Doug Sichmeller was the second person to send me photos of his tattoos after seeing us mentioned on Gapers Block. Doug has a pair of nice Chicago Stars on each wrist.
CFT: Are you a life long Chicagoan? If not, where from and what brought you to the city?
Doug: I am not a lifetime Chicagoan. I was born in Kenosha, WI and grew up there. I spent four plus years in Milwaukee going to UWM and moved to Chicago to get my MA in Art History from UIC in 1998. My first place was a garden unit at Hoyne and LeMoyne in Wicker Park and rent was $315 per month! Good luck finding rent like that over there now! I have lived there, Humboldt Park, Edgewater and now the South Loop. So I guess 2013 will mark my fifteenth year in the city.
CFT: Who was your tattoo artist? Were these your first tattoos?
Doug: It was not my first tattoo. I got one on my upper arm when I turned 30. I received them at Taylor Street Tattoo in June of 2010 as a 35th birthday present from my lovely wife Katie. Though - ahem - I don’t quite recall who my tattoo artist was. I think we chose that place because it was the closest parlor to the South Loop at the time and we saw it in the documentary - “Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry.” Katie also managed to get one of the stars on her wrist! And then we celebrated at a dive bar in Little Italy. Fun times!
CFT: And most importantly, why the tattoo, especially in such a prominent place?
Doug: Chicago has always been an important place to me. I love this city and am the fourth generation of my family to call it home. Besides that I had always loved the simple, yet iconic, design of the flag. I decided at some point that I wanted a tattoo of it but couldn’t figure out where to get them. I had seen other people with them and wanted a bit of a twist on it. A couple of weeks before getting them I was blessed with the flash of genius to get a couple on each wrist - so that when I lined them up together they looked like the flag!
