Redwood tattoos trace personal histories and a love for the forest that’s more than skin deep
Redwoods seem practically tailormade for tattoo art. They are iconic symbols of strength and resilience. Their bold trunks, feathery needles, and cross-hatched cones translate beautifully into ink. They’re also an ideal choice for a visual statement that’s—in theory—permanent. With lifespans of more than 2,000 years, redwoods never go out of style. We asked four Californians about their redwood tattoos and the meaning behind these inked images. Their personal stories reflect the unique relationships we form with the forests, and the power of the ancient trees to inspire, comfort, and connect us to something larger.
“The idea started as a redwood tattoo, then ended up being an homage to all coastal forest ecosystems.”
—Wendy Mastroianni
It’s not your average person who gets a tattoo representing how salmon carry nitrogen 15 isotopes from the ocean to the coast redwood forests.
But Wendy Mastroianni, a self-described “plant nerd” and former biologist, says she’s always had a great affinity for science and the outdoors.
Her fascination with the redwoods food web began with an article in Hakai Magazine that described salmon going to sea, coming back to coastal streams to spawn, and then being eaten by bears, birds, and other animals. In some cases, half eaten salmon ended up almost a mile inland, where their bodies fertilized the trees. “It’s just such an elegant process,” says Mastroianni. “It really illustrates the interconnectedness and interdependency of natural systems and the importance of conservation of oceans and fisheries.” “My redwood tattoo was my 50th birthday present to myself,” says Mastroianni.
“The idea started as a redwood tattoo, then ended up being an homage to all coastal forest ecosystems.” She chose Hyperion, the world’s tallest known tree at 380 feet, as the model for the redwood. Next came an ocean wave and then stylized salmon drawn by a Japanese artist. Mastroianni says it’s a mental game getting through long tattooing sessions, but in the end, she always wants more ink. “I am actually going to add more fog to the tattoo, as I understand it is a nitrogen source for redwoods as well,” she says. “Like learning, it’s an endless process.”
For Andrew Sorrell, his redwood tattoo is a visual link to his own deep roots. Sorrell, who is Yurok, grew up on the Hoopa Valley Reservation in Humboldt County and spent much of his childhood in the Klamath area, in the heart of redwood country.
“Redwoods have just been around my whole life,” says Sorrell. “We use them for our native houses … we cook salmon on redwood sticks.” Sorrell says that when he moved to Nevada for several years, “it made me appreciate what I had back home even more—and a big part of that was the redwoods.”
The landscape inked onto Sorrell’s forearm started with a few small trees. “Then I got these redwoods and the mountains to symbolize back home. And then the moon of course—I love how pretty a full moon is. The wolf is actually supposed to be my first dog, Harmony. She passed away a while back.” Sorrell plans to add a stream representing the Trinity River and a view of the Hoopa Valley. “There’s still more to come, but it’s a really meaningful tattoo. If I’m gonna put something on my body, it’s gotta mean something.”
Sorrell has described being in the redwoods as stabilizing: “I don’t have to think about what I have to do for work tomorrow or what this person thinks about me. It’s just about what’s in front of me, whether it’s the ocean or trees or mountains.”
But last year, Sorrell moved again, this time to San Francisco, where he’s studying to become an addiction counselor. He admits to being homesick at times but says that his tattoo helps. “It reminds me that I’m doing okay out here and that my home is gonna be my home forever.”
“I really think of giant sequoias as being a part of my identity.”
—Armando Quintero
When Armando Quintero was named director of California State Parks in 2020, it was the culmination of a long journey first inspired by visual images. “As a child, my parents didn’t go to parks, so my fascination with wildlife and wild areas was really through books and magazines—National Geographic, primarily,” says Quintero.
“I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, so I drew everything. I drew all the birds in the Encyclopedia Britannica repeatedly, to the point that I memorized them.” This obsession with the natural world eventually led to a job as a park ranger in Sequoia National Park.
“The Giant Forest was my playground,” says Quintero, who returned to the big trees each year, accompanied by his wife and two young girls. The family crosscountry skied through the ancient groves in winter and spent summers camping only a mile from the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree by volume on Earth. “They were shaped by these places,” says Quintero of his now adult daughters, whom he describes as very self-reliant. “I think sleeping beneath the giant sequoias contributed to that.”
“I just had to do it,” says Quintero of getting his sequoia tattoo. “I really think of giant sequoias as being a part of my identity.”
In selecting an image, he tapped into his lifelong love of drawing. “I found a sketch I liked and then modified it. I just added a different burn scar and some branches.” Inking the detailed tree was a two-day affair, but he emerged with a tattoo that reflects his love for art, nature, and family. Says Quintero, “It’s got pretty strong emotional connections, especially when I think about my daughters.”
“I knew I wanted two trees, one to represent my mom and the other to represent my dad.”
—Kathryn Luna
A deep connection to the outdoors guides Kathryn Luna’s life and work, which has included building community and partnerships at Mountain Hardwear and inspiring confidence in adolescent girls during wilderness trips with the nonprofit GirlVentures.
This relationship with nature started at a young age, prompted by a mother and father who always encouraged her to go outdoors and experience the world and its beauty. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without them,” says Luna.
A few years ago, she chose a redwoods tattoo to show through art this appreciation for nature that her parents instilled. “I knew I wanted two trees, one to represent my mom and the other to represent my dad,” Luna says.
She also saw the tattoo as a symbol of her connection to the redwoods in Sonoma County, where she was born and raised. “The tattoo represents my childhood, living just minutes away from redwood forests. It also represents watching the redwood trees my parents planted in our backyard grow as I was growing up.”
Luna didn’t tell her parents about her tattoo tribute in advance. Happily, the big reveal was a special shared moment, and her mom and dad loved the twin redwoods. “I now have five tattoos, and while they all represent something meaningful to me, my redwoods piece is my favorite,” she says. “It’s special because it’s to honor my parents, the two people I love so much.”
To hear more about Kathryn Luna’s relationship to the outdoors, listen to Season 3, Episode 3 of the League’s I’ll Go If You Go podcast: The Girl With The Redwood Tattoos.
This feature appears in the beautiful printed edition of Redwoods magazine, a showcase of redwoods conservation stories by leading scientists and writers, as well as breathtaking photos, and ways you can help the forest. Only a selection of these stories are available online.
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