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But this Love is Serious!

By NicerNews • on October 7, 2009

Author: Ashley Woodfolk
Original Publication Date: 7 October 2009

Literary and art inspired tattoos are becoming more and more commonplace as teens and twenty-somethings embrace various forms of artistic expression. From photography to paintings, poetry to prose, young adults are not only being inspired by the creativity of artists past and present, but many want that inspiration permanently etched into their skin.

The skin of Ryan Beckman, a 27-year old freelance writer and photographer, is home to several artistic and literary tattoos. “The first tattoo I got was the symbol for the Native American god of fertility, who’s also known as a wandering prankster, storyteller and musician. As a self-proclaimed trouble-maker, writer and musician, I think it’s pretty much a perfect symbol for what I love and what’s most important to me. This symbol is one of, if not the oldest, petroglyphs in the Americas, and one that has permeated through many cultures. I think it really speaks to the concept of the arts crossing boundaries.” And with tattoos like Ryan’s, art is definitely crossing boundaries.

While some, like Ryan, choose to adorn themselves with ancient art, others are choosing the words and artistic creations of newcomers. One recently discovered artist whose work seems to be inspiring hundreds of young men and women is Kurt Halsey.

Born Kurt Halsey Frederiksen, the young artist was raised in Wisconsin and obsessed with newspaper comics in his youth. As a child, he aspired to become a cartoonist but eventually tried his hand at everything from sculpture to painting. Despite this, drawings, just “black ink on white paper”, appeal to him most because they remind him of the comics he so loved as a kid.

Halsey’s work spans his breadth of experience; he draws, paints, and sculpts. His work is beautiful in its simplicity and innocence, and he uses adorable, child-like characters to explore varying themes and issues. And like many artists before him, Halsey’s work is inspiring tattoos.

Quotes and images taken from his art are finding its way onto the arms, legs, and torsos of young people everywhere. Halsey’s art, and the tattoos inspired by it, speak to just about everything a teen or young adult has to go through.

Several of his works tackle body-image and self-esteem:

“How could she not want this?”, reads a pencil drawing of a guy in his boxers, flexing. And in a piece entitled “Superman”, we see a sketched image of a scrawny teenage boy, slouching as he stares at his reflection in a mirror.

He draws and paints images of the childhoods we are just beginning to outgrow:

A drawing, portraying a group of stuff animals peering in the direction of the viewer reads, “We have seen you through everything.”

Many of his pieces have no words at all, but are sometimes the most touching: A small, blue bird with a musical note in its mouth. A girl stooping to pick flowers. A couple holding hands on a bench; standing in the rain; or silhouetted, side by side on a swing set.

By far, the most prominent theme in his artwork is love. As Halsey describes it, “ [I’m] influenced by my hopeless romantic and super sensitive mindset; I pay far too much attention to the little things in life and in the relationships between two people.” This said, it is no surprise that a large percentage of his drawings and paintings are renderings of the quiet moments that pass between lovers.

“We have more than some will ever find”, reads one of his paintings, a soft, simple depiction of 2 white birds on a light blue background. A green panel on the right side of the same work adds “So don’t f*** it up.”

Another piece, a pencil drawing of a man and a woman, arms folded around each other in an embrace reads: “Let’s make this always a forever.”

“Don’t be so serious!? Don’t be so serious!? But this love is serious!” A slender woman seems to yell this into a phone, in another one of his illustrations.

The growing number of tattoos inspired by Halsey’s work show just how seriously his fans love his art.