I've always been interested in body art. I've seen people come and go some with huge holes in their ears, some with tattoo's, and some that could be rejects from Hellraiser. I've been reluctant to approach these people, but I have always wanted to ask what it was like.
At A Glance Author Deva Contact Deva@bme.anon Artist Jesse Donovan Studio Artful Body Location Auckland, New Zealand About the time I was getting into the big party scene I kept seeing more and more people with these little pieces of metal sticking out of there face, eyebrows, lips, noses, between their eyes, just everywhere. I eventually got used to seeing them around, not to mention all those little belly button hoops, those were everywhere. I remember having a few discussions about piercings with my friends, but never really considered getting one myself. There were a few times that I liked the way one looked, but it never even crossed my mind to stick that needle through any part of my body.
After a long period of school and work, I got fired from my old job. I was bummed out, but I made the best of it. One day I told a friend what happened and the first thing he said was, "now that you don't have a job you can go get piercings on your face", for some strange reason his comment changed my opinion on getting one. After years of not caring about such a torture as sticking metal through my skin, I wanted a piercing of my own. I looked around for a while at all the different stuff I could get, I never made up my mind about it. I remember waking through town one day and seeing a tattoo parlor, I figured they'd know how to do that kind of thing. I went in and asked the guy if he could do piercing, he looked up at me and said that he could, but he didn't know what was what. I asked him if he could tell me where I might get one and he pointed me down the street and up a couple of blocks. When I got to the shop I didn't know if it was a piercing shop or a doctors office. Everything was clean and kept up quite nicely, magazines on the table, couch in a waiting room, the only thing that gave it away was the tattoo flash on the wall and a huge glass bin full of little hoops and spikes and barbells. I asked the girl at the counter, who had obviously had her share of piercings herself, what kinds of piercings would look good on me. She gave me a strange look, and stood up. It was obvious she didn't usually get those kinds of questions. She looked at my face and my ears, then she told me she thought I should get bigger hoops in my ears, stretch them she said. I thought for a minute and went for it. She showed me all the jewelry in her case and let me pick out what I wanted. I choose a pair of small hoops that had a gold bead in it. She took me back and told me to relax and this wasn't going to hurt, it was just a simple stretch. She told me about how she was just going to put a taper in and then the hoops right after it. Just as she finished saying that, she quickly said "you're done". I was in no pain, and they went right in.
After a few days I went back to the same shop and talked to her again. I told her I wanted something.... different. She told me a labret was simple, but I already knew what that was and wasn't sure if I wanted something like that. After a few suggestions, I decided on getting my right nipple done. I thought, it's something different, but not too extreme. We went into the back, like before, she sat me down and had me lie back, like before. She told me what was going to happen and how she was going to put the clamps on, mark it, and put the needle through. She then told me to concentrate on breathing and to get ready for a little pain. I sat back, relaxed, and kept breathing. I felt a little pressure from the clamps just before they completely closed down on my poor nipple. I kept relaxed, she told me to keep breathing and she counted to three, when the needle went through, it hurt like hell, and I thought the clamps hurt when she put em on. She told me to clean it everyday and the usual healing routine. I was so sore for the next few days, but after it healed, it was so much fun that I had to go get the other one pierced too. I went back to the shop, did the same routine and now I have two beautifuly pierced nipples.
I was set on just what I had, with the exception of my ears, I'm gonna keep stretching them, but I was totally hap with it all, until my friend Libby started talking about getting her hood pierced. I was a little curious to know more about it. I went with her the same shop where I had my nipples done. She talked with the girl, Jesse, and we all went into the back. While I was standing there, Jesse kept telling us what was going on what was going to happen. The more she talked about it, the more I wanted mine done too. Libby took off her shorts and underwear and sat back in the chair spread eagle. Jesse showed us the needle in the package the the receiving tube in it's package. As she was putting the needle up to Libby's hood, Libby decided to change her mind. We were already there and already to go, so I said I would do it. I took the same position and prepared myself. I felt a pain like I've never felt before, but it wasn't from my hood, it was Libby squeezing my hand as I was getting pierced. She was so freaked out by it, that she almost started crying, and just a second ago she was about to get it done. I can only imagine the trouble she would've caused, but she did give me something else to think about during the piercing, but now I have a vertical hood piercing, and I couldn't be happier.
After three months I still can't beleive what I've done to my "special area", it's just too much fun. I always find myself playing with my piercings, in public even. If my mother only knew what I've been up to.