Nordic Tattoo by Sean Parry

Florence’s Beasts

by

Competition Winner

Florence was the first winner of our Tattoo Competition as judged by @jannickewiesehansen in 2018 and I tattooed her hand as her prize! She was also one of the winners of the 2019 tattoo competition I held just before Christmas, judged by my friend @colindaletattoo from Skin & Bone Tattoo.

I get to meet many wonderful and interesting people in my job, and Florence is no exception. She has a pack of Huskies she sleds with in France and Scandinavia and I’m still hoping one winter I can go and be a part of this! Most of the work I’ve done on Florence’s are of wild beasts and their place in nature. Within the design, you can see a raven, dragon and wolf all completed with dotwork.

The Design

The knots represent nature, the cosmos and Yggdrasil. Imbedded in the roots and branches are many creatures, characters and gods. Among them is the head of Mímir above the pocket watch, and from him flows a tendril that leads to a stylised knotwork raven head, just above to wolf on the lower leg. The eye of the raven is also Odin’s eye. The representation is abstract, but that was my thought behind this section of the design. For those of you that don’t know the tale, Odin asks Mímir for a drink from his well.. and the price for this is an eye. Without hesitation, he plucks it from his head and throws it into the deep water. With his new wisdom, he sees much further than he ever could with both his peepers.

I won’t share all of the secrets this tattoo holds… they are for Florence to tell if she wishes. I’m looking forward to seeing what carvings in skin we end up with in the future 🙂

I hope that this piece is a good example of my willingness to work around other tattoos in different styles too. Unlike some tattooists, I don’t mind working around other artists work, and I don’t think it ruins the aesthetic. I just work a bit harder to make sure they flow together and don’t conflict. 

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