Women embrace tattoos as art

Kerry Smith got a tattoo as a tribute to her children. Photo / Herald on Sunday

They used to be the ultimate mark of masculinity, proudly displayed on tough young men's biceps.

But now tattoo artists say that more than half of their customers are women of all ages and backgrounds.

Darren Watkins, senior artist at Dermagraphic Tattoo Studio in central Auckland, said there has been a move to more middle-class and professional women.

"They are realising that there is not actually a stigma or a criminal thing going on."

Watkins, a tattoo artist with 25 years' experience, said women were using tattooing as a way of remembering important events in their lives.

"People are realising it's a bit more than a tattoo, you can actually do art."

The size and style of tattoo is also changing, from small designs and butterflies to more dramatic inkings covering the whole arm.

In Te Atatu, Noel Messer of Talisman Tat2, said women were being more adventurous with their designs. "They've got more bold, they're getting in your face.

"The blokes have had a chance. Stand-by and let the women try."

New research in Australia backs up the anecdotal evidence, with women under 30 now the most likely to find tattoos attractive.

Stars such as Mena Suvari, Angelina Jolie and Victoria Beckham show off their tattoos at every opportunity.

University of Auckland sociologist William Wood said people no longer perceived "body art" as deviant. Instead, it expressed individuality.

"I suspect there is something about the permanence that appeals to a generation that has grown up with shifting families, increasingly poor job prospects and career choice, growing debt and anxiety about the future."

Mum wears kids on her sleeve

Mother-of-three Kerry Smith got a tattoo as a tribute to her children.

The colourful design of English ivy and and Celtic eternity knots now decorates her right arm.

Smith, 47, said she changed her attitude to tattoos after becoming friends with a Polish man whose back was tattooed with a mural of his life.

"He was a really nice guy and I started to look differently at people with tattoos."

Smith incorporated the initials "KLLC" on her arm to represent her name, and the names of her children Lance, 19, Larenna, 18 and Claudia, 15. "The theme was that we are going to be linked together for ever."

It took two 75-minute sittings and, to her surprise, didn't hurt. She designed the basic pattern but the rest was created by the tattoo artist at Auckland's Dermagraphic Tattoo.

Smith is the first person in her family to get a tattoo. "My kids think it's cool because they're involved and my colleagues think it's really nice."