Who Did Your Ink?: Garden blooms in Kameyo Melina's gorgeous sleeve

Who Did Your Ink? is the Straight’s weekly feature, where we ask badass Vancouverites about the talented artists, indelible stories, and, at times, questionable antics behind their most treasured tattoos.

What’s your name? Kameyo Melina.

What do you do? I’m a student of linguistics and instructor of English.

Who did your ink? I got my three-quarters of my sleeve done in 2013 by Cohen Floch at Paradigm Tattoo (201–906 West Broadway). I knew exactly what I wanted, but I hate shopping and this was no different. I just knew that I had to stay away from certain shops. Years ago when I was getting two stars behind my ear, I asked what kinds of purples a shop had. The tattoo artist opened the drawer and said, "What you see is what you get". At that time, I knew I would be getting a sleeve, and then I knew who wouldn't be doing it.

Why did you choose this artist to do your tattoo? Tattoo Union is close to my house, and after owning a shop a block away, I knew that its reputation was excellent. So I figured I'd go to a few shops in town and look at portfolios in each shop, and then decide. Cohen greeted me at Tattoo Union—he later opened his own shop, Paradigm, which is where he finished my sleeve—and I looked at three portfolios. I liked his portfolio a lot and his quiet, humble attitude was refreshing. I asked if I could make an appointment for a consultation and he replied, "With me?" So sweet. 

So I had a consultation and left him with a small deposit. He refused to take all my money even though I'd saved up for the whole thing before even shopping around. I sent him two photos of each flower and each creature I wanted and then I patiently waited six months for my first session. I didn't even get to see the drawing until the day before. I came in and he was with another client and I didn't want to take up his time. So I asked if I could take a photo (to look at while he was busy, so I could see if there were any changes I wanted made), but he said no. I get it: it's his work that I hadn't yet paid for. 

It's really too bad that after waiting so long, I was so epically hungover for my first session. I puked in the morning and had the first two hours of my session on an empty stomach, sweating out tequila, and taking Advil until I was able to keep down some Budgies Burritos in order to keep going for another two hours. I thought I might die. 

Is there any meaning behind it? My sleeve is beautiful. It's my flower garden and it doesn't really have any special meaning, except that the dragonfly is for my mom. The only thing I would change is maybe adding more strawberries to an area that's quite green, and maybe having a bit more negative space. 

Who’s your favourite local tattoo artist? I am not familiar with all the artists in the city to say.

What’s next on your ink list? I'm sure that this won't be my last tattoo, but I really don't feel drawn to anything right now—maybe a veggie garden.