My goal is having two tattoos done each summer around June/July. I generally aim for July since this is both my birthday month and when my mom died. Eventually, when I am hitting the "retirement period" I will be completing my designs on my head. I do all my tattoo concepts and designs. Stormy Jackson of Irezumi Body Art commits them to skin. As you can tell, I like a lot of color in my work and everything has a meaning and is significant.

Outside Arms Tattoos (July 2004)

Right Side

Left Side

This is for my Masonic and personal life. The Lion is for the Leo part of my cusp birth sign between Cancer and Leo. The cusp birth sign is just below the lion in blue. It sits on a red circle and triangle combination, which represents the individual and the philosophy of three. The feathers are for the birth name of "Baby Boy Feather." That's the American Indian half of me. The Masonic square, compose and All Seeing Eye sit on a tribal chevron to complement my left arm. The Latin inscription "spes mea in deo est" in the banner translates to "my faith is in God."

Tattooing time was 2 hours.

This is for my Navy experience. The Eagle is hauling a fouled anchor for my "anchors away" noting my separation from the service (September 1991). The symbol below with the lightening striking the winged water and the arrow is my rate: aviation antisubmarine warfare technician (AX). The two chevrons are my rank (E5) at separation and have been slightly modified to be tribal (generally they are straight). The banner below has my years of service (July 1986 to September 1991)

Tattooing time was 2 hours.

Inside Arms Tattoos (June 2005)

July 21 is in the cusp of Cancer & Leo. 1962 is also considered to be in the cusp between the Baby Boomers and the X-Generation . The Cancer/Leo cusp could explain my bi-polar tendencies - ;)

Leo

Leo has Fire, Gold, and the Sun. These are represented by the tribal design colored as fire, the Phoenix as the golden bird arising from the fire and the sun sitting on the tribal fire design.

Tattooing time was 1 hours.

Cancer

Cancer has Water, Silver and the Moon. These are represented by the tribal design colored as water, the dolphin as the silver mammal in the water, and the moon with a star sitting on the tribal water design.

Tattooing time was 1 hours.

Front & Back Waist Designs (July 2006)

Tattooing time for outlining both the front and back was a little more than 3 hours. I returned in two weeks to get the color added. The back side took 2 hours to add color and the front side also took 2 hours.

Front

Aries the Ram is in the center between a basic tribal design with a water theme on the left side and a fire theme for the right side.

Back

Had to put my initials somewhere. DAH for David Alan Holding sits between the cusp of Cancer and Leo. Again, water and fire themes split to the left and right. A trinity symbol sits at that base. You may recognize it as the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) symbol, which I was a boy scout, but here the symbol represents the basic mental, physical and spiritual components of mankind.

Marks for People in My Life (2007)

In 2007, I started collecting the marks of those in my life. The marks are for close family, close friends, and groups or sectors not already marked. Limited chest space and necessary size of the tattoos limited the number of mars I could do. This also coincided with having both Robert Tucker Jr. and Robert Dixon Kiefert living with me. The overall layout starts below at the left, followed to the right by the various marks, then the latest photo.

Explanations

Father, Mother, Brother Family Design

This marks the family relationship of my departed Father, Vivian Maurice Holding (1921-1987); Mother, Dorothy Justine (Mayberry) Holding (1923-2002); and brother, John Cole Holding (1955-2001). Each initial has their zodiac sign over it. Mom was on the cusp of Leo Virgo. This took about two hours.

Thomas Jefferson Eads III (1985 - 2006)

TJ was a student of mine at DeVry University. TJ was killed in a car wreck in 2006. The family invited me to the wake. It was there that I found out how much of an influence I was on TJ and how much he appreciated me. This is the tattoo that he had. Others have taken it in remembrance, and so have I. This one was a quick one, about 30 minutes.

Robert Tucker Jr. & David Holding Design

This is a small tattoo and it went very quick. About 45 minutes, if that long. This marks the relationship between Robert Tucker Jr. and David Alan Holding.

Robert Kiefert & David Holding Design

This is a small tattoo and it went very quick. About 45 minutes, if that long. This marks the relationship between Robert Kiefert. and David Alan Holding.

Don R. Dye & David A. Holding

Don was my mentor in California and help me after I left the navy. Don was a major support and encouragement. It was there that I did my craft as Black Sabbath Custom Leather while I struggles with the realities of being disabled and what was next in my life. This one took about 45 minutes.

Mother (Native People) Fran Feather

This represents my birth mother, Fran (Francis) Feather. Born 27 September 1942. I found the Seminole symbols on the Internet for mother and native people. I modified the native people symbol to better fit for my tat. This one took about two hours..

Teachers & Students

There have been a lot of teachers, professors, deans and students that have been influences in my life as well as those I have been influences in. Not just for school and educational institutes, but for training and learning in the work place. This one took about an hour.

Wounded Rose

Over the center of the chest.

Can Build, Can fight, Can Do!

The Sea Bee (Naval Construction Battalion) Motto. It is also the motto that I have lived by for a long time.

July 2007 - Native State & Native Blood

Tat shops have just been legal in Oklahoma for nearly a year. So, I had to get my native Oklahoma tats while I was there. First shop was closed on Mondays, appointments only. Second one was not yet set up. Third one was a go. Father and sons owned. Boy did my Seminole nation and Father did my Oklahoma Flag. Come to find out, he was a neighbor of mine, went to the same school too. What a small world.

The Oklahoma state flag honors more than 60 groups of Native Americans and their ancestors. The blue field comes from a flag carried by Choctaw soldiers during the civil war. The center shield is the battle shield of an Osage warrior. It is made of buffalo hide and decorated with eagle feathers. Two symbols of peace lie across the shield. One is the calumet, or peace pipe. The other is an olive branch. Crosses on the shield are Native American signs for stars, representing high ideals.

The above seal is a reproduction of the original oil painting of the Seminole Seal, one of the five paintings of the official seals of the Five Civilized Tribes. The central device of this seal shows a plumed tribesman paddling a canoe across a lake to a village where a factory (trading house) stands on the shore~