Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/235251
Drama can breed tattoos. But for 40-year-old Tanya Kirtz, her ink has been a product of her relationship with an artist and simply her desire to be herself. She's been fascinated with tattoos since she was growing up in Appleton. With Japanese-style art covering her entire back, both thighs and her ribs, Kirtz is committed to a partnership with artist Spike Bieganek of Spike-O-Matic Tattoo, as together they let narratives unfold on her skin. "I just felt like the more that we worked on the tattoos, the more I could see that we were not finished," she said. A manager at Community Coordinated Child Care, Inc. (4-C) and a married mom of a 9-year-old son, Kirtz has accompanied Bieganek to tattoo conventions, where they've won top prizes. While she elevates form over function, Kirtz's tattoos still have meaning. The Phoenix beautifully rising on her back was completed when she finally set aside time for herself to finish her undergraduate degree while raising her son and working full time. On her left rib cage, a snake coils around a heart with her son's name on it. And the garfish artistically rendered on her thigh? Well, she'd never heard of a garfish but had been dreaming of it since she was a child. Then she saw one on TV. "I told my husband 'That's the fish in "It's Freeing. I just feel like it has made me more comfortable in my own skin." -Tanya Kirtz my dreams!' Spike told me that maybe this is my totem animal. Garfish can breathe out of water and they can adapt to different surroundings," Kirtz says. "As women, we're always adapting." Kirtz has also used her tattooing experience to connect with her husband, another loyal client of Bieganek. "Some people like to knit or collect stamps. This is just a hobby of mine," Kirtz says, adding that most people wouldn't know she has tattoos because they're often covered. "But I'm really not scared of people judging me. I just don't need them to show because I got them for me and no one else." Kirtz says with changing attitudes, tattooing is becoming more acceptable, and when people do see her ink, their reaction is almost always positive. "Tattooing has just been such a great experience for me personally," she says. "It's freeing. I just feel like it has made me more comfortable in my own skin." Kirtz encourages all women to do whatever it is that helps them embrace who they are. For example, I practice yoga. I write. But do I need to tell stories on my skin? Recently I've pondered a wave tattoo: a wisp of water in the style of a famous Japanese woodblock. So here I sit with Raab's lovely rendering of a wave—on paper. As a tattoo, it would gracefully swirl around my ankle and remind me of Mom and Dad, and the impermanence and interconnectedness of life. It'd be cool. As Raab told me, "Just be open-minded and have fun with it." Kirtz says since I'm only 42, I still have time to decide. JANUARY 2014 | bravamagazine.com 57