Blood and ink

30 Mar

Written By Tracy

Kat explains how A Gray Space was born out of the blood and ink of her first Alasdair Gray inspired project, collecting and sharing tattoos inspired by her uncle’s work @alasdairgraytattoo.

Complex black tattoo round man’s arm of snake and man’s head copied from Alasdair Gray drawing — Inked by @jonnybreeze @deadslowco

An amazing discovery

The origins of A Gray Space can be traced back to autumn 2018 and a casual comment from my partner, “You know there are loads of Alasdair Gray tattoos out there…!”

Really? That’s amazing!

Further investigation revealed that Alasdair Gray tattoos are actually still pretty rare. My partner values a good story over factual accuracy. But it still seemed amazing and wonderful to me that other people related to my uncle’s work in this way.

Having an uncle who’s well-known in Scotland is all very well. But not so impressive when you live in England, where no-one’s heard of him. Having an uncle whose work inspires people to get it inked onto their skin. And then share the results online. Now that’s really something to be proud of!

Tattoo on woman’s arm of Alasdair Gray drawing of winged baby curled inside golden brain cavity of a skull — @laurakennedytattoo

Black tattoo on man’s upper back of Alasdair Gray illustration of strong woman’s face surrounded by many stars and planets — @morag_sangster for Stephen Smith

Black tattoo on arm of Alasdair Gray illustration of feathery owl gripping small mouse in its claws — @mapache_sho for Andrew

Blue and purple tattoo on man’s arm of Alasdair Gray drawing of winged baby curled inside brain cavity of a skull — @freeorgy for @imdavidflood

Coming out as Alasdair Gray’s niece

Having discovered that Alasdair Gray tattoos existed. I wanted to connect with their owners and find more. Which is how @alasdairgraytattoos started on Instagram. Although I’m not a natural social media user. And sharing anything of myself online initially made me very anxious. So while I wanted to reach out and find other Alasdair Gray tattoos. I tried to avoid revealing too much about myself in the process.

This discomfort was finally obliterated when Alasdair died, just over a year after I posted my first Alasdair Gray tattoo. As the news broke and the tributes started appearing on social media, I became addicted to reading them. Moved and comforted by our shared feelings of love and loss. I needed to answer these loving tributes with the same upfront honesty. And finally came out publicly as Alasdair’s niece.

Alasdair’s always been under my skin

Alasdair died shortly before Covid and lockdown. And whether it was the long weeks of isolation and sameness. Or having seen so many Alasdair Gray tattoos online. I found myself increasingly drawn to the idea of getting a tattoo of my own. As a memorial to a much-loved uncle. And as a symbol of solidarity with the other Alasdair fans whose tributes had comforted me so much.

Poor Things has always been my favourite of Alasdair’s novels. I read an early draft and was immediately captivated by it. So it fitted that his loving dedication should provide the blueprint for my own Alasdair Gray tattoo. And I chose his opening illustration as my gift of remembrance after he died.

Dustjacket of Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things with coloured illustration of large man cradling small man and woman on his knee — The book

Handwritten dedication in Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things saying To Katrina from her uncle Alasdair 16th August 1992 with love… Ain’t this one fun? and drawing of winged heart — The inscription

Emblematic Alasdair Gray drawing in black ink of heart with outspread wings from dedication in Poor Things — The inspiration

Black tattoo on woman’s inner wrist of emblematic Alasdair Gray drawing of heart with outspread wings — The tattoo @danielletaylor

Because Alasdair’s always been under my skin. Since he first appeared as my exciting, unpredictable, otherworldly uncle. And instead of his memory fading over time. He’s expanded inside of me. Absorbing my thoughts. Seeping into my conversations. And spilling over into a project that currently demands all of my attention and most of my spare time.

What is it about Alasdair?

So what is it about Alasdair that he does this? Why in all the time I’ve been following #AlasdairGray on Instagram have I never read one bad thing about him? Although it might have been different on Twitter! Apart from the sixth-former who had to write an exam essay about Lanark. And that’s totally understandable…

Why do we love him? And want his work inked onto our skin? This is Teya’s inked art story and there are more to enjoy in Hands.

Words Do you have an Alasdair Gray tattoo? on white background with red border — See more @alasdairgraytattoo

Teya’s Alasdair Gray tattoo story

Woman’s torso wearing black t-shirt with right arm raised and black tattoo on bicep of Alasdair Gray curvy female cupid sitting holding an arrow and with her head turned away from us

Woman's torso in black with left arm raised and Alasdair Gray tattoo in black ink on bicep of 2 rabbits one with a white head and black bottom and the other the reverse.

I knew once I completed my dissertation on the autobiographical dimensions of Alasdair Gray’s work that I wanted to solidify my love for all things Gray with a tattoo. I thought about what I’d like for a while and bought A Life In Pictures for visual inspiration.

As I was flicking through it, I came across a page dedicated to Poor Things and realised the idea had been with me the whole time. Poor Things was the first introduction I had to Gray and it clearly made a big impact on me. I felt the bunnies on the front captured the magical realism of the story so well and I didn’t give it much more thought. However I did feel just one would be a shame. And so I continued flicking through the book until I found the woman Cupid figure and, once again, did not give it much more thought.

I feel confident that this will not be the last of my tattoos of Alasdair Gray’s illustrations. Now that I am lucky to be in The Alasdair Gray Archive space quite often, I’m constantly being exposed to drawings and doodles I’ve never seen before. It’s a dangerous situation…!

Explore more…

There are more Inked art stories in Hands.

Explore our personal perspective on Alasdair Gray and some of his best known books in Who is Alasdair Gray?

And if you’ve got an Alasdair Gray tattoo please do let us know. We would love to continue the conversation and share your story.

Tracy