Jade Roberts - Western Australian Model

When did you get your first tattoo, describe it and have you added anything to the tattoo?

So, when I was 18 years old, I was in university and I was struggling a little bit, one of my co students, we ended up being house mates, he Oded. We all missed him in our classes, we were doing psychology together but I wasn’t coping I was really struggling and getting really low marks when I was doing quite well before and not many of the teachers at university really interact with you to be honest, they have too many students to talk to, the lecturers do their thing. But there was one that noticed the difference in me and actually took me outside and asked if everything was ok and I actually burst into tears because I missed having my classmate there and was feeling very alone. He said this quote and it says ‘If you don’t fight for something, you will fall for anything’ and he said “keep your head up because if you just keep your head down and don’t try you will fall victim to anything, you need to keep kicking”.

So, I listened to his advice, I still mourn for my friend every year but I have been able to move on. That’s when I thought I’m just not just going to get any tattoo on me, I need to get something that has some meaning so that was my very first tattoo. In six months later I added some swirls underneath it as well just to add a bit more and maybe three years later I got half a ying yang sign my best friend Shayah has the other half and then got a crown added to the back of that as well. The tattoo is the quote ‘If you don’t fight for something, you will fall for anything’ and it’s on my ribs. I originally didn’t think I would have any visible tattoos, I thought I would be a psychologist or counsellor and having exposed tattoos wouldn’t be good for my career. I did change paths and became a support worker and body piercer; in these industries you can have exposed tattoos and there are no issues.

Let us look at your tattoos in more detail and what stands out straight away is your back design which is very detailed and seems to tell a story please explain?

I did start off with just some writing, I have some Chinese writing on my back and I wanted written ‘Life isn’t about the destination, it’s the journey’ and I went to a Chinese lady who was my massage therapist and I said can you please translate this and she says “We have our own saying for this” and it says ‘Life lies not in the process but the result’. It means the same thing, it’s not about the end product, it’s about just enjoying the process and living everyday instead of aiming for an end product. And that is what is going down my spine. I also have fire and air, the two triangles on the back of my neck and underneath that I have in Roman numerals the date that I eloped last year with my hubby and then after that we Egyptian Isis with the wings, she is an Egyptian Goddess of love, healing and fertility, I endorse those things as well. We have my black panther which is one of my favourite animals on my back and on the other side we have the tiger that’s my husband’s favourite animal.

We also have an Egyptian Sia to the left, this is the opposite side to the writing, you know how I had the first quote on one side of my ribs, the other side and connecting to my back is my Egyptian Sia. We have some hieroglyphs and they say as translated ‘We will shine as far as the sun’. I’m just going to take my shirt down so I can actually see, I can see my scarab beetle as well, we have the Eye of Horus, we have Nefertiti who is also a Goddess plus my Ankt. I filled it in some mandala as well, I wanted to try as much I do love Egyptian things, I have to still try to keep with a theme. The designs on my back have been done in many stages over the years, the middle writing has been redone, all I had was the Chinese writing for maybe six or seven years, it was one of my first tattoos.

Another range of tattoos that caught my eye is your right arm sleeve starting with the mandala on your shoulder down to your arm. Care to explain?

Each one of these got done three at a time, one of these ones actually my very first one nearly 10 years ago I was struggling with some mental health issues and I was in rehab for awhile and they let me out on the 26/8/2014 so I got that as my first tattoo as I said this means a lot to me and I no longer need to be watched over I can actually continue my life as I am. After that one which had a lot of meaning for me, I used to party a lot and we were all sucking on lollipops in the clubs so one of my next tattoos was some lips with a lollipop but it’s the Rolling Stones lips that we have and I love that one as it reminds me of my party days and then we have death head moth next, I never thought it was going to be a sleeve ever as I was getting bits and bobs here and there and as you can see it’s turned into a sticker sleeve after all this time. I love Silence of the Lambs so the death head moth, I didn’t want a straight death head moth so I mixed it with a kind of lotus flower so we’ve added an extra wing in there.

After that once my friend in Uni was no longer, I got one of the old keys we had and turned that into a tattoo that I have on my hip. So, on my shoulder is the love heart lock that matches with that key. I had a bit of a problem with money probably about five years ago and with every pay check I was buying a Louis Vuitton bag or a Gucci bag or something Prada. It was nice but it was killing me so I’ve actually got Louis Vuitton gun for fashion killer because fashion was killing me and I would rather have a nice bag than a nice meal. That was unfortunate as I’d hit rock bottom and was surrounded by all these Brands, bags and shoes and honestly it was not fulfilling in the end. So that’s to remind that I don’t need to spend all my money on Brands. After that I got a J on me, I actually got it for myself. I’d a few people stab me in the back, my closet friends and also my boyfriend at the time, so I got my own initial because I said I would never get anyone’s initial on me because I don’t trust anybody. The only person that is never going to stab me in the back is myself. So, I didn’t get my name because that’s a little bit too much but thought I’d get my own initial and while I was there.

I got a babushka doll as well which is one of my favourite things, a little Russian doll, my mum would gift one to us girls, I’m the oldest of six and there are four girls, two boys. It’s always had meaning to me, it’s not exactly for my mum but it’s a little bit of my childhood that made me happy that I wanted to have on my wrist. I went back a little while later and decided to start filling this in so I got the good luck fingers crossed with some dots on the nails so it looks like my hand so I’m always wishing luck to people. I got a nice antique piano on me as I’m into antique and vintage things and I’m also a piano teacher. Right near the piano because I do support work AIN (Assisting in Nursing) I got a cross to resemble the medial field. I also have a bunny to represent all the bunny rabbits I’ve had over time. Underneath that we have the lipstick, once my ambition for Brands and bags finally died off, I actually got into photo shoots and I had to start learning how to do make-up. That’s what the lipstick is for and I edited the lipstick to add a little mandala flower to it and make it a bit more unique

Underneath that we have a rat, now I’m born in 1996 and this is the Chinese Year of the Rat, so I have a cute little rat down there right next to the breast cancer ribbon. My great grandmother and also my auntie had breast cancer, auntie recovered and is still going through some therapy at the moment but because it is quite prevalent in our family, I thought I’d get the ribbon for anyone that has been affected by breast cancer. Underneath that I have my turtle, I had a turtle called Cedric for about seven years who unfortunately passed on so I wanted to get a turtle to remember him forever. I’m not allergic to anything in this world except bees so I thought I’d get a bee on my sleeve just so I can show bees that I’m friendly and that I love bees and they don’t have to sting me, and I haven’t been stung since.

I also have parents who run a church Living Waters Baptist Church and I attend, I’m not a member but I do regularly attend and have my own personal walk with God. I do pray before bed and that’s what those praying hand tattoos are for. Down near the hands we have ‘I love Jesus’ because I do and the version of the bible, I use is the first translation from the Latin in 1611 and it’s called KJV Bible (King James Version) it is a lot harder to read and if you watched Game of Thrones or anything like that they speak in the same way and it is understandable for me but some people choose easier versions because it is slightly difficult.

John 3:16 is a passage in the bible, tell me about it and what it means to you?

It’s actually my favourite verse in the bible and it says “For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life’. It’s just the promise in the bible that everything is about, my whole life I even tried a bit of Hindu, Buddhism even going to the temple but this gave me someone to believe in and a promise of the afterlife which keeps me grounded and helps me in my decision making each day. I do slip up, I’m not actually a Christian because I’m not Christ like but I would like to say that I am a child of God and that I do believe in him.

Featured in Baddass Kulture Mag Issue #4 Sept 2024