Defining self: Body art tells stories

Published 6:00 pm Saturday, September 18, 2010

Iverson tattoo's frequent customer Blake Zietz of St. Ansgar, Iowa. During this visitt Zietz was having Iverson tattoo the Ivy's Ink logo on his shoulder. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Maja Blazevic, right, screws on the end of a bar lip piercing on Heidi Wilkie. — Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Body art is a form of expression, a form of art and perhaps more than all of that, a way of life.

It’s often said by tattoo enthusiasts that once you get one you’re hooked for life and in the past month, spending time at Ivy’s Ink in Austin I found that is certainly true. Most every customer said the same thing at one point or another followed by the inevitable question, “have you got one yet?”

But it’s not just tattoos, gracing arms, chests, and backs that define person. Body piercings do the same thing. People get both to show others who they are as well as mark specific moments in their lives.

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These and more photos not only feature those that do the tattooing and piercing, in this case Chad Iverson and Maja Blazevic, but those who grace their body with these works of art.

For more images from Ivy’s Ink go to the photo gallery section of austindailyherald.com.