Ashes In Tattoo Ink

Ashes In Tattoo Ink: Just three weeks after her late fiance’s death, a woman has a ‘cremation tattoo’ of his ashes etched on her arm.

Gemma Batt’s fiance died in a vehicle accident, and she claims that tattooing has proven therapeutic for her.

Getting a tattoo in honor of a deceased loved one isn’t a novel concept, but a select few are paying respect to those who have passed away in a unique way.

Some of a person’s ashes are incorporated with the ink for cremation tattoos, also known as memorial tattoos. It’s not for everyone, but those that choose this type of body art can’t say enough good things about it.

Gemma Batt, 37, from Barnard Castle, County Durham, is one of them.

Her boyfriend Stephen Halsall, 31, died in a traffic accident on February 5 of this 2017, and she went to Gods Of Ink in Gloucester three weeks later to have a cremation tattoo in his honor.

She stated, “With him being my fiancé, it was a way for me to have him with me all the time.” “He’s with me wherever I go.”

“It helped me feel at peace knowing artist was making it with Stephen’s ashes in it; it seemed to assist me a lot, knowing there’s a part of him with me.”

Gemma and Stephen had been dating for four and a half years when they got engaged after only a year together.

She was still in shock after he died, but she knew she wanted to do something special with his ashes.

Gemma pondered making jewelry out of them at first, but when doing research, she came across the notion of a cremation tattoo.

Gemma was already thinking about getting a tribal inking similar to the one Stephen had engraved on his back imprinted on her.

She contacted the studio and decided to go with a new design. It has the phrase ‘Stephen, A part of me was taken the day you were kidnapped,’ as well as some flowers sketched on her arm by artist John Petrovics.

“They did the flowers freehand,” she continued, “so it’s great to know it’s a tattoo for me and not for anyone else.”

While others may not understand Gemma’s motivation for the homage, it has aided her in her grief journey.

“I’m still a little numb about it at the moment,” she explained, “but this really helps.”

“Knowing that Stephen will be beside me made me feel more at ease.

“I didn’t find it particularly moving… It’s still not quite real. But it was simply soothing, and knowing that something like that could be done was incredibly therapeutic.

“It’s something I’d strongly suggest.

“Personally, I’m aware that a piece of him is still with me.

“It doesn’t matter where I go, he’ll always be with me, and I’ll never lose it. If I get jewelry or anything like that, I might lose it, but a tattoo is permanent, and I would definitely recommend having one.”

Rob Cox, 47, is the manager of Gods of Ink, and he assisted Gemma with her tattoo.

It took him a time to get his mind around the fact that his studio is one of only a few in the UK that provides the service.

“To be honest, when I first heard about it privately, I said to myself, ‘Oh, I’m not sure about that. It’s a little weird,'” he acknowledged.

“However, as time passes and you witness each individual achieve what they want for their own reasons, you quickly realize that you need to walk a mile in their shoes before passing judgment on whatever they’re doing.”

“The more I’ve seen recently, the more it makes perfect sense to me.” It’s not something I’d do, but I completely see why others do.”

He’s used to skepticism about the service, with many describing it as “macabre.”