Eli Soque’s Mother’s Day tribute is a lasting one: He now sports
a mom tattoo on his left bicep.
The tattoo will serve as a constant reminder of how special his
mom, Maria Soque, is to him.
”
She’s my momma, she’s my best friend, she’s been there with
me,
”
Soque said as tattoo artist Matt Rocha carefully drew the
outline of a heart on his arm.
”
She’s the strongest person I know.
”
Eli Soque’s Mother’s Day tribute is a lasting one: He now sports a mom tattoo on his left bicep.
The tattoo will serve as a constant reminder of how special his mom, Maria Soque, is to him.
“She’s my momma, she’s my best friend, she’s been there with me,” Soque said as tattoo artist Matt Rocha carefully drew the outline of a heart on his arm. “She’s the strongest person I know.”
“Now he’ll constantly be reminded of who created him,” Rocha said as he worked.
Soque, 27, grew up in San Jose and attended Morgan Hill schools. His mother now lives in the Redding area. He’s hopeful this tattoo, unlike some of his other body art, will meet with her approval.
“She doesn’t like some of them,” Soque said, adding that he thinks the heart with a purple ribbon emblazoned with “Mom” in flowing script will garner a different reaction when he unveils it to her during a Mother’s Day visit.
In addition to being a living canvas for tattoo art, Soque is also a tattoo artist at Fineline Ink in Morgan Hill where his mom tattoo was applied.
“This is my life,” Soque said of tattooing.
Soque started tattooing himself with homemade tattoos when he was 15 and embarked upon a lifelong love of the art form that is frequently misunderstood.
Tattoos have been found on a bronze age corpse, on ancient Egyptian mummies and on Maoris of New Zealand, among many other cultures.
Although a tattoo tribute is an unusual Mother’s Day gift, it’s not completely unheard of, Soque said.
“A lot of people get their mom’s name or in loving memory with praying hands tattoos,” Soque said.
He has a client who is in the process of having a portrait of her mother, who’s incarcerated and ill, tattooed on her back and shoulder.
If Mom wants a tattoo of her own for Mother’s Day, Rocha said the most popular spot for ladies to have tattooed is the small of the back.
“It’s usually a butterfly, flowers, a fairy; anything feminine,” Rocha said.
Anyone thinking of getting a tattoo should look for a clean shop that follows important sterilization procedures, Rocha and Soque agreed.
“Look for sterilization equipment and single-use needles,” Rocha said, pointing out the autoclave, which sterilizes reusable equipment between uses, the prepackaged needle packs and the disposable ink trays.
According to the Alliance of Professional Tattooists, an autoclave, which uses a combination of heat, steam and pressure to sterilize, is the only acceptable means of sterilizing tattoo equipment.
In addition to getting a safe tattoo, you’ll want to get one from a talented and experienced tattooist.
“One thing’s for sure,” Rocha said. “There’s no erasing.”
Fineline Ink’s five tattoo artists keep portfolios of their work at the studio for customers to browse. They can do standard tattoos or create custom pieces.
Tattoos cost $105 per hour, with a $50 minimum. Soque’s mom tattoo is considered a medium-sized tattoo. It took about 90 minutes to apply and cost about $150.
Maximum tattoo session length is five hours a day, so complicated tattoos will require multiple sessions.
It’s important to keep new tattoos out of the sun for about a month, Rocha said, to allow the skin to heal.
Soque gave his mom tattoo a lot of consideration before making the permanent commitment a tattoo involves.
“I thought about it a long time,” he said.
One thing’s for certain: His mom won’t be unwrapping the clichéd candy, perfume or flowers this Mother’s Day.
Fineline Ink is located at 17865 Monterey Street, Suite B, in the Oakglen Shopping Center, 779-2310. Hours are noon to midnight, Tuesday through Saturday.
