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The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Tat-tuesday: Students share stories behind the ink

TATTUESDAYS0908_logo_MelanieWestfall
Melanie Westfall

Editor’s note: Tat-Tuesday is a weekly series that features students around campus and their tattoos.

Photos by Gabriel Lopez

Jasmine Kurys


Theatre and dance junior Jasmine Kurys has a tattoo of her friend’s face on her left arm. The tattoo is in memory to her friend, Roseanne “Rose” Hardin, who died in 2014.

“I gave my tattoo artist Rose’s artwork, and he designed a portrait of her as if [Rose] designed it herself,” Kurys said. “She had a purple and blue rose on her left shoulder, and there are 21 flowers since she was 21 when she died.”

After Hardin died, Kurys said she wanted her friend to be with her forever.

“I thought this was the way she would’ve wanted it,” Kurys said.

Lauren Ferguson

English and art history senior Lauren Ferguson has Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait tattooed on her leg.

“It’s an art piece from the Northern Renaissance, and it’s an image of two people getting married,” Ferguson said.

The portrait is symbolic for Ferguson, who said it made her fall in love with art history.

“There’s a tiny mirror that reflects Jan van Eyck actually painting the piece, and I just thought that was the dopest thing ever, so I wanted it on my body forever,” Ferguson said.

Matthew Poling

A Japanese dragon rising from an ocean into the sky adorns kinesiology senior Matthew Poling’s right arm.

“I knew I wanted a tattoo, so I did some research, and the artwork I liked the most happened to be Japanese,” Poling said.

The tattoo, which Poling said symbolizes his inner strength, took three days to complete.

“For me, it means that I can achieve anything and do anything I need, no matter how hard it could be,” Poling said.

Erin Peacock

An image of a sailboat is tattooed across biomedical engineering sophomore Erin Peacock’s ribs.

“My best friend was getting a tattoo, and I was chatting with her to distract her from the pain,” Peacock said. “The tattoo artist said, ‘You’re pretty cool. I’ll give you a tattoo for free if you do it right now,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, okay!’”

Peacock said although the decision to get the tattoo was spontaneous, she doesn’t regret it.

“It was a really rash decision,” Peacock said. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten it had it not been that exact situation, but I like it.”

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Tat-tuesday: Students share stories behind the ink