I started with two sleeves for Lucie and Erik. Over the years, those became two bodysuits. So we spent quite a few hours together.
When I think of them now, I also think of the motorbikes, the cakes Lucie brought us and the clothes she made for our daughter. Things that have little to do with the tattoos themselves, but are part of how I remember Lucie and Erik.
Lucie · neck tattoo detail
Erik · sleeve
Lucie rode a motorbike, was brilliant at drawing and made clothes. She had a huge soft spot for animals. Her parents had a farm, and the amount she knew about animals was incredible. She could talk about them for hours during the long tattoo sessions.
When she became vegan, she inspired us too. She regularly brought us homemade vegan cakes and brownies. An important detail, obviously. Because Lucie had coeliac disease, we went to a cooking workshop at Yirga with her and Erik once. And when our daughter was born, she made clothes for her as a baby gift.
Erik worked with steel and could make some really cool things with it. The lamp he made out of pipes for Bunker is still part of the shop. They rode motorbikes together, and after a few tattoo sessions, they turned up at my house one day on their new bikes.
We talked about motorbikes and dogs, their corgis (eventually two), cats and a parrot. But also about parents, past relationships, work and food. In all those hours together, we talked about pretty much everything that was happening in our lives.
Erik · chest tattoo
Lucie also had a lot to deal with. After a hernia and an unsuccessful operation, she developed severe chronic pain and loss of function. Several operations followed, and eventually she was declared unfit for work. She had always been incredibly tough during tattoo sessions, but at a certain point even that became harder and harder.
Eventually, Erik cut back his working hours so he could take more care of her. And as if all that wasn’t enough, Lucie later developed breast cancer too. Thankfully, she recovered from it.
Lucie · stomach tattoo
Bunker turns 25 this year. Looking back, I realise that alongside all those tattoos, I’ve been able to share a little of so many people’s lives. And they’ve shared a part of ours just as much.
Lucie taught us things and inspired us, baked for us and made clothes for our daughter. Erik literally made something that became part of Bunker. We’ve eaten together, laughed, ridden motorbikes and talked endlessly. And, somewhere along the way, happened to tattoo two whole bodies as well.
Lucie · leg tattoo
Erik · leg tattoo detail
I’m trying to get back in touch with Lucie and Erik now. Not because there’s a patch of skin somewhere that urgently needs filling. 😉 I just want to talk to them again and let them know how much I appreciate them.
We haven’t written Bunker’s history on our own. People like Lucie and Erik have helped write it just as much.
