While I was meandering through the side streets of the Strathcona Art-Walk this summer, I came to meet a young woman named Brin Steeves. By looking at her paintings of mountain landscapes and balanced colours, immediately one could tell that Brin was an earthy person who had respect for nature and embraced life. Convinced by her genuine smile and arms full of tattoos, I knew I just had to interview her. After introducing myself and chatting for a bit, Brin was happy to share with me and my viewers the stories behind her tattoos.
Brin:
I have a chickadee sitting on some pine cones with a one cent price tag. The one cent represents my grandpa because he use to pay me one cent per pine cone that I picked up. I have a few sunflowers on there as well, and the chickadees just remind me of the summer time of being camping and waking up in the woods and you hear them everywhere. So this was done by Katrina Rowsell at Fountainhead Tattoo and she specializes in the neo traditional work. It was pretty difficult for me getting through it because I can’t stand my collar bones being touched at all, so having this part up on my collar bones done was a very mentally difficult tattoo, but I am really happy with how it turned out.
Turning to her other arm.
This is mostly a memorial tattoo. A few people in my family have a compass rose, so that’s why I have that piece there. But the roses on top are for two family members that have passed away. And I have some advice from my mom saying “appreciate every day” written there as well.
My tattoos have been contributing to my art in the last few years, they’ve allowed me to express myself and feel more comfortable with my body, more confident.
Now pointing to her thigh.
This is from New Zealand. I got three pieces, two in one day when I was in New Zealand. So it is a little Hobbit hole. (we laugh) Ya, it’s a little hobbit hole. It was done by a woman who recently passed away. Her name was Rea …. and she was in Auckland. So that kind of changed the meaning of that one after hanging out with her for a few days and getting tattooed. I also got a piece on my ribs done that day. The third piece is on my foot. 
The one on my foot ...a Maori family took us in for the night because we were sleeping in a camper van and they welcomed us to their home and gave us food, shower, a bed, and everything. And then the husband explained that he was a tattoo artist and that he wanted to gift us a piece. So he took us out to his shop out back and designed us a traditional piece. He hand sketched it with just sharpies. He had been teaching traditional Maori art at the university for twenty years. I don’t know what his full name is, but he goes by Que. He got me to sit down and talk about my journey through New Zealand and then designed it around that, so, it's called the Manaia, its a guardian and she is half bird half woman and at sunrise she takes spirits over to the next world. So, telling him about the grief I was working through and my time in New Zealand, and the sunrises and stuff, he said, “I have the perfect girl for you and it is great that it is going on your foot because she is going to guide you through all your journeys.” That was a pretty incredible night. We were not expecting that when we got invited into their home.
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To have a look at Brin’s artwork you can go to her FaceBook: Oilandbirch or follow her on Instagram @oilandbirch
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