I've always considered myself a girly-girl, despite dressing as a tomboy when growing up. I had my hair down to my waist, and at one point could actually sit on it.When I opened my bookstore, I deliberately cut all my hair off to look more dykey, to be a warrior in the streets & lover in the sheets. I had a butch little flat top for years, which was usually dyed some array of colors.
This mermaid is my long hair, cascading down my back, reminding me of my more gentle, feminine form. I actually found the flash in a tattoo magazine, and have seen another women with the same tattoo, only on both of her forearms in mirror images. Very cool.
I closed my store four years ago, and have been growing out my hair, wearing long skirts & dresses, feeling more like the priestess that I am than the need to call forth the warrior within.
Mermaid by Cherie Lovedog, Santa Cruz CA, 1995
