DUNEDIN, Fla. — Haley Ernst never winced as she watched Lita Edwards’ tattoo tool slid across her skin. Edwards carefully outlined the wing of a cherub just below Ernst’s right elbow. The artwork, which features two angelic beings depicting good and evil, is the latest eye-catching tattoo on Ernst’s 19-year-old body.
“They’re really cute,” she said.
The cherub tattoo is newer, but the tattoo on Ernst’s left forearm is the piece that has been getting the most attention – in a good way, finally.
“I did it because I wanted to make them something I’m proud of.”
For years, people stared at Ernst’s left arm. Unsightly, deep, wounds covered her skin. Ascending lines of scars extended from her wrists to her elbow. She began cutting herself in high school. Those marks were reminders of both physical and emotional scars.
That’s why she wanted them covered.
“Seeing them on my arm was just a constant reminder of all the stuff I went through before so getting them covered up, it’s knowing that there’s better things to come and it’s over,” said Ernst.
Edwards, peering through colorful glasses, nodded along with that answer. She has been tattooing in Florida for four years after moving south from Tennessee. Overall, she’s spent 11 years in the field.
“It’s my passion. I couldn’t imagine doing anything different,” she said, never looking up from her work. “I found a way to be different. I found a way to take my work and my love and my craft and make a difference in someone’s life every day.”
Edwards comes from a family of artists. Her mother pushed her to pursue art. She ended up specializing in covering up scars like Ernst’s and cancer patients. Her first scar-related client needed artwork on her breasts after a mastectomy.
“One day a lady named Alice came in. She was 68. She had been 12 years out of surgery and left with horrid scars. Reconstruction wasn’t an option,” recalled Edwards. “I knew then that was exactly why I was in this industry.”
Edwards, whose Dunedin shop is aptly named Metamorphosis Ink, has lost track of the number of tattoos she’s done for women in pain from scarring on their bodies. She routinely gets referrals from Moffitt Cancer Center and has seen her tattooing chair turn into a quasi-therapy couch.
“I feel more chosen for this,” she said. “It came to me.”
Ernst first came in for a tattoo with Edwards two years ago after the prompting of her mother. The piece on her left forearm, which beautifully integrates her cutting scars, features flowers of all colors and shapes.
“I just wanted flowers and she came up with everything all together,” Ernst said, looking down at the bumblebees peeking around the petals.
Unless you looked closely, you’d never see the old scars. Only art remains. The tattoo took hours to complete. That provided time for client and artist to bond in more ways than one.
“Having the ability to now share her story with others from a point of inspiration rather than a point of desperation makes a big difference,” said Edwards.
Edwards’ website has a gallery of before-and-after photos that are dazzling to the eye. Her Instagram account also shows examples of her work. She’s known in the industry as the “color queen” for her work with a wide palette and creative use of with ink. Many of her tattoos feature a wet look reminiscent of a watercolor stroke made with a paintbrush. The finished product is not only beautiful but healing.
“Our motto is transforming scars, transforming lives, one drop of ink at a time,” she said.
Edwards outlined both the good and evil cherubs in black before adding splashes of blue and red. When asked which of Ernst’s forearms would tell a more compelling story once all the tattooing work was completed, the artist paused. The tattoo buzzing ceased as she pondered the question.
“I don’t know,” Edwards finally said. “That’s going to be hard.”
Metamorphosis Ink is located at 2141 Main Street, Suite F in Dunedin.
Tattoo cover-ups
What other people are reading right now:
- Man accused of leaving boy on the side of the road because he thought he was gay
- $5 million reward offered in FBI search for 'most wanted terrorist'
- Immersive 'Rise of the Resistance' ride drops you into epic 'Star Wars' battle
- Pasco Co. man accused of attacking woman with hatchet and hammer in meth-fueled rage
- 12 Christmas light displays to see around Tampa Bay this holiday season
FREE 10NEWS APP:
