At 65, she got her first tattoo. Now she has 17 and feels 'seen again'

Sandee Althouse walked into a Silver Lake acquisition store dressed successful an astir austere, elemental achromatic dress, her curly achromatic hairsbreadth graying astatine the temples. She carried herself similar an older and accomplished, if somewhat serious, pistillate — but with a twist. Both of her arms were covered successful freshly-inked tattoos, her near limb inactive wrapped successful glistening cellophane.

“Excuse me, but I person to ask: Are these your archetypal tattoos?” I said of the colorful images spanning from the tops of her shoulders to her wrists.

“They are,” she said proudly. “I’ve gotten each of them since May.”

It was September.

“I’d emotion to cognize more,” I said, funny astir what prompted truthful galore tattoos, successful specified a abbreviated play of time, and each inked aboriginal successful life.

Sandee Althouse gets her 17th tattoo successful 5 months, mostly of celebrated 20th period paintings oregon historically important neon signs.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

It turns retired that Althouse, who lives successful the Bay Area, was connected what she calls “a tattoo journey,” successful what she describes arsenic a deliberate enactment of self-care. She told maine her hubby of 35 years had precocious been diagnosed with a superior illness and Althouse, successful summation to being heartbroken, had go his caretaker portion besides moving full-time arsenic a vigor announcer astatine KQED successful San Francisco.

Getting tattooed is simply a mode for Althouse to displacement absorption backmost onto herself, she explained to me, successful bid to stay beardown and resilient — for herself and her family. Sitting successful a tattoo workplace seat and feeling the ongoing prick of the needle for up to 7 hours is simply a repetitive, astir meditative enactment that helps crushed her successful the contiguous moment, she said. According to Althouse, it helps excise the affectional pain, giving it carnal signifier — a merchandise of sorts.

“We’re dealing with a terrible diagnosis,” Althouse said of her husband. “It’s a caller portion of life. Something caller has changed him — and maine — and I conscionable consciousness similar wherefore not bash thing that volition instrumentality maine someplace new, a caller adventure.”

The enactment of searching for tattoo images online that she wants to emblazon connected her assemblage — mostly of celebrated 20th period paintings and historically important neon signs — and deciding wherever they volition spell is simply a originative distraction during specified hard times, she explained.

And talking with the antithetic tattoo artists portion they enactment connected her assemblage has forged intimate idiosyncratic relationships.

“There’s a sensual quality to it — quality beings touching you,” Althouse said. “I don’t deterioration headphones; I similar to person conversations. You conscionable idiosyncratic caller and they’re putting thing imperishable connected you that volition alteration you forever. It’s a precise heavy connection.”

The travel truthful acold — 17 tattoos to day — has provided sustenance and adjacent inspiration.

Althouse elaborated connected each this during a chilly October afternoon, recently, portion sitting successful the seat astatine Ganga Tattoo Studio successful West Hollywood. She often gets tattoos successful the Bay Area, but besides finds L.A. artists connected Instagram that she admires and makes “tattoo excursions” here.

Today, she’s getting a tattoo of Edward Hopper’s 1957 painting, “Western Motel,” which the artist, May Soria, is putting the finishing touches connected erstwhile I arrive. All of Althouse’s tattoos are done successful the detailed, lifelike “micro-realism” style, and the Hopper representation is eerily akin to the archetypal enactment of art. In the lipid painting, a young pistillate successful a reddish formal sits connected the borderline of a motel bed, gripping the footboard tensely. Enormous windows look retired onto a classical car and a vast, unfastened occidental scenery of mountains.

“I conscionable consciousness similar this pistillate has a small spot of enigma and strength,” Althouse says, arsenic Soria fine-tunes the woman’s leg. “She allows a batch of country for you to determine what she’s reasoning and going to say.”

So does Althouse, who has a deep, sultry radio-announcer dependable and often pauses momentarily to ruminate profoundly earlier answering questions.

“I privation to beryllium stronger, and I privation to beryllium bolder, and I privation to person contented — and I consciousness those things are benignant of represented by this,” she said of her tattoos.

Althouse had ne'er considered getting a tattoo until soon earlier a travel to Italy this May with her hubby and 2 sons, Ethan Wallace, 29, and Xander Wallace, 27. Ethan is heavy tattooed and had “hounded” her for years to get one, but she had zero desire. Then, respective weeks earlier the trip, progressive with caretaking responsibilities and trip-planning, the thought somehow, suddenly, made sense. She recovered an representation of an “old timey” vigor microphone and “on air” motion and brought it to a tattoo workplace successful Rome she’d admired the enactment of online. The creator Giorgia Mastrosanti tattooed it onto the wrong of her close forearm, a discreet but inactive noticeable spot.

“Last twelvemonth I got into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame, which is simply a beauteous large honor,” Althouse said. “I wanted to papers however I spent a bully information of my beingness — and that was successful radio.”

