The short version ...

In 2007 I developed alopecia universalis which made all my hair fall out. Fortunately that’s really the only symptom of this autoimmune condition. I wore a wig in public most of the time for the first eight years. In 2014 I noticed an article about the costume designer from Glee with photos of a temporary tattoo she wore which gave me the idea to do a full head tattoo and ditch my wig. I knew I wanted to start with a small tattoo on the back of my head. I chose a lotus since this is a meaningful part of my daily Buddhist practice. I found a terrific local tattoo artist, Amy Black, to work with. The most challenging aspect of the design was figuring out how to transition from the hair-like look on the front to the lotus on the back. I considered LOTS of options and finally found artwork by Irina Vinnik that I knew we could adapt well to complete the tattoo. The entire project took about 13 hours over seven sessions.

I created this website to share my experience. Check out the other pages for more info about the inspiration, finding a tattoo artist, the design process and my tattoo experience!

Shera Gregory

Richmond, Virginia