Tass has had three serious relationships, and the identity of each man has been etched on her body.

“In my early 20s I was engaged to a Puerto Rican man who'd been in prison for fraud. I had a tattoo on my ankle which was supposed to be of him, with his name beneath. I later had it covered by a bigger tattoo of a feather.”

Now, along with the rest of her many tattoos, the 34-year-old yoga teacher wants the symbols that represented her former lovers to be gone.

“My second one was when I was living in the Bahamas, again in my 20s. I put his name, Michael, on the base of my spine. He was - and I knew it - completely unfaithful. Again, my only way of securing something that was completely not tangible was to solidify it on my body.

 It was 'I've got your name tattooed on my spine - we're together'.”

Tass had tattoos on the back of her neck, both shoulder blades, parts of both her arms, her lower back, her abdomen, her left hip and her right leg. Some were drawn over existing ones, erasing one chapter of her life when another began.

But her largest piece of work, done when she was 30, was to mark her biggest love, and subsequently her biggest heartbreak.

“There's this guy who's been in my life since I was eight years old - he was at school with my brother - who's an artist. He was such a big identity, and I was attracted to it. I've always longed for this guy's attention. He's very exciting, charismatic and very good looking.”

They first got together when Tass was 21. That relationship didn't last, but the two never quite broke off contact, their paths crossing from time to time.

“One night, many years ago, after he'd stayed with me, he left me this drawing of a heart which also said 'I love you' at the top. I got it tattooed on my arm.

“He used to come see me for a couple of nights. I wouldn't ask about his life because I knew there was another girl. He'd then leave and I couldn't get hold of him again for six months.

“I had so little self-worth that I just wouldn't ask, because I was just grateful for the crumbs of a few nights with him.”

Eventually, many years later, the two become a couple again and shared a home.

“We were together solidly for 18 months and it turns out he was a deeply, deeply troubled individual with no identity of his own. I had a terrible time due to it and we split in 2014.

“Breaking up with him has single-handedly been the thing that's floored me the most.”

He had often told Tass a story that they were always meant to be together. He would call her “Elfin warrior” and himself the “tree wizard”. He would say they were made from the same roots.

So Tass had a large tattoo of these fantastical characters, representing him and her, on her back.