Behind the Tattoo
🎨Grandmothers, Art, and Completing a Book Tour
I’m Tawny, author of Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating, Relating, and Hooking Up Without the Booze, co-host of the Recovery Rocks podcast, and co-founder of the vinegar-based botanical beverage, (parentheses)
My paternal grandmother, Jacqueline Stubbs, was a prolific artist who made dozens (hundreds??) of incredible art pieces. Two of her pieces are now permanently inked on my arm.
Nana taught me how to paint, a skill I’ve yet to refine, or even attempt to refine. Sure, she showed me some of her techniques and how to mix colors on a palate, but the most valuable lesson she taught me was to have fun while being creative. Seeing her work hang in galleries showed me that people celebrated her self-expression so much that they were happy to pay money to own a piece of it.
I believe Nana’s artistic influence is why my father became a heavy metal musician and why I became a writer. Her art hangs in my home and now on my body, reminding me that creativity and the vulnerability it takes to be an artist are quite literally in my genes.
The Ink
It takes a great deal of trust to ask someone to turn your beloved Nana’s artwork into a tattoo. Luckily I know the right person for the job: my friend, tattoo artist, and former co-host of the Seltzer Squad podcast, Jes Valentine.
I often wonder what Nana would think about her artwork in the hands of another artist, adapting her paintings to fuse with my flesh. Part of me thinks she’d dig it: a cool, young artist translating her work into a tattoo that lives on her granddaughter’s arm. Part of me wants to hire a medium to ask her myself.
Jes and I caught up while I lay down on the tattoo chair in her gorgeous new studio, Haven. She was recently on the reality competition show, Ink Master. “Can I ask what being on a reality show was like?” I asked, acknowledging that I totally understand if she’s sick of talking about it. “I’m happy to talk about it! Being on the show reminded me why I love what I do. It made me miss tattooing!” she shared over the soothing hum of her tattoo gun puncturing my skin. She also shared how she was shocked at how little tattooing actually happens while filming a show about tattoos and tattoo artists.
“That’s exactly how I feel now that I’m done with my book tour,” I told her. “I missed writing; very little writing happens while promoting a book.” We laughed at how we’re both in similar places, despite being in different careers.
Space to Be Creative Again
I turned in my final manuscript in September 2022; my book was published in September 2023. These last few months (and honestly, this last year and a half) have been alllllll about book book book. Every work opportunity (and, let’s be real, every personal life opportunity) that came my way passed through a “how will this impact my ability to promote my book?” filter.
It turns out that marketing filter is fucking heavy.
And dense.
That filter took up more of my brain space than I realized.
This past week had very little strategizing about book promo, freelancing, press, podcasts, travel, etc….. for the first time in… years? It feels like 80% of my brain space is suddenly available. My chronic anxiety is far from gone, but my dome now has this cool new lake, sans ripples. I’m not trying to fill that space with anything. In fact, I like this unknown headroom. This liminal space between completing a project and waiting for the next project to gestate feels magical.
The whole time I was on book tour, I thought, I can’t wait to be home with my hubby and my pets and have time to get another tattoo. The only item on my Google calendar last week was to get this tattoo. Seriously. I didn’t even go to the gym. And I fucking love the gym, y’all.
When people ask about my tattoos, I always tell them about Nana. “My grandmother painted this one!” I share, grinning from ear to ear while pointing to the gorgeous butterfly that she created. Now I’ll also point to this flower.
I feel a great sense of pride in having Nana’s (and Jes’s!) art on my body because I can share her work with a new audience, a new generation, and a demographic who may see a piece by Jacqueline Stubbs. Few people would see Nana’s work if it just hung in my living room. Now I get to take her art with me everywhere I go.
I’m a tired, traveling canvas who can finally rest.
Where does your creativity come from? Do you have a favorite tattoo? Tell me about it below.
Happy Humping,
Gorgeous, Tawny! All the hearts ❤️.
I was wondering why Nana's art page was blowing up today!! Nice, heart felt piece of writing.