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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Jubail Celebrates the Midnight Mile

I met Jubail on the corner of 34th and 6th Avenue, and he shared this awesome tattoo:



"Midnight Mile" is a song by Bouncing Souls, and it reminds him of coming home to New York City.

Jubail, who has "nine or ten" tattoos, was a student at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

He was about to earn his commission as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army when I spoke with him, and he knows he can rely on his tattoo to help him remind him of home here in New York.

He also has the Bouncing Souls logo on the inner part of the elbow, also known as the "ditch," which is one of the most painful places to get tattooed.



Jubail credits his ink to Saka at Tat-Nice Tattoos in Huntington, WV.

Thanks to Jubail for sharing his Bouncing Souls tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

And here's a little "Midnight Mile" bonus:

Monday, June 29, 2009

Where The Wild Thing Tattoo Is

The day after I met one Jared, I met another, out in front of Madison Square Garden.

With a tattoo like this:


how could I not stop him?

As one would imagine, Jared loves the book, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.



The tattoo displays, on Jared's right forearm, one of the "Wild Things" that is in Max's imagination.


Jared, who was in town visiting from Boston, has ten tattoos. He had been thinking about getting a Where the Wild Things Are piece for several years and finally had it done by Chris Ford in January 2009. Ford had worked in L.A. but is now in New Jersey.

Jared said that he has had a lot of attention from people about the tattoo, in part due to the publicity from the movie adaptation coming out this Fall.


Thanks to Jared for stopping to talk and share his "wild" tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Jared Shares His Vegan Tattoo

I met Jared while he was waiting for a train in Penn Station.

After the Manhattan Mall food court closed last summer, I discovered this wide expanse of Penn Station (especially the Amtrak area) was great for inkspotting when the weather made normal traipsing about unappealing.

Jared's ink runs down the length of his arm, from the top of his right bicep, down to the inner part of his forearm.

As a Vegan, Jared did his research, and sought out a tattoo artist that could give him a Vegan tattoo:



There's a school of thought that some tattoo inks are not "vegan," in the sense that they incorporate glycerine from animal fat, or they use bone char in the black inks. See this article here.

Some artists refute this as gimmicky, and here is a more skeptical view point from a Vegan. But many Vegans who are steadfast in their ideals find the idea of a purely vegan tattoo appealing. I featured another Vegan tattoo back in October 2007 here.

Jared, who is the musical director for the national touring company of the show "Spring Awakening", went to Cary at Body Electric Tattooing & Piercing in Hollywood for this custom design.

The top section of flowers includes at least one chrysanthemum. The bottom part spells out the word "Vegan" in twisting, viny, letters.

Jared's whole arm took three sessions and ultimately embodies the Vegan lifestyle, not just in words and design, but in the ink used to create the art.

Thanks to Jared for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!
Boys and Girls,

I know I have been slow on updating my works, including the ones from -XVI- the ongoing event.

I have too many things going on in my head and its been hard for me to concentrate but I still try. Its like, I am already am living in hell in reality. I don't know if the idea of my event has become real or that my mind has engulfed me and over took my senses...

Things around me seems to mess me up and shut me down. Sometimes I don't even know what I am thinking about or even going through. I have been having memory lost and seems like I am losing my grip on my life...

I really need to find my 66 Sinners and finish this event up. Honestly, now I know why they say, "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it".....

Immortal Tattoos was interviewed by an Online Tattoo Magazine, Skin-Artists.com.

Check out the interview here : http://skin-artists.com/eng/stories/0012.php

Friday, June 26, 2009

Tattoosday Boxcars: A Leonine Tattoo and Wearing One's Heart on One's Sleeve

I met Jeff and Jeanie in Penn Station as they were about to board an Amtrak train out of the city.

I've been trying to come up with clever terms for different inkspotting phenomenon, basically creating my own lexicon.

I'll call Jeff and Jeanie "boxcars". Meaning, I approached the two of them and gambled, asking them both to participate, and they came through. Like rolling two sixes on the dice (also known as boxcars). I would even venture to call them "blind boxcars", because I could only make out fragments of their ink, but they still shared.

Jeff went first, displaying this leonine figure on his left bicep:


It's a nod to his astrological sign, Leo, and was also selected for its nod to Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast).

Jeanie shared her tattoo below:


This piece literally has her wearing her heart on her sleeve and is inspired by Mexican art. The tattoo was completed by a friend of Jeanine's named John Flack.

I would have obtained more detail, but the couple had to board their train.

Thank you to Jeanine and Jeff for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Gina's Mayan Design

Earlier this month, I met Gina in Manhattan at the corner of 31st Street and 7th Avenue and I asked her about these tattoos:


The main element is a the piece she had inked in January 2007, on a trip to Mexico.

She went on a cruise to Mexico with her mother. While exploring some Mayan ruins, she made a rubbing of the design above, which bears some relationship to Xul, a canine god in the Mayan pantheon. She took the rubbing to a local tattoo artist and had it inked while in Mexico.

I questioned her about the cleanliness of a tattoo shop south of the border and she maintained that the place was immaculate, much cleaner than some of the shops she has seen in the U.S.

Just above the Mayan piece is a smaller tattoo, featuring an outline of Texas, where she was born. When her mother saw this "Made in Texas" tattoo, she asked Gina, "What makes you so sure you were made here?" Clearly a woman with a sense of humor. But, Gina noted, the remark "made [her] throw up a little".

This small tattoo was done by Homer Saenz at 713 Tattoo Parlour in Houston. Work from 713 has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Finally, as a matter of habit, I always ask people how many tattoos they have. Gina gave me an unusual answer, "Nine, going on seven."

