As a tattoo artist, Selena Peterson hears a lot of stories. Lately, an increasing number of those stories have been dark.
"There has been more sadness and people going through so much stuff," said Peterson, who owns Emerald City Tattoos in Castlegar. "I have sat with a lot of grieving mothers, and it just starts to feel heavy."
Peterson herself has had to deal with recent family tragedy. But rather than dwell on all the negativity, she decided to focus her energy on doing something positive by hosting a Mental Health Flash Day and using it to raise money for a Trail family.
The recipient family doesn't want to share their story publicly, but Peterson says they have experienced a family tragedy that has resulted in ongoing mental and financial burdens.
Five artists at Emerald City Tattoos – Selena, Viktor, Tyla, Christina and Skye – worked 13 hours straight for free to complete over 100 small tattoos. With a minimum donation of $80, the event raised over $9,000.
"We were absolutely overwhelmed and amazed," said Peterson. "The kindness of everyone really came together."
The event also included prizes and gifts and plenty of positive mental health messaging.
The shop is keeping the $80 mental health messaging tattoos in their offerings. They are also planning to repeat the event in the spring, but this time will likely use it to support programs for troubled youth.
