Love this place. If you are visiting the Bay area and want some ink done- you must drop in! It's everything you want in a tattoo parlor. Cool art on the wall, great music playing, relaxed environment, and professional artists at work. My artist, Peter, was super sweet and patient with me since I don't think I was the easiest client. Pretty sure I kicked and screamed through the whole experience. My best friend R. and I got matching tattoos circa 1995 on a whim and regretted them since about 1998. We finally decided to cover those up with a new kick ass design that Peter hooked up. We told him what we wanted and he drew up a beautiful version of what we described. Even though I must have looked at 100 lotus flower designs- none that I was sure about, one look at the one he drew and we were sold!
Peter was extremely conscientious about hygiene and was meticulous about his needles and sterilized work station. His precise hand and careful technique covered our past random mistake, and gave us a piece we can actually be proud of. The flower is vibrant with fuchsia and pink and holds a perfect black ohm in its center. We love love love it!! Amazing cover up work. He works under the owner, Shawn whose tattoo photo book boasts some of the most beautiful skin art I've ever seen... and pretty sure I watch LA Ink every week! It was a lot of fun spending the afternoon in the shop. My lotus/ohm design is so pretty and feminine! Thanks Peter!! You totally rocked it! Best of luck to you and the crew at Berkley Tattoo Parlour.
**Bonus**
The meaning of my tattoo:
The flower: The lotus flower is one of the most ancient and deepest symbols of our planet. The lotus flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable beauty. At night the flower closes and sinks underwater, at dawn it rises and opens again. Untouched by the impurity, lotus symbolizes the purity of heart and mind.
The roots of a lotus are in the mud, the stem grows up through the water, and the heavily scented flower lies pristinely above the water, basking in the sunlight. This pattern of growth signifies the progress of the soul from the primeval mud of materialism, through the waters of experience, and into the bright sunshine of enlightenment.
The symbol: Om, Aum, Ohm is a holy meditation symbol of Hinduism & Buddhism. The word is Sanskrit. It is said "Whoever knows this syllable obtains whatever he wishes." This is because all words are said to be but various forms of the one sound, "om". It represents the divine and the power of God. It is the sound-symbol for the ultimate reality.
The three "mantras" of A, U, M also represent the outer, the inner and the superconscient states of consciousness and the waking, dream and deep sleep states respectively. Beyond these is the modeless fourth state (a-matra), which is the Self. Another way of saying this is that Om is immortal and inexhaustible. It is the symbolic expression of the creative spirit, the Word (with reference to the three component sounds), the three human conditions (waking, dreaming, and deep sleep), the three times of day (morning, midday, evening), and the three faculties (action, cognition, volition).
The Om is also often referred to as the sound of the Earth...creation...the heart of existence. To become one with the sound of the Om, through visual meditation and sounding of the vibration, allows one to become one with the source of all... to become "realized"... a "master".
Thanks for reading my review. Happy realizations!
xo,
Dre read more