My tattoos and some of the meaning behind them

I have decided to take some time to write about one of the most asked question about me… Surprisingly, the question involves my tattoos…

I get asked a lot of questions about my tattoos, I guess tattoos can be used as an icebreaker for people who are at first apprehensive on approaching and talking to me …

Some of the questions people ask… I have to admit, some make me laugh inside, but I have to remember, some people really do not know that much about tattoos or tattooing… And if you don't ask, how will you find out…

…Two of my favorite questions… "Did you get them all at once? Did it hurt?"… Not to belittle anyone, but that would be one long stay at a tattoo parlor… and to answer the second… feels like a cat scratching you.

Another one of my favorites… "Can you remove them if you want? Will they ever come off?"

Seriously, I love when people ask about my tattoos. It usually leads the conversation to who and what I am, what I have accomplished… This helps combat the negative stereotyping that is cast on most tattooed people.

It has taken me a long time to decide what I wanted to get tattooed on me… It took me three years to decide what color to use for the "Griffin" on my forearm… Honestly.

In the beginning… When I was seventeen I joined the United States Army. I was stationed in Kirchgoens Germany… Ayers Kaserne deemed "the Rock". Trust me; there was good reason for that. I was in the 2/32 Armor, 3rd Armored Division "Spearhead".

I couldn't even count how many wonderful people that I had met there… sometimes I wonder how they are, what they are doing… are they alright… alive? …That is another story for later.

I roomed with three other soldiers… three very different individual personalities. Three to four people shared a room in the barracks.

Kyle… Kyle was from Michigan. He and I became closer than my first set of roommates…they were to busy pulling practical jokes on one another.

Disclaimer: Those with a weak stomach… Do not read on. Go to the next paragraph.

I am not going to name names, but while in Germany two of my roommates would play practical jokes on one another… One of my soon to be roommates had become tired of the other always drinking his last beer. He was going to teach him a lesson. He emptied the beer bottle and then relieved himself in the bottle and capped it back up. When the one roommate entered the room, as usual he went to the refrigerator and opened what he thought was the last beer and began to drink… needless to say, this solved the problem of him stealing the last beer.

…as the old soldiers left; new faces come in to take their place.

I believe it was a Friday night. Kyle put on his jacket and said, "Horvath… get your coat. We are going to Giessen". A taxi and then a train ride later, we ended up at the 'Dead Rebel' tattoo parlor… That is ware my adventures in tattooing began.

I have always wanted a tattoo, but what would my mother think… "John, you are in the United States Army for God's sake… you carry an M16, fire a 50 cal"… this is true, but back to the point, what is my mother going to say?

After careful deliberation I decided to get my 'Unit Crest' tattooed on my left arm… "Victory or Death"

…I was very proud of the Unit that I had been assigned to. A few months later I went back to the tattoo parlor and had an American bald eagle tattooed on my right arm…

A friend of mine most definitely remembers that tattoo. I had slept over at her house… the ink from the tattoo bled onto the bed sheets leaving an imprint of the tattoo for her to always remember it.

What did those two tattoos represent to me at that time… the pride I felt at the time defending the freedoms of my country, being in the army… only to find out that the freedoms that I fought for don't all apply to people with tattoo's… such is life… life goes on.

The third tattoo that I had tattooed on me was a "Griffin", which I briefly talked about at the beginning of this blog… I had that tattooed as homage to mythology and sci-fi… I believe I was eighteen when I got that one. I remember my NCOIC telling me that if I got any tattoos on my hands I could be charged with destruction of government property… Wow… I waited until I got back to the "real world"… civilian life, before getting my next one.

Years later… I found an awesome tattoo parlor in Waukesha Wisconsin… the artist's name was Bill… I remember him asking me what I wanted… I have always been partial to 'Custom' tattooing… tattoos that no one else would have except for you. I discussed a spiritual theme with him… I had temples and a cross tattooed on my right upper arm… spirits, depicted as shadow ghosts can be seen looking out the windows of the temple. A cross was then tattooed with light beams streaming from it…

Then came my "Harley years"… I used to ride a 1978 FLH… for those of you not familiar with Harley Davidson's FLH… It is a larger motorcycle… in simple terms… Time to get my Harley tattoo… I actually designed this one… a serpent dragon wrapped around the Harley logo… I put that one on my lower right forearm. Some of my friends remember me with a handle bar mustache and hair… believe it or not I did have hair at one point in my life… never really liked it…

One of my favorite tattoo parlors… "The Black Dragon" across from the famous George Webb restaurant, world's famous chilly. No one has ever answered this question, if it is world famous, how come you can only find George Webb in Wisconsin?

I met an artist named John at the Black Dragon… He helped continue the spiritual theme… he tattooed angels, INRI and tribal fire on my arms… then the center piece on my upper right shoulder. I loved the movie "Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)"… I had Ted Neeley's face, portraying Jesus tattooed on me. The best part is… I actually was able to meet Ted Neeley and show him the tattoo… he was moved… what a gentleman.

John also tattooed one of my favorite tattoos… Helmet of truth and sword of justice… this tattoo has a lot of meaning for me… I would like to keep that meaning to myself for now… sorry.

One of my favorite artists… John Cherevka … what can I say… a prodigy…

I attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh were John taught. He was informative, knowledgeable and encouraging.

I found out that he tattooed… He tattooed one of my favorite horror monsters on my left forearm… "Pumpkin Head" starring Lance Hendrickson…

I was very fortunate to meet Lance Hendrickson and show him the tattoo… he showed me his dolphin tattoo… and then stated in front of the crowd, "I better be careful on the roles that I choose." Of course the crowd laughed, but I was able to get my picture taken with him…

John was able to tattoo very fine and intricate work on my arm. He also tattooed witch Hagus's house on the back of my arm… she is looking out the window… everyone is always amazed at the detail in his tattooing… he is a true artist.

While living in Arizona I met an artist named Gabe… a very talented artist that started the fill in work on my arms. After my first appointment Gabe took me to an authentic Mexican food stand. We had spent an hour talking about how I wanted to connect all of my themes together. I decided that tribal lines would be the best way without taking away from the separate themes…

My personal tattoo 'turn off'… people who get a tattoo as a fashion statement… Remember, it will be with you for the rest of your life…
Friends and I have collected tattoos for years… each tattoo with personal meanings…

Some people collect art on a canvas… I also collect art; my body is my canvas…