About the Author

I, a single mind and passionate artist.

With promise to
Always do my best, with what I have at the time.
Please journey with me through my writing
I bare all and literally place my life on a line.
Victim of circumstance,
offers, enlightenment of which I hope to bare.
Seek solace in the little things
Such as this song I share.

Youll see my scars,

and nothing to mislay.
However
The strength with in my soul
never be taketh away.

Dedication
I dedicate my book to my wonderful customers. I hope you
have received a good tattoo experience from me.
I appreciate your loyalty and patience as I have grown into an
individual artist.
To the tattoo artists I have had the pleasure of working
alongside, good, bad or indifferent. I sincerely wish you all a
flourishing future.
To my true friends, who have picked me up every time I have
fallen. Dusting off my shoulders and making sure I always had
a tissue and a glass of wine on hand.
To my team, I hope I bring about inspiration.
To the universe, for giving me the courage to write.
And to my mother and father, who are the most incredible
parents. I wish I had more time with you.
Thank you all so very much.

www.ArtAngelTattoo.com

Beaudette De Lahaye

ART ANGEL TATTOO

PIERCING THE SURFACE

Copyright Beaudette De Lahaye (2015)

The right of Beaudette De Lahaye to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims
for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British
Library.
ISBN 9781784557140 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781784557164 (Hardback)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2015)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ

Printed and bound in Great Britain

Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I offer my sincerest gratitude to all my
customers who have had faith in my artistic capability.
Secondly, I would like to make mention (you all know
who you are) to the tattoo artists that have inspired, helped
and not hindered my growth.
Thirdly, to my foes as your experiences are from which I
have drawn enduring strength.
And to my parents for always believing in me even when
I did not.

I would like to thank the illustrators for their image contributions.

Contents
Fears...I mean, foreword

2 You ruined my back!

3 My Tattoo Apprenticeship

16

4 Hop, skip and a jump

21

5 I was that girl on but a different plane

27

6 My own tattoo shop

36

7 Mickey Blue Eyes

45

8 A hit ordered on my own tattoo shop

56

9 Fundraiser or fun eraser?

65

10 Id been played good and proper

74

11 New location, new start and a clean slate

83

12 Silly me, Id been set up from the beginning

99

13 My circle of influence, maybe not the most conducive

surroundings

110

14 Here we go again

117

15 Its not worth the fight, Im closing my tattoo shop

124

16 A little bit of insight as a female tattoo artist

132

17 New job, fresh start and its summertime

142

18 Small town tattoo shop, is this where I am meant to be?

154

19 Can we make it better for contracting tattoo artists and the Joe
Public?
166
20 Attempting to negotiate a mutual understanding

181

21 I love my job

194

Quotations and Aspirations

219

Research and reference

221

Glossary

236

Fears...I mean, foreword

I must admit, I am scared out of wits to share my

experiences. Sadly, there are not so many positive stories...I
have used a pseudonym for publishing, as I still currently
work as an artist and have my own shop. In addition,
although I hope for change, I may not see that in my lifetime.
Moreover, as I am giving evidence for persecution, I am very
1

nervous about being misinterpreted by hard scrutinisers, that

are set in their ways and not open to development. People
might fail to see my positive inspirations towards an everevolving life. I am certain I will be labelled, bashed,
victimised and vilified. I could also be excluded and shunned
from the only world I know. The world I love. The world of
Tattoo Art.
Nevertheless, for any change that has come about,
awareness, understanding and education has been the key. I
hope my book opens the readers minds for the consideration
of possibility, growth and much needed change.
I have the best intentions.

