This is Fawkes, about 36 hours after completion,...

This is Fawkes, about 36 hours after completion, now that the swelling has gone down and the redness isn’t as bad. This is my first tattoo and I got it on my 21st birthday, July 23, 2011. Done by Mike at West Side Tattoo in Colorado Springs, and from me, the shop and artist both come very highly recommended!

I got this tattoo because college has been an extremely difficult time for me. Quite the opposite of the norm, I have found that the last three years I’ve spent in school have been the darkest years of my life. Fawkes is my representation of rising from the ashes into a new chapter of my life, which will begin after my next and final year of school. I got him to remind me of how far I have come as well as how much I have left to do, which in the grand scheme of things, isn’t much. I’m so close to the end, and Fawkes will help carry me through the home stretch.

I am a music major, and music has always been a huge part of my life. For that reason, subtle musical allusions are hidden in the background: a treble clef just left of the back wing, and an eighth note to the right of the tail. Music has always been the driving force within me that has kept me moving, so it felt appropriate to surround Fawkes with music.

Fawkes is named after Dumbledore’s phoenix from the Harry Potter series. It was mere coincidence that my tattoo coincided so closely with the ending of the epic tale that partially defined my childhood, as well as with the birthday that very officially brings me into full adulthood. As I feel like my childhood has “died” with that series (haha) and as this tattoo was already about growth and rebirth, it felt appropriate to pay homage to Harry Potter by naming Fawkes as such.