Her "Evolution of the Stormtrooper" tattoo design begins on her upper arm showing the bounty hunter Jango Fett as he blasts off of the landing pad in the rain with Slave I on Kamino. A stormtrooper helmet design on her elbow flows into morphing blueprints that become a clone trooper on her inner wrist.The back side of that design features an elaborate star map to Kamino. Also, the front of her wrist displays a small Kamino silhouette with more rain and water. To round out the tattoos, a modified Mandalorian symbol can be seen on her inner elbow. The Imperial symbol on her inner right forearm, however, was her very first tattoo.

Hilary Gillespie's tattoo art

"I originally planned on simply getting a stormtrooper on my left bicep," Gillespie recalls. "But I realized I didn't want a patchwork of art but instead a great cohesive piece. I came up with the evolution concept while watching Episode II. It seemed really clear to me that the best way to express my undying love for those soldiers in white plastic was to tell their story."

Network Technician Lori Bennett from Frostburg, Maryland, who also competed at Celebration III has a smaller tattoo by comparison. Taken from the Return of the Jedi poster, the tattoo depicting Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker amidst an iconic lightsaber battle is permanently featured on her left shoulder. Tattoo artist Jess Muessen from Independent Ink, also in Frostburg, did the work on the design merely a month before the competition.

	Lori Bennett's tattoo art

"A tattoo should be deeply personal and significant to the person receiving it," Bennett says. "I have been a Star Wars fan almost as long as I can remember, and the design is hugely reminiscent of my childhood so it was the perfect choice. I think many fans have an ingrained love of the Star Wars phenomenon, and a tattoo is a way to literally make it a permanent part of our lives."

Interestingly enough, tattooing as a form of self-expression wasn't always an option for many fans due to varied local laws and job policies around the country. "I think a lot of people are still sort of afraid of tattoos," Gillespie says. "There's quite a lot of discrimination in the work place against people who have visible tattoos and there's that stereotype that only troublemakers get inked. This discourages many people who have great ideas for tattoos but are bogged down by the negative aspects of a potential piece."

Longstanding tattoo-culture stereotypes aside, it seems that more and more fans are going under the tattoo needle to turn their bodies into walking Star Wars art galleries, regardless of how they might be judged.

"More people are recognizing that tattooing is a long-standing part of human history and that the stigmas attached to it are really quite ridiculous," Turgeon says. "It's a creative and beautiful way to express personal interests, respect cultural ties and beliefs or to pay homage to loved ones and experiences. Also, tattooing itself has come a long way in the past ten years and the quality of work is at an all time high. These days, people don't have to settle with the skull and dagger or unicorn tattoos that were so prevalent during the early to mid 20th century."