Grandmother Sheila Jones has given her body to art – and covered it with nearly three hundred tattoos.
The 64-year-old had her first DIY mark as a schoolgirl when she put a boy’s name on her arm with a sewing needle and pot of Indian ink.
She then had six done over an 18-month period in her late 30s after she married and started her family.
They included roses on each forearm and left leg, a Celtic-style band on her left upper arm and crosses on both her arms.
But it was when Sheila met second husband Rob, 49, who she married in 2006, that her interest in tattoos really took off.
He was a ‘hobby tattooist’ who did body art for family and friends and Sheila was perfect to practice on.
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| Shelia has a large koi fish on her thigh, birth sign Aquarius, butterflies and eyes on her back along with Jesus on the cross and eyes on each knee |
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| Sheila’s obsession started as a schoolgirl experiment with a sewing needle and pot of Indian ink. Sheila, then 15, had a crush on a boy and decided to get her friend to ink his name on her arm |
Sheila had two new ones a week until her entire body was covered, apart from her stomach and bottom.
In total she has 268, including the names of her four children, stars, two birds and several of the Mister Men.
She has the words ‘bad girl’ on her left foot, flowers across her torso, Betty Boo, ice cream cones and even a Marmite jar.
There is a large koi fish on her thigh, birth sign Aquarius, butterflies and eyes on her back along with Jesus on the cross and eyes on each knee.
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| Sheila Jones has had a total of 286 tattoos inked all over her body, starting at just 15 years old |
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| Sheila says she doesn’t regret any of her tattoos and that they make her who she is |
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| Sheila says her inkings mean she is often stopped on the street by strangers who want to ask her about her body art |
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| Her favourite tattoo is on her left foot – the name of her favourite rock star, Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones |
Her favourite tattoo is on her left foot – the name of her favourite rock star, Rolling Stone, Mick Jagger.
Sheila, a grandmother-of-13 from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset said: ‘I often get stopped in the street, especially by more elderly people, who ask about my tattoos.
‘They are usually curious about how many I have got.
‘They don’t inhibit my life at all. It’s my body and my tattoos make me who I am. I don’t regret having them at all.’
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