Craig Searsâ left arm is inked with doodles of fantastical creatures, superheroes, monsters and even a disgruntled-looking carrot.
âThese are all the tattoos that my sonâs drawn,â Sears told CTV Kitchener from a local tattoo shop.
Searsâ son, Parker, has autism -- and since he was a toddler, drawing has been a form of catharsis.
âThis is the way he copes with things; this is how he gets through life,â Sears said. âAnd people love (the tattoos). People look at it and itâs just touching to people.â
Sitting in the tattoo shop, Parker points out a self-portrait on his dadâs arm.
âI wrote it with orange permanent marker,â Parker explained. âAnd then I made my own blue and then Cam tattooed it.â
Cam Davis is the Kitchener,Ont.-based tattoo artist who has been inking Searsâ arm with Parkerâs creations,
âHis family is of the utmost importance to him,â Davis said of his client from Berlin Tattoo -- the shop where he practices his art. âAnd whatâs better than being able to literally wear your family, wear your memories, wear your love?â
While such work is only a small fraction of his output, Davis says that kidsâ artwork tattoos are definitely gaining in popularity.
âBecause thereâs such sentiment and meaning and intention attached to this, I feel itâs able to transcend a time and a place,â Davis said. âThis will be something that will be meaningful regardless of a time.â
Erica Hind also sports her childâs artwork on her body. After being caught in a bad storm when he was young, Hindâs son was left with severe anxiety.
âHe drew a picture of a monster that would protect him from storms,â Hind explained, showing off a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist. âSo this is âStormy.ââ
A babysitter at the time sewed a toy to represent the childâs drawing. Years later, she became a tattoo artist.
âImmediately I thought, âI need this tattooed on me,ââ Hind said. âThis is such a big deal.â
That former babysitter, Libbie Kropf, now works at Power House Tattoos in Kitchener.
âPeople have come in with their childrenâs writing, but that was the first time Iâve done anything like that,â Kropf said.
While other parents might just stick their kidsâ drawings on the fridge, both Sears and Hind say that they are proud to display their childrenâs artwork on their skin.
âA lot of people keep photo albums,â Hind said. âThis is my photo album -- it's with me forever.â
âItâs something that we can bond over, itâs something I could always have with me,â Sears added. âI travel a lot for work and I miss him a lot, so I can always look down and, sure enough, there he is on my arm.â
With a report from CTV Kitchenerâs Marta Czurylowicz
Got to tell an incredibly touching story today about two families that took tattooing one step further... These parents got ink inspired by their children's artwork. Watch tonight at 6 on
â Marta Czurylowicz (@martaczurCTV)