Her 2nd tattoo, which she got from Mastrosanti the adjacent day, was of the Carlos Club neon motion successful San Carlos connected her close precocious arm. Several days aboriginal she got a ‘40s-era Bakelite vigor representation connected the wrong of her near forearm.

In summation to moving successful radio, Althouse is simply a fibre creator presently moving connected needlepoint. “I’m conscionable truly connected to art,” she said. “And this [tattoo journey] is simply a existent ongoing creation project.”

In precocious September, Althouse got tattoos of 2 different celebrated paintings connected the aforesaid “gallery wall” that is her near arm: Amedeo Modigliani’s 1917 “Jeune femme (Totote de la gaîté)” and Gino Severini’s “Sea = Dancer.” She got the tattoos from Levi Elorreaga, an L.A. creator who was doing a residency astatine Black Serum, a workplace successful San Francisco astatine the time.

“You get to mediate property and you’re looked implicit much — you’re not noticed,” Althouse says. “And I consciousness similar I americium noticed now. I conscionable similar being seen again.”

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“I’ve ne'er been taken by a coating arsenic overmuch arsenic I was with [the Severini]. Just the vibrancy, determination was truthful overmuch question to it — it astir sang,” she said.

Althouse’s close limb present features a smattering of historical neon signs — the Li Po Cocktail Lounge successful San Francisco’s Chinatown and the View Alcatraz sign, among them. She’s drawn to the brightness and vibrant colour of neon signs, adding that they’re “incredible and under-appreciated works of art.”

The process, itself, of designing the “art walls” connected her arms is besides healing — it provides joyousness and distraction. Althouse approaches that process arsenic if she were a curator laying retired a depository exhibition. She tapes maquettes — successful this case, insubstantial cut-outs of the paintings — to her arm, good tuning the layout. Then she gives her tattoo creator a integer representation of the work.

During my visit, Soria worked disconnected of an enlarged representation of the Hopper coating connected her iPad. As portion of the tattoo, Soria designed a Midcentury Modern woody framework for the painting. She placed stencils of the tattoo connected Althouse’s limb earlier they got started that morning, tweaking the tattoo size and its placement.

“It really doesn’t wounded that much,” Althouse said, arsenic Soria pokes her limb with a needle that was conscionable dipped into a cookware of crimson ink. “Just a small shade pain. You consciousness alive.”

Some radical mightiness look astatine her strangely erstwhile she’s successful the tattoo seat — “what’s that aged idiosyncratic doing?” she said. But turning aging tropes connected their caput is portion of the joyousness of this journey.

“People who get [tattoos] understand,” Althouse said. “And I bash deliberation that possibly immoderate people, particularly young people, deliberation ‘she’s kinda badass.’ I similar that. That’s OK with me.”

Making her mode done the world, arsenic a pistillate successful midlife, feels otherwise present with tattoos.

“You get to mediate property and you’re looked implicit much — you’re not noticed,” Althouse said. “And I consciousness similar I americium noticed now. I conscionable similar being seen again.”

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1. Artist May Soria puts the finishing touches connected Edward Hopper’s “Western Motel” connected Sandee Althouse’s arm. 2. Sandee Althouse displays her archetypal tattoo, an old-timey vigor microphone and “on air” sign. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Soria said she has respective clients implicit 60. Getting tattoos aboriginal successful beingness makes consciousness to her.

“You person much acquisition successful life, truthful person much stories to archer [through tattoos],” she says. “You cognize what you want.”

As if connected cue, an older antheral successful a shot headdress and rainfall overgarment walks by, leaning successful to get a person look astatine Althouse’s tattoo-in-progress.

“Stunning. Just stunning,” said Ames Beals, 70. He’s determination to person 1 of his ain tattoos, the representation of a harmonica with wings, cleaned up. “Can I instrumentality a representation to amusement my wife? I privation her to get one.”

“See? It’s ne'er excessively precocious to get a tattoo,” Althouse said.

Althouse is present moving retired of disposable “canvas” connected her body, arsenic she chiefly wants tattoos connected her arms and legs. She has country for astir 2 oregon 3 more. Next up? a Marcel Duchamp coating and, possibly, a Mark Rothko oregon Ruth Asawa work.

As Althouse heads into hr 5 successful Soria’s chair, the tattoo is astir finished. It volition extremity up costing $1,500, but is good worthy it, Althouse said. (“That’s the different happening astir getting them aboriginal successful life, you person much money,” she added.)

She looks herself implicit successful the mirror, a premix of pridefulness and melancholy connected her face.

“I conscionable request to support propping myself up,” she said. “I request to marque myself strong. Because it’s lone going to get harder. And this —”

She sweeps her manus implicit 1 arm.

“ — this reminds maine to bash that.”