For a while now I have been wanting a peony tattoo, and yesterday was the day to make it happen! Ever since I got my first tattoo, made by Eric Sundby from the tattoo studio Kunst med puls (unfortunately no proper webpage), I have loved the dotwork style. All my five tattoos have been made in this style. My new tattoo was designed and made by Kari Kjelskau, the fonder of the all female tattoo artists Memento Tattoo studio here in Oslo. She has actually made all my tattoos, except the first one.

So, why a peony? This question has a fairly simple answer: Because it reminds me of my maternal grandmother. She was a strong woman, and after staying with my grandparents the last year of high school, we became quite close. We were very similar in many ways, so we could have quite some arguments, but I still knew she loved me, and I know her. She used to grew large peony plants in the garden, end every summer she kept a bouquet of fresh peonies on the kitchen table.

My grandmother passed away 20 September 1999, 88 years old. She had lived, at times tough, life full of events. I remember her telling about when the war broke out in Norway, and that she worked as a cleaner at a hospital in Oslo. Oslo was also the place where she met my grandfather, a handsome young fellow that she fell in love with. She grew up in the woods, and had to ski to school during the winter. She actually wrote a poem about her life (in Norwegian).

Even though it’s almost 20 years since she passed away, I still miss her from time to time. Now I have a beautiful tattoo on my arm, to remind me of this amazing woman…