I considered myself a "horse girl" when I was a kid. For my ninth birthday, my mom bought me a book titled "How to Draw Horses" and encouraged me to read "Black Beauty" or, at the very least, to give "Misty of Chincoteague" a try. Although I found it difficult to sit still long enough to read about horses, I could spend hours drawing them.

I've stood atop the Acropolis in Greece, marveled at Bangkok's reclining Buddha, and wandered the streets of Rome. Never did I picture myself at a Tattoo Convention in Lake Havasu, Arizona.