Neo-traditional red rose with black shading and two black leaves on a forearm, with a thin red stem running down the arm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Red rose on a forearm

Neo-trad · Forearm · Mixed · Photo

A red rose with a faceted, angular bloom sits at the top of a long thin red stem, with two black leaves shaded in red on the lower stem. The linework is bold and the petals use solid red fills with dark black shading to create a sharp, folded look. The tattoo is set against a plain light background, with the wearer's black sleeve visible at the top of the frame.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Win,

Keep reading

We struck the big top in Doncaster on Tuesday, and the canvas came down the way an old man goes down the stairs, one heavy step at a time. Mr Halloran has sold the lion wagon to a scrap man in Wakefield. What's left is eleven of us, two elephants that will not be sold to anyone, and a red silk tent I have patched so many times it's mostly thread now.

I have been folding silk roses for the finale since March, because the crimson bunting is too faded to show from the back row and the bloom has to be seen from the cheap seats. Each one takes a square of red silk, four creases, and a pinch at the base so the petals stand up angular and sharp, like a bud that has decided to be difficult. The boy on the stilts says they look like they were cut from glass. I told him that is the nicest lie anyone has told me this year.

On the last night, a girl came up after the show with a sprig of real rose from her nan's garden and asked if I could make one that wouldn't fade. I said silk never fades, only forgets its creases. She laughed and asked if I'd sell her one for the price of a bag of chips. I gave it to her for nothing and she tucked it behind her ear and walked off into the car park with the whole of the last performance still on her face.

I am sending you the pattern I used, folded inside this letter. Keep it. It is the only thing in the show I'm sure will outlast us.

Love, Ada

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