Kelli

I was born and raised in San Diego and have no plans on leaving. It’s a place where cultural diversity is celebrated and accepted; furthermore, my influences have never predominantly come from one person, but a whole city.
I began experimenting with an assortment of piercings when I was 16 years-old, and learned the hard way that my body did not welcome any of the jewelry I was feeding it. Amongst the many varieties of body modifications, I quickly became extremely interested in the art of tattooing. Anticipating my 18th birthday, I was finally capable of embellishing my body with ink. What started out as a 30 minute piece has amounted into over 30 hours of art. With no plans on stopping, it’s not where to place my next tattoo, but what it’s going to be.
Growing up as a young teen I became fascinated with pin-up, cars and drag racing. Not even old enough to drive, I began attending illegal street races. The drag racing alone was a huge adrenaline rush, and the fact that everyone had to be prepared for law enforcement intervention made it that much more insane. I always begged to be the flag girl. Standing right in the middle of the two revved up cars, the smell of burning rubber, racing fuel and smoke filling the surrounding air. This undoubtedly had to be the best seat in the house; however, my friends never let me, re-enforcing the fact that it was a $2000 fine if I got caught.
My ongoing passion for cars and pin-up brought about the idea for my right side piece. I told Greg Nicola, A.K.A. Rabbit, at Ultimate Tattoo what I wanted and it came out even more perfect than I could have ever imagined. It consists of a diner in the background, a pin-up style flag girl in the center and two classic cars smoking their tires at the start line. The flag girl representing me of course, because this is probably the only race I’ll ever get to flag. Just below that I have a Tommy Gun Mobster piece simply because I like it.
My left side piece is symmetrical to my right side and it’s another pin-up inspiration, only this one is a bowling scene. The pins are flying behind the pin-up as she sits on a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Often times I have people asking me if my tattoos are finally done, and if not then than when? In my opinion no tattoo is truly ever complete, for something can always be added, changed, colored, or covered.
I don’t regret any of my tattoos, and many times just seeing the positive and negative reactions out of people puts a smile on my face. One thing’s for sure, going to the beach in a bikini has never been the same since I turned 18.

Kelli
kellaaayrae@yahoo.com