Leviticus talked about cutting and marking the body in reverence to the dead. The Hawaiians used to cut themselves with shells (scalp) and smear the funeral pyre ashes on themselves. And I know several people have done this in modern times before me...I seem to remember Bill Tinney (Photographer for Outlaw Biker, Tattoo Review, etc.) got a portrait of his mother (or grandmother) done by Brian Everett, I believe, with some ash mixed in the ink. However, I actually wanted to make ink out of the ash!

Unfortunately human (animal) ash is very light, so I mixed it with soot to darken it up while still trying to
stay as prehistoric as possible. I don't know if you should give the recipe out [Editor's Note: yup, I am], but it was half ash, half soot -- and then an equal portion of 55% Vodka! The human ash was quite grainy, so I had to mill/mortar it, which was no problem at Lejre [Denmark, where the tattoo took place]. In the studio, I probably would have hit it with the ultrasonic for a few days. But Eric is from Minnesota (Minnesota Viking!), so my only concern was that he might catch Mad Republican Disease!

• Cremation Ashes Memorial Tattoo
• Tattooing Ashes in Memorial Tattoo

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 "I've always appreciated the beauty of animal skulls, and it seemed an appropriate symbol of adulthood because of the obvious connection with hunting. I also liked the connection with the Norse rune Algiz, which I have tattooed in red ink on my left big toe.

Above all, I knew that the tattoo would look fucking cool. I think that the cliche about knowing when you are in love also applies to finding the right tattoo design--you just know when it's right.

I chose Clare because I have held her artistic abilities in extremely high esteem for a very long time now, since before she started tattooing. One of her great strengths as an artist, on skin or on canvas, is that she has an amazing gift for depicting natural forms, whether that be as a painted portrait or a tattooed butterfly. The stag skull was a departure from her normal style, but once we had discussed the idea and she'd done a few preliminary sketches, I knew we were on the right track.

We both agreed that hand poking would be the best way forward for the tattoo, both in terms of allowing Clare to get as much detail she thought the tattoo needed and would hurt less for me. Having both machine and hand poked tattoos, I can safely say I prefer hand poking--it feels less traumatic and spares you the incessant buzz of the machine. However, despite the relative ease of hand-poked tattoos, I still found the tattoo extremely painful in places, which was in a strange sense what I was looking for:  a big, bewildering experience that would push my limits beyond what my experiences had previously led me to believe I could handle and to be left with an amazing image on my skin at the end of it to mark my thirtieth birthday." 

"I started tattooing by hand initially on myself. It felt intuitive. The fine lines I could create using just a needle just inspired me. My artwork has always been intricate, and tattooing like this felt like an extension of this...a very natural progression, and within no time at all, all my clients wanted hand-poked work...

To me, another wanting my artwork on their skin is an immense honor, and I feel that tattooing by hand,adding every minute dot one by one in the same way it has been done for millenia makes the tattoo all the more precious...it adds a certain magic!

I like working with color. Many hand-artists avoid it because colored inks have less saturated pigment so it takes a lot longer than black to actually get the color in the skin--but I like challenges!

I draw lots of my inspiration from many sources-old Victorian botanical plates, mehendhi art,Islamic geometry to name a few.I really love reinterpreting ancient artwork into the modern day using what is essentially an even older technique."