Hailey Tyminski has three tattoos, representing both the struggle she’s gone through as well as her family who have constantly supported her.

The freshman wildlife science major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry decided to get her first piece upon learning that she had celiac disease when she was 17. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that damages and prevents the small intestine from absorbing important nutrients. Down her spine, the piece reads “live life fearlessly.”

For her second piece, she, her sister and her mom all got the same design — the word “love” displayed across their feet.

Just a few weeks ago, Tyminski decided to get a new tattoo. Her mother directed her to the parlor where she had gotten her first ink as a teenager: Ink 4 Joe, located in South Glens Falls, N.Y.

Her artist, A-Rod, immediately drew out the design she envisioned — a deer’s skull framed by roses on her hip, in honor of her father and mother.

“My family has become even more important to me since I went away. I Facetime them almost every day,” Tyminski said.

Not only are the flowers her mother’s favorites, but they also represent her two sisters and brother.

“I got the deer skull for my dad. He’s an avid hunter,” Tyminski said. “I grew up that way, I always went hunting with him.”

Though her father has not always been a strong supporter of tattoos, she recalls her father bragging to his friends about his daughter having an “eight-point buck tattooed to her hip.”

After four hours of work on the first session, she reached her pain threshold.

Tyminski plans on going back to the parlor next week to get some more shading done on the skull as well as some coloring to the antlers and the roses.

Said Tyminski: “I love tattoos. It doesn’t matter if a tattoo doesn’t mean something to someone else. It has its own story behind it.”

Published on March 4, 2014 at 1:30 am

Contact Naomi: ncfalk@syr.edu