Ta Da! Here it is... the healed tattoo, as you can see it looks a good deal different than my original design. When we met with Anil for the consult he made some very helpful suggestions, he felt it was too colorful and too feminine so I "manned" it up a bit, lost the flowers, distressed the banner, moved the names & dates around & left the color up to him. Since it was in honor of our 25th anniversary he chose to use red and blue, red to represent passion and blue to represent the calmness, a good mix for a successful long term relationship. It sounded really good, besides red is my favorite color & blue is Joes!

This photo was taken right after it was done, it took about 2 1/2 hours but that was because we had almost 20 years to catch up on! It was fascinating to watch it being done, I'm so tempted to get a little one myself!

I met Anil Gupta 20 years ago when we both worked for the same garment company. Over the years I heard a lot about him and his tremendous success in the tattoo business. I even saw him on several tv specials. One of the things he became quite famous for is his miniature reproductions of the old masters paintings, amazing work, as is his portrait and fantasy work (I could go on & on!). His place is not your typical tattoo parlor, there are no stock designs. He does all the art custom for each client ( some very famous ones), they either give him a concept or just leave it up to him. Because he also respected me as an artist he clearly made an exception by using my art but his suggestions made made all the difference. He has a tremendous following, which keeps him booked for months in advance but because I knew him he squeezed us in without the long wait! It finally paid off knowing someone! Check out his website (link attached), he's an amazingly talented artist and a really nice guy.Anil Gupta

If you’re like my son you may be wondering...”What’s with the bike theme?” Back in the day... when I was young & single & lived on flat land at the beach I was an avid bike rider. For out first date Joe asked me to go on a bike ride. It wasn’t until much later that I found out he had to go out & buy a bike to go on that date! Not to worry though, It was a worthwhile investment; we have been riding ever since!

Anyone who knows Joe knows he doesn’t ask for much... but for as long as I can remember he has been asking me to design a tattoo for him. When he finallly gave up on me he started asking Callan on a regular basis. So this is not only for Joe but also for Callan (for all you do for me consider yourself off the hook now!)

How “tweet” is Callan? I’ll tell you...she is the “tweetest” person I know! Oh & she is also the best card maker too! Love it & you Cal, thanks!

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