So this is what it looks like now...

View of my back after Session 11 taken about 2-3 weeks since the tattoo session with everything healed.



This is another view, from the side this time since a lot of the work rests on the side of the right torso running from below the armpit, down the ribcage to the stomach. Photos of the front of the torso will come on after the last session is complete and the touch-up to that area is done.

The colours are settling into my skin and some are getting brighter and deeper, while others are becoming a little darker than when it was 1st tattooed on. I'm also getting used to having this piece on myself to the point that I can sometimes forget that its there. My last session for the phoenix is in mid-August.

Phoenix Session 11 of 12

Completed the flower on my right buttcheek and did the touch-up for the rest of the area already completed on the buttcheek, and the joining tailfeather that wraps around to the front of the right thigh.





Getting tattooed on the ass absolutely sucks on the pain threshold level.

phoenix session 10 of 12

This was a SIX HOUR major touch-up to completed areas and lots of areas were recolored and layered for vibrancy and intensity.


View of back


View of side: armpit to ribs

Interim Overview

This is what the phoenix project looks like now... an overview shot! :) It certainly looks different when u see the whole thing in perspective as opposed to the separate parts as the sections come together. I've completed 9 of 12 sessions and its really coming together now.

Session 9

phoenix session 8 of 12

after last week's killer rib tattoo session i thought i was going to be in for another excruciating session... but it was really very manageable and we accomplished everything that we set out to do. healing is progressing well too (with the exception of that problematic bit on the blue peony flower - but its also settling down and beginning to heal), and am pleased with the way things are going.

we completed the 'half-completed' tailfeather that runs from my armpit to my hip, as well as colored in the birdcage tattoo with the 2 small birds so that it would match with the phoenix piece. love the colors he used.



and then we completed the lower frontal tail feather that runs from my waist to the top of my right thigh.



so all that's left now is the right ass cheek, and then all outlines would've been filled in. there are another 3 sessions for my artist to add stuff, do all the finer detailing and intensifying the colors.

goodness! i'm so colorful! :-)

session 7

This session did me in - the ribs are a painful place.

session 6

this was quite a productive session and i felt very accomplished at the end of it. we finished the 2 big peony flowers on my right hip to stomach and filled up the last remaining part of my back.


flowers on right hip


did the tail feather flourishes on the lower right side of the back.

pain management wise - this session was definitely better than the previous ones and i realize its because i find being tattooed on the back quite excruciating... the stomach area and the hip bone however, were quite alright.

next session in 14 days time :-)

wanna know something cooool..?

my tattoos peel and heal within 4 days of a session. :)

and life can go back to normal.

This afternoon, I went to do a touch-up on an old sanskrit tattoo on my left hip today. Its of the word 'Yoga' but written in sanskrit script. Had it done the weekend I completed my diploma to teach yoga. That was around 6 months ago. Had it touched up in Oct/Nov or so, but it still wasn't as solid and sharp as I would've liked. The left hip tattoo is the only tattoo I have that's NOT done by Donald. Will snap a pic when it's healed up. I have to admit, that I like that piece more for its significance than its appearance. Putting the word "yoga" on myself serves as a promise to keep at daily practice and to live life the yoga way. It also is an expression of my commitment to Yoga and of my gratitude to Yoga for changing my life and enabling me to move closer towards my center, and I guess, puts pressure on me to do yoga well, and to keep improving and seeking new levels. The Yoga masters can read it, and I guess notice it when they notice me.

Meanwhile, the wrist piece I had done last week...

Ahimsa (the purple sanskrit text) means "non-violence", and Pratyahara (the turquoise sanskrit text) means "withdrawal of the senses". yep. yoga-related and personally significant to me.





I really do love color, and I'm thankful that my skin takes color fairly well. The other 2 pieces I've got:


old school style - 2 swallows and 2 roses - on my right thigh.


i designed this one myself, and my artist added the colors as he did the piece for me. it's located under my navel, and the crystal you see there is a microdermal - a sort of unique piercing.

my next phoenix color session's on friday. i scared pain! argh! haha!

the birth of the phoenix (sessions 1-5)

ok so i should have started this blog earlier but i'm a procrastinator so at least i'm starting it now... hehee! here we go: sessions 1 to 5 of my phoenix tattoo. :-)

artwork is done by donald kwek at utopia studio, singapore.


session 1: outline of phoenix body.
this session took about 7-8hrs because only the phoenix's head was pre-drawn and stencilled on, and the rest was freehanded by my artist.






session 2: excuse the slightly R(A) nature of the photos :-) we completed the 'wrap-around' bits in this session - which was also an outline session. the tailfeathers that wrap to the front of my torso and that traverse my right rib from just under the armpit, plus the 3 peony flowers - 2 on the abdomen area and 1 on the right buttcheek. this session took about 6-7hrs as well.




session 3: and the 1st of the color sessions. completed left wing, top tailfeather and the head of the phoenix. 8hr session. the phoenix's eyeball's not drawn in yet. only later on.




session 4: 2nd color session where we completed the right wing. had originally intended to do the tail feather that goes on my right rib as well but alas, i reached my pain threshold roundabout the time we were at the yellow bottom bits near my abdomen and so we called it a day.




session 5: completed the neck of the phoenix and one large pink tailfeather.