Stephen Lott

Antique objects reflecting my love of the past and hobbies, along with pride colors to represent my LGBTQ identity was my first inspiration. A friend suggested a tattoo of a monarch butterfly. Not fitting my initial theme, I decided to cover my right arm with butterflies, pollinators, and flowers inspired by this friend’s idea. Finally, an upper chest piece to continue my love of nature pulled the two sleeves together, an inspirational collaboration completed with the same local artist.

I am a person who finds connections all around me. In planning my sleeves and chest piece, I wanted to choose designs that reveal memories or carry meaning. For example, an oak leaf, contrasted with a maple branch on my chest shows how I am a bit different from others in my family tree and how “oak” has been a word that has identified many important places in my life. As I ponder each colorful piece, I often find even more meaning that I hadn’t considered at first.

That is a lot of money and since most people don’t realistically expect to come into that kind of cash all at once, it might be difficult to know what one would do until it is in hand. I expect I would put some toward house payments, possibly share some with a few people close to me, replace my aging car, or put some aside in these uncertain economic times. I also reflect on the need of so many around us in this world and how sharing some of it could do good for others.