"When I was 16, I met this really cute guy who drove a hotrod and was a tattoo artist who quickly became my boyfriend. Needless to say, my parents were not amused. He gave me my first tattoo, which is a small weeping willow tree on my shoulder. I didn't show it to my parents for like two years. I have since incorporated it into the big piece that takes up most of my upper back, on the left side. I guess you could say he started it all."

Photographed by Greg Manis