New Addition to Our World War I Tattoo Collection: #2 Barbed Wire & Poppies

 

Collection Number & Title: 

#2 Barbed Wire & Poppies

Description:  Floral piece with two dramatic blossoming red poppies set atop rolls of barbed  wire.

Location:  Lower Left Leg

Tattooee: John S. Sproul

Artist: Amanda Pepper, in St Louis MO, website: bemycanvas.com

Background: Details from John and Linda Sproul

I've been entranced by the Great War for about 20 years; when I met my wife, Linda, she got the bug. We've been to the Western front seven times, once a year from 2014 to 2019. Our first trip over was to Sarajevo in 2014; we were on the site of the assassination on the 100th anniversary of the deed.  From there we flew to London and then into France. I proposed to Linda at the Lochnagar crater, and we were married on Veteran's/Armistice Day that year, at 11:00 a.m., in Kansas City. We then went to the museum in period clothes and were taken for actors. 

Wedding Day for John and Linda

Over the next six years, we returned to the front yearly to mark 100th anniversaries of the Somme, Verdun, and other spots; we used what was a great touring company, The War Research Society and were devastated when its leader Ian Alexander passed.  We were there in Longueval when his memorial bench was dedicated. Our final trip was in 2019, to the Palace of Versailles, on the anniversary of the signing of the treaty, and were dumbfounded that the French did precisely zero on that spot, on that day. We hope to return after COVID, and in the meantime, we're members and supporters of our World War I Memorial and Museum in Kansas City, and we voraciously read and collect trench art, medals, things that used to go bang, and so forth. . .

When preparing for the tattoo, I described to the artist that what I was wanting: a collage of poppies and barbed wire. She emailed me a photo of a sketch she had drawn, and I loved it. When applying it, she did it freehand, without a stencil... quite the feat.

Here's a picture of the oil painting of the tattoo my wife Linda gave me as a gift after I got the tattoo, painted by the original tattoo artist; she used a piece of wood from an old church pew as her "canvas." 

To Nominate New WWI Tattoos

Nominees from our readers will be considered for addition to the collection.

The following rules, however, MUST be observed:

1.  Content is to be exclusively from the First World War

2.  Nothing on private parts or faces

3.  No Rasputin portraits

4.  Decisions by the Editor as to suitability for our collection are final and irrevocable

Submit photos and pertinent details to the editor at mike.greatwar@gmail.com