If you see a man with his entire head slathered in tattoos walking around campus, don't be alarmed. He's a UNM instructor.
Bruce Potts teaches Public Speaking. He got his first tattoo in 1968 during a stint in the Navy and decided after retiring from teaching in public schools that he wanted to get his head and face done as well. He said it took about three and a half months to complete.
"I have been wanting to do it ever since I was 12 years old," he said. "It's almost like I feel it was a right of passage."
He said he put off getting the tattoos for many years, but the desire to do it kept nagging at him.
"It was like a haunting," he said. "I like to use that word. It was like a haunting. It just kept coming up and I kept resisting, saying, 'no no no,' and it was like a calm once it was finally completed."
He said the work on his face is largely tribal in design, the kind of inking seen on people from Samoa and Fiji. He said he feels a strong connection to the South Pacific and attributes this to a past life as an islander.
"I have always been extremely attracted to that area," he said.
Potts has the space below his eyelids inked with what he referred to as "warrior eyeliner." He said this area was the most painful to get work done on.
He said a few odd stares aside, people seem to like what he has done.
"I have had very few negative reactions," he said. "People have been amazingly supportive."
Potts said he hasn't had trouble getting a job, because success is all about how one presents him or herself and doesn't solely depend on appearance.
He said he doesn't worry about people not taking him seriously as a teacher, because he has more than two decades of teaching experience.
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He admits there is a stigma still attached to people with lots of tattoos, that they are fresh out of prison or have been in the service.
"These are a lot of negative connotations that people still are carrying," he said. "Young people are changing that with an increase in tattooing. There are still a lot of people who haven't woken up, but that's their problem."
He pointed out that many college students lack anything on their arms, the more traditional location, but have their necks tattooed. He believes this is a sign that body art is becoming more socially acceptable.
Potts has competed in tattoo competitions in California, and placed second and third. He has also been featured in tattoo magazines and works as a psychic.
At the end of the day he is satisfied with the work he has gotten done and he doesn't let any staring, as long as it isn't in a negative way, bother him.
"Accept the fact that people are going to be looking at you," he said.
