Let me first say, that, prior to this point, all I had pierced was my ears (10g) my tounge and an industrial. That was all. And yet, for some inexplicable reason I decided that my life would be better served by putting eight bits of metal though my upper arms. A better thing has never happened to me- hands down I think that this was one of the best experiences of my life.
At A Glance Author Stanimal Contact Stanimal@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Davis Campbell Studio Juggernaut Tattoo Location Bellingham, WA I approached my piercist (now my fianc'ee) and brought up the idea of corsetry on my arms. He was immediately enthusiastic and started to describe what type of jewelry he would use, where he thought the piercings should go etc. I was planning to lace them up and do some photo work with them, so placement was crucial. I made an appointment to come in the next Sunday, which was one of his days off. We opted for a time when the shop was closed because this was a strenuous piercing for him, and we were unsure as to how I would react. I did not have any experience with surface work, so I was basically stepping off a cliff. Needless to say, I was very excited! Finally, sunday came round and I headed off to the shop. I had forgotten to stock up on sugar that day, so I stopped off at a Taco Del Mar and grabbed a soda. It turned out that I had worried for nothing...
He got set up and started marking my arms. This took a little while, as it is a little hard to get things straight when you have to work around muscle, but I am glad that he took the extra time- the marks were perfect. Finally he was ready to pierce. I asked him not to wait, that I would take it and he was to move at his own pace. Then we ran into a problem. I am a rather athletic person, and we discovered that due to my muscle mass in my arms, there was very little to clamp. Finally we were able to get enough skin so that the piercing would be deep enough, and he ran the needle. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. (It has since been determined that you could drop a running lawn mower on me and all I would say would be "Meh," so I do not know if I am the best one to ask about pain...) I had enough foresight to grab one of the rubber ducks that were randomly laying about the shop and use it to squeeze- it helped to keep me perfectly still. That was honestly the hardest part. Trying not to flinch. He ran the jewelry and all was done. He had me look in a mirror to make sure I liked it, after I had voiced my approval we proceeded to finish the other three. We had started with the upper back of my arm and worked counter-clockwise, weirdly enough it was the lower back of my arm that hurt the worst. But even the worst was not bad at all.
We took a smoke break and discussed what I wanted to do for the other side. I had originally planned to be symmetrical, but Dave said that while we were piercing he had gotten this really great idea, and he thought we should give it a try. It was four barbells with a ring in the middle. I thought that it sounded awesome, and that we should give it a try. It meant that I would be getting nine piercings instead of eight, but I was not even the least bit shaky after the four so we thought that it would be ok. We finished our cigarettes and headed back in the shop.
He got the new jewelry out and started marking. This was a little more difficult because the placement of the center ring had to be perfect. If it was even a little bit off then it would look weird, and that was not what we were going for. Finally all the marks were perfect, and I sat down so we could start piercing again. I transfered the duck to my other hand and fell into that zen place I seem to go when getting work done. We had trouble clamping again, but finally we were ready. The piercings went fast, and with in probably 30 minutes all of them were in and I was cleaned up. I was very impressed with the way that the design had turned out- it was very amazing looking! I had bought special satin ribbons a few days before so that I would make the red and black design that I wanted. Thank god I had brought them with me because we ended up just using the red for the left side, and the black and red I had made for the right corset (the original design). When they were both laced up I was very impressed! The right side looked amazing, and he had laced the left up in a way that made it look like a celtic knot. I was very happy, and handed over the fee (along with a healthy tip) with no qualms.
They have since all been taken out, it was a high impact area and after ripping one out I canned the rest to avoid looking uneven. I am ok with that though. I have some scarring, but it is minimal, and for the 2.5 months that I had these upper arm corsets, I loved them intensely. I would recommend Davis Campbell to anyone looking to get any type of piercing, he honestly lives up to the motto "If you can pinch it, you can pierce it." He has done all of my 32 piercings, and will do many more. I have seen very unusual surface work come from him, and he always strives to give you the coolest thing imaginable. He now works at Lucky Lady Tattoo in Ferndale, WA, and if you are ever in the area I highly recommend checking him out!