It’s my first time in London all by myself. My first time ever, I had my family and friends with me, but now it’s different. I want to mark my journey with Harry Potter, expressing my love for JK Rowling, while sporting a spell that emits love and light on my body at all times. I am getting a tattoo of ‘expecto patronum,’ the spell to fight off dementors, which represent everything dark and foul in the wizarding world. I have a printout in Rowling’s handwriting to hand to my tattoo artist.
How did I find the artist? Well… through Michelle Gomez. Yes, the Michelle Gomez from “Doctor Who,” “Sabrina,” “The Flight Attendant,” “Green Wing”… I could go on. But I won’t for the sake of this article.
She connects me and my tattoo artist, Laura Gomez, now a good friend on instagram. More like sends me on a quest to “She’s in Exeter. Go find her.”
Quest accepted! I’ve been wanting this tattoo since high school, after writing it with a pen on my ankle and coming home to my angry mother with a ‘quest’ to, “Go wash that off right now.” But now, I’m sitting in a Starbucks with a kickass tattoo artist, whose designs I’m in love with. There’s something so whimsical and otherworldly about them, and she makes me feel so comfortable and answers all the questions I have about the tattoo process.
‘Is this going to hurt?’ I ask.
‘Babe. I’m stabbing you over 20 times with a needle. It’s going to hurt.’ She replies.
Signed up. Nervously, but still signed up. I travel all the way to Exeter from London to see Laura for the tattoo. Obviously something she said worked. Maybe it was telling me to go to the Harry Potter tour in London because I would cry. She was right.
It doesn’t hurt much, but it feels weird. Like a sunburn with a cat scratch and a very odd smell of fresh tattoo ink. I keep it covered for the entire bus ride home, and I’m terrified about messing it up, so I treat it with tattoo goo and everything. I’m very serious about the whole process. But I can’t believe it at the end – it looked so good! And I had a great experience, couldn’t have asked for better. I love this tattoo to this day, because it’s one of my less obvious ones.
Sadly, Laura Gomez is no longer in the tattoo industry, but you can check out her past works at lauragomeztattoo on instagram. They are all incredible art just worth seeing. I’m incredibly grateful for the experience, and I would do it again. And I have, I have one on my wrist, a daisy for my godson, Always with a semi colon, and 221b for the Sherlock fandom.
Who knows what my next one will be? But if my first one hadn’t been so easy, and if I hadn’t had Laura, I doubt I would have as many as I do now. If you’re considering a tattoo, I hope my experience helps you get excited about the process!