Hunting Owl

My design, realised by Sarah Street. It won 'Best Large Male' in 2001. Now there's a conversation opener...

I just designed the piece, originally for a leather jacket, before working with Sarah to realise it as a tattoo. I suggested colours and, basically, provided the canvas for Sarah's tattooing.

I was pretty unaware of the nordic tattoing style when I drew the original; contemporary celtic was an immediate influence but all my stuff is 'traditional' and builds on historical art.The piece has roots equally in Scandinavia and Celtc Britain; it's heavily inspired by the Sutton Hoo treasure; this was an Anglo Saxon ship burial, probably one of the first Kings. In fact there's good evidence that it's close to Beowulf and that some of the stuff described in Beowulf is in the ship. The Anglo Saxons were Nordic, but settled in Eastern England. They seem to have been fascinated with Celtic art and to have begun something of an artistic blooming (including possibly inventing knotwork). The Sutton Hoo royal treasure contains beautiful beautiful pieces; pure gold swirling and framing the richest enamelling and precious stone inlay. The colours are fabulous. I wanted to take the richness and freshness of this stuff and infuse contemporary celtic art, often harsh black and white, with it.

There were a few pieces in particular which inspired in particular. The Sutton Hoo shield eagle directly influenced the talons in my design. The shield is an eagle on display, aggressive display, warlike. It looks to me as if it is stooping to kill but the form looks crooked & twisted. I wanted something more direct, more immediate. As well as being two opposing birds, this design can also be seen as one bird coming straight at you. This is what the Sutton Hoo eagle might look like head on.

Wings and feathers have been a constant motif in my stuff, I wanted to try putting some wings on someone (the jacket was painted across the shoulders, as the tattoo). I love the way Egyptian art gives people wings, almost understating it; some people just have wings, just as a matter of fact. The wings are done beautifully; banks of feathers seem to radiate out. This form lends itself to geometry. The tattoo is based around a central circle, an unseen sun at the centre of the picture. The wings lift this up; the radiant lines gradually point to a higher and higher point, breaking open closer to the bottom of the design. The shape of the top of the design mirrors the elipse of the secondary feathers. The first ray's of sawn are, literally, breaking across the top.

There are few birds of significance in Celtic myth, it was Norse myth which inspired and informed the design. This piece is the top of a three part design; this is the bird, transcendant, sitting at the top of a tree with the roots wound with dragons; Yggdrasil. The birds can be seen as one bird, or as two. These are Odin's ravens, Hugin & Munin. Sent out by day they are perception and thought. By night they return and recombine in Odin. The tattoo is the moment at dawn, or dusk, as the they split into two passive viewers or recombine into one powerful, aggressive, being.

The wings are studded with triskeles and three cornered knots. The knots are derived from the simplest eternal knot, and are endless of course. The circular triskeles are tightly bound knots, almost spirals, flower buds almost. The bird's eyes, one five pointed, one seven, are sliced pomegranets; ancient Greek symbols of eternity and of the promise of spring.

The design is placed on the boundary; two becoming one, night becoming day. Life becoming death becoming life.

The whole design is placed high on my back, marking one step in the Jacob's ladder of my spine. The story of what it is is inextricable from the story of who I am, and of two particular events. One was almost shamanic; from the top of a tree, I felt a breath of rain and heard a voice, a song, a word. The other was a bike crash which left me hurting for a long year. During that time I went to some dark places but I came out savouring life, warmth and in love with the world. After this I chose my own scars, and found the certainty to commit to this design.

If I think about it too much it all gets quite introspective...