depth and forever learning what liner would create the best dotted fade or how adding the smallest of line details can make such a great impact on a piece. When tattooing I only show the customer the main outline of the piece and add all the fine linework and dotwork as we go along. I find that this way, the piece flows better! Trusting customers are everything!

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What inspires you and what would you love to tattoo?  I love butterflies and moths, the unique prints on them and just like leaves and petals, the impressions from their veins. I love tattooing floral pieces and mandala/pattern work, I’ve found they go hand in hand with each other for creating larger scale work! Another of my favourite things to tattoo is small frilled hearts with anything inside them – often writing or something Disney related! I’d love to tattoo more large scale pieces, I’ve got a few back pieces coming up that I’m really looking forward to and this year I’m definitely going to focus on drawing up more flash sheets based around nature, patterns and of course some more Disney will pop up in there!

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Do you have any guest spots or conventions planned? I currently don’t have anything lined up for any guest spots or conventions but I’m definitely going to change that! My books reopen in March so by that time I’m hoping to have a few shops booked for guesting at! I always post about anything up and coming on my Instagram and work Facebook page!

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