Pain Drawing Out By Drawing On Flesh

By Gary S. Hatrick

In these modern days, it is very possible that we all know a woman who has breast cancer and the only way to combat the scourge is to remove one or both of her breasts. We are sad, but we often feel that it is better than losing or friend or loved one. The cancer victim, however, often bears more than just physical scars. The emotional scars often run deeper and take longer to heal.

In such cases people will call on psychiatrists and psychologists and preachers and plastic surgeons and prosthetics manufacturers and all kinds of things that start with the letter P and maybe even other letters, but in Saint Petersburg, Florida there is another to call who is able to do things none of the others can - Peter Bogdanov, owner of Legend Ink, and a tattoo artist.

Peter is not the kind of tattoo artist that often comes to mind: the guy in a seedy storefront waiting for the drunks to wander in and have their girlfriends name or their mother's heart permanently inked on their arm. He is also not just the higher class tattoo artist who produces colorful works of art on people’s arms and legs and backs and any -

"I do paramedical tattooing,” Peter said. "I'm a tattooist, but in general I consider myself an artist above all else." Not only does he consider himself an artist, but a practitioner of a kind of healing art.

"I do a lot of work with women in general,” Peter explained. "From people who have had mastectomies or double mastectomies either through cancer or some other reason."

When women have their breast removed, their breast is often reconstructed by a plastic surgeon, it doesn’t always go well, sometimes the plastic surgeon will botch the nipple reconstruction. That is where Peter can help.

"My job, as the tattoo artist, is to come in and do what is called 3D nipples," Peter said. "Basically I do a photo-realistic matching set of nipples."

Sometimes the problem is not a botched job, it's just the nature of the beast. As in the case of a woman who has had a double mastectomy and has large scars across her breasts.

"Our job then is to go in and minimize those scars as well as put the nipple back because they usually take the nipple off, that’s how they get to the cancer cells," Peter explained. "They basically cut the entire nipple off and then go into the breast to remove the cancer. After they put the breast implant in and sew it back up, you have the breast shape again but you have no nipple. In that case, our job is to go in and tattoo a nipple using a photo-realistic tattoo technique to make hyper-realistic nipples and give the woman back her womanhood if you will."

Peter doesn't only deal with breast cancer as a paramedical tattoo artist. He also deals with scars from accidents, disease, burns or purposeful "tummy-tucks." Sometimes the solution is to place a picture tattoo in the area that needs tending. Other times he fills in light and and makes scars disappear. This is also what we do with stretch marks. Stretch marks are usually lighter than the skin next to it."

It is not as simple as it may sound. Color may change not only by race but by nationality.

"We have to understand how to mix and match color," Peter continued. "You can't just use any color, it has to be a pretty exacting match. Indians from India for example have a bluish dark tone to their skin while a person of color from Africa has a reddish tone to their skin a lot of time. Spanish people have a little olive green in their skin tone. You have to know how to mix the flesh tones. It's important to understand."

Peter suggests that anyone looking to have such work done, to be sure they know the tattooist is able to do the work. Many may claim they can, but not everyone is skilled enough to do it.

"I have a plethora of experience in my 30 years of owning my own business," Peter said "In college I studied medical anatomy. I was going to be a medical illustrator back in the 90s. I studied medical illustration and particularly the muscle structure underneath the skin. I didn't know I was go to be a tattoo artist at the time. I personally have made sure I have a significant amount of training."

Peter has many stories he can tell about the impact his work has had on the lives of people who have come to him for his artistry. He wishes it were covered by insurance because it is an expensive prospect as a result of the time it takes to get it right. He also wishes it could be covered because his tattoos often bring healing where the medical arts cannot.

He tells a story of a woman who was burned from head to toe in a fire with fourth degrees burns all over her body. She had lost some of her hair and had visible melted skin on her face and suffered the loss of a hand. She had been turned down by other tattoo artists. But Peter tattooed a couple of lizards on her because she raised bearded dragon lizards. He saw she was happy with the tattooing.

“After we were done tattooing the next day she came back and she was crying," Peter went on. "I asked, 'Why are you crying?' She explained to me that she went to the shopping mall and normally little girls and kids would change aisles and move to the other side of the way to avoid her because of her looks. This particular day she had kids running up to her and asking to see her tattoo. For the first time in 10 years, she said she didn't feel like a monster, she said 'I felt like a piece of art."

"I think that explains the emotional and psychological correction this is able to offer people," Peter said. "It's so immense. It is a very emotional recovery. We're able to cure people psychologically in a way that a burn triage unit can't. That's no offense to burn medicine and skin grafts. They do some awesome and wonderful things, but they can only go so far."

If you go to visit Peter expect a design consultation before any work is done, He needs to determine what can be done, whether you have healed enough, if the scarring is recent and if you are going to have a tattoo, he needs you to decide what you want. It is after all a design consultation. The nature of the work often requires more than one visit to complete depending on the severity of the need.

LEGEND INK is located at 140 1st Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. You can learn about his studio and see his work at www.legendink.com. Regular tattoos and permanent make-up may be obtained there as well. Peter can be reached at (727) 317-7989 or info@bogdanov.com.