Jaimie Diamond

1
Love, love, and love my
new tattoo

As a youngster in my primary school days, I was always

larger than the other girls at school were. I developed from
a girl to a woman at a very early age. This was quite normal
in my family and I did not know any different. All the
women were heavy set in stature. My chest was larger than
all of my peers, including most of the female teachers
chests. In fact, if you added up the total amount of combined
chest area at my primary school, and compared the area mass
with my chest, I would win by a whole cup size...
In addition, as the kids in my school were uneducated to
abnormality, they found it sufficient to tease me about my
body oddities. This made me withdraw from school
activities, and I felt like an outcast throughout my primary
and teenage years. It also spilled over into adulthood. These
influencing attributes affected adult decisions I made. Rather
than standing up for what I believed in, I have often opted to
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blend in and not rock the boat. For the mere gain of social
acceptance.
Looking back, I do feel that one teacher could assume
some responsibility here. As she too came across as eager to
be on-board with the majority of her students, rather than
setting an example. She would hone in on me when I was
trying to inconspicuously disappear. When the focus wasnt
on me at gym training, I would try to be invisible or sneak
off to the bathroom before participating. The sneaking off
was to go put on another couple of bras before the sporting
activity session. By strapping down my chest and layering
my over shoulder boulder holders, I could manage to engage
in some sports and activities. My teacher, rather than letting
me go and do that; would single me out and question me,
until I was as red as a tomato with embarrassment...
Seriously, what twelve year old has the stones or gumption
to stand up in front of their class peers and say, Yes Miss,
Id like to take five minutes to throw on a couple bras to hold
down my boobs. Then I can run about like all the other kids.
At my age now, as an adult, sure no problem, but I did not
have the confidence then as a child.
I did not know whether to dread or welcome high school.
You hear of initiation stories and goings on of when you first
start high school that is intent on scaring you. I was more
concerned with another three years of being the school odd
ball. I did not think I could cope with being so vastly
4

different. Thankfully, there were other developed girls and

odd balls in college and this made me blend in amongst the
other students. If you are thinking that the years of primary
to high school is longer than three years, youre right. Where
I grew up, you have the option to leave at 16, and that is
exactly what I did.
My circle of friends during my college years were not the
best choice, they were older and college drop outs. They did
not attend university and did nothing with their time after
they had finished their time at college. I always thought that
they could not quite cut the strings from college and make
the transition into adulthood, or should I say, assume adult
responsibilities. That was why they let people like me hang
with them, to continue that connection to college somehow.
I saw them for who they were, but loved them all the same.
They were my friends and I did not have a whole lot to
choose from. They did not tease me and they did not seem
to care that I was slightly large in the chest, or a little odd...
In fact, Im sure a couple of the older boys liked my oddity.
A couple of my older friends had tattoos and I admired
them. The tattoos on my friends looked great and being
artistic myself, I designed a couple I thought I might like to
get. My parents were not opposed to the idea of me acquiring
a tattoo, they had grown more open minded over the years.
We had all lived through a myriad of levelling life events.
The ordeals, although some unpleasant, had given us unity,
5

strength, communication and honesty in our family unit. I

did not understand this so much when I was younger. Now
that I am older, I understand and value their way of
parenting.
I was honoured that my parents had given me consent to
get one of the tattoos that I had designed for myself. My
Father was going to join me and get one as well. So, for my
birthday, we booked in and I was allowed to get a small
tattoo with the proviso that it was in an area that I could
easily cover.
After counting down for many weeks and suppressing my
excitement, the day had finally come. It was time for me to
get my tattoo.
I walked into a staircase off one of the main streets in
town. It was dark stair well and seemed to go on forever. At
the top, was a room probably the size of a large living room.
A reception counter, creating a seated waiting area on one
side and a tattoo area on the other, divided the room. We
were spot on with time. My father had severed in the military
and punctuality was drilled into me at a young age. I have
no complaint as this serves me well today, it is a good
attribute to have. We were on time and ready, the tattoo shop
smelled weird, it was a clean alcohol, disinfectant smell,
crossed with cigarette smoke, and to my amazement,
Marijuana. This did not faze me at all, as I had no
expectation or knowledge of the experience. I went in and
6