Kat Von D Reveals Wild Eye Tattoo Job After Visiting Friend Bam Margera in Rehab

Kat Von D is showing off her serious tattooing skills once again after her openness about her friendship with Jackass star Bam Margera and her own sobriety journey earlier this week. The tattoo artist took to Instagram Thursday to show off an intricate hand piece of detailed human eyes inside a heart, getting goofy with the finished product by placing the client’s hands over her own eyes for a snap.

Von D used her passion for art to reach out to her longtime friend Margera as he works on his sobriety in rehab following a public plea for help, sharing a video earlier this week of the two drawing together in his inpatient facility.

“Getting sober was not easy for me,” she wrote alongside the video. “Even though it’s gonna be 12 years in July that I celebrate being clean from drinking and drugs, I still clearly remember the physical pain from withdrawals, the profound desire to die, and the overwhelming sense of loneliness I felt that day I decided to quit.”

Von D added that in this time of “big changes,” she realized who her “real friends” were, saying that for her, she had left “almost no one.”

“On day two of detoxing, I was failing to talk myself out of killing myself when a friend came over, and found the most pathetic/vulnerable version of me on my apartment floor,” she admitted. “He said, ‘Come on, Kat. Get up and let’s draw.’ I managed to scrape myself up somehow, find a piece of paper and whatever pencils were laying around.”

She continued, “Looking back, I realize he was just helping me put one foot in front of the other. Maybe it was just a distraction, or maybe it was his way of helping me refocus on the one thing that has always saved me from myself. Either way, it’s what I needed at that time, and I am so grateful to that friend.”

Von D tried to channel that transformative moment into her visit to Margera, saying, “And man, it was beautiful to spend time together and draw!”

“I’m so proud to see Bam sincerely trying to make such meaningful changes — as hard as it is being away from family and home,” she wrote. “No one ever sees the struggle, or the ugly painful moments that take place behind the scenes unless you’re in it yourself. And this ‘Instagram’ version of ‘life’ that the public sees doesn’t hold a candle to reality.”

As everyone has their own struggles, Von D urged, “I wish we would all be so much more gentler to each other. Especially on social media. People are so quick to judge, criticize and even make fun of others, especially when people are going through s— [I know this from personal experience being on the receiving end of hate]. And sometimes, all we really need is support in the form of kindness.”

She ended with a sweet note for the Viva la Bam star, telling him, “I’m so f—ing proud of you, and can’t wait to see all the amazing things you’re gonna do.”

Photo credit: Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic