The collectors: Vera Delgado, USA

Vera is a gorgeous girl from California, whose traditional tattoos perfectly complement her style. I hope you guys enjoy the interview and her beautiful pictures. 

"My name is Vera, I am 25 years old and I am a barber in San Diego, CA.

When I was about 16 I had plans of waiting until I was in my late 20's to start getting tattooed because I figured by that age I would be able to make conscious decisions. Obviously, I did not wait until my late 20's like I had planned. I got my first tattoo when I was 18. I was working at Starbucks and wanted to get a traditional style "Mom" tattoo on my wrist, but I wasn't allowed to have any visible tattoos at work, so instead I got a big piece on my ribs. It's a girl head with wings and a weird bird head. I never finished it and I plan on covering it up someday. When I first started getting tattooed I told myself, "Oh, I'm only going to do this rib piece." And then it was, "I'm only going to do my right arm." And so on and so on...

Some of my tattoos are planned and some are spontaneous. I knew I wanted a crow on my chest for the past 5 or so years and I finally had it done by Chris Conn last year. If I'm getting a smaller piece, I think it's fun to just pick something off the wall.

I've got works from Chris Conn, JasonStewart, Jake Miller, Cole Strem, Joshua Blatchley, Milford Barnes, Mykil Zep, Britney Goodman, Jacob Doney and Thor. My favorite tattoo is one of the matching tattoos my boyfriend and I have on our hands. It's two hearts with an arrow done by Jason Stewart.

I'd love to be tattooed by Paul Dobleman, Sway, Ben Rorke, Steve Byrne, Tony Nilsson, Jessica Swaffer, Grez, JavierBetancourt, Marie Sena, Eli Quinters, Andrea Giulimondi, Alix Ge, Stizzo, Spider Sinclair, the list could go on forever. I think I'll always try to squeeze a new one in if I can. Sometimes getting a tattoo is like my own little souvenir.

My family doesn't even notice them anymore. At work I get a lot of clients that want to talk about them, usually it's the same questions every single time, "does it really hurt?" "do they all have a special meaning?" "what did your parents think?" It gets old after a while.

I think people with a lot of tattoos almost always get categorized into the same group, like we're all the same because we have a lot of tattoos, and it's not the case. I'm just a simple lady who loves cutting hair, hanging out with my boyfriend and our two kitties, and getting tattooed when I can."

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Thanks a lot for the interview, Vera!

Follow her on Instagram @vera_d_