When I gave her a puzzled look, she explained that she has nine tattoos, but she is planning on having two removed. As an actress, she feels that two of the more visible pieces may prevent her from attaining roles.

Thanks to Gina for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Mark's Gypsy Tattoo Pays Tribute to the Female Singer-Songwriter


I have mentioned before that I tend to shy away from approaching subway commuters about their tattoos.

However, like most of my self-imposed guidelines, I always make exceptions for work that is transcendent. That is, if the tattoos are supremely blogworthy, I will solicit, for the sake of the reader, people on the subway. One such case presented itself last week on the Brooklyn-bound N train.

I approached Mark Turrigiano as the N emerged from the subterranean underworld and climbed the Manhattan Bridge. He has phenomenal sleeves, intricate work that wraps and surrounds the limbs.

His right arm, with an Asian-inspired theme, is mostly attributed to Elio Espana at Fly Rite Tattoo Studio (whose work has been seen previously here). His left arm hosts an incredibly huge and colorful octopus, which was inked by Lou at Third Eye Tattoo (whose work has appeared on Tattoosday here).

Because of the scale of those sleeves, we opted to go with one of his newer pieces, a gypsy on the back of his left calf:


This piece, designed and inked by Craig Rodriguez at Hand of Glory Tattoo Studio in Brooklyn, is seen by Mark as "a good way to commemorate [his] work with female singer-songwriters".

I like this piece a lot because it contains a lot of traditional gypsy elements, but is atypical in its presentation. It seems much larger with greater detail than the traditional gypsy profile tattoos that are much more common. The vividness of the colors also helps the tattoo pop, and you can almost feel the texture of her scarf.

Mark says the piece was completed in about four hours over two sessions. He estimates that his body is about 30% covered in ink.

Feel free to check out Mark's website here.

Thanks to Mark for sharing this great gypsy tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Sarah Shoulders Her Slavic Heritage


A couple of weeks ago, I had a very productive Wednesday, speaking to five different people about their tattoos.

Sarah is the last of those five that I an posting, and was my favorite of the group that day.

This tattoo was her sixth (she has thirteen or fourteen) and is an homage to her Slavic heritage.

The piece is based on the poster for a 1921 art exposition put on by the Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha at the Brooklyn Museum:


The piece, on her right shoulder was tattooed by Scott Budgen at Lady Luck Ink in Waterford, Michigan.

Thanks to Sarah for sharing this wonderful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, June 22, 2009

My Third Tattoo: A Hand Steeped in Faith

Last June, I wandered into a 711 and met a tattoo artist named Pete, who works under the moniker Sweetpea. Like most artists, he himself has amazing work. However, I was camera-less that day, so I gave him a flier and we went our separate ways.

Later that week he e-mailed me and we scheduled to meet and talk about tattoos. We hit it off nicely and, in one of the perks of writing Tattoosday, I gained a new friend. Of the hundreds of people I have photographed for this blog, I'd say I developed some semblance of a friendship with just a handful of my subjects. Sweetpea tops the list.

When I posted his tattoos, almost exactly a year ago today, he was actually contacted by several people who he ended up tattooing. I didn't realize it at the time, but the impact of the post was far greater than I could imagined.

A month or so later he e-mailed me and asked me what I thought of a design on his MySpace page. I checked out the sketch and admired the concept: a disembodied hand, gesturing the "om" sign, emerging from a cluster of flowers.

I told him I liked it, but if I were to get that tattoo, I'd prefer it be modified to exchange the Om for a Star of David.

He came back to me with the updated design and we agreed to get this done. Summer was just coming to an end.


Pete stopped by in September with the design and met my wife, Melanie. The three of us talked about size and placement and agreed that it would look best on the upper part of the left side of my back. Sweetpea was basically freelancing and we decided the only place we could do it would be in my living room. The kids would certainly get an education out of this!

But when he called to see if we could book a slot in early October, a glance at my calendar revealed a conflict with a wedding and Yom Kippur the Jewish Day of Atonement. Not even factoring in the religious connotations, it's generally a bad idea to get a big tattoo on your back shortly before wearing a nice suit. Healing from a tattoo can be uncomfortable and the ointment used to facilitate the process can often ruin many an article of clothing.

So October slipped away, then November, and December. And then Sweetpea left the country for over a month and didn't get back until late January.

He called me in February. Not only was he ready, but he was now working out of Made in Brooklyn a little shop around the corner run by Michael Kaves, an artist steeped in the tradition of South Brooklyn music, graffiti art and tattoo culture (see an early Kaves tattoo here). I stopped into the store a couple of times and set a date.

When I showed up for the intial sitting, Pete was slightly tentative about the design. He wanted to go in a bit of a different artistic direction and wanted to retool the sketch one more time.

It was then that I suggested a chain, to make it look like it wasn't just a star that was being held, but a necklace with a star at the end of it, almost as if the hand had picked it out of the dust and held it up for inspection. Sweetpea loved the idea of adding the chain, as it created another dimension in the piece.

A week later, I was finally back in the shop being inked.

Again, I was reminded how time is distorted by reality TV tattoo shows. In a four to six hour session, the outline and flower was completed. For what was a relatively small piece, I was surprised at the time that the first phase took, until I saw the depth and layering of the colors that went into the floral pieces.



I returned two weeks later for the hand and several more hours under Sweetpea's needle....this time focusing on the hand, and the shading. When the session was complete, the hand was very dark, so much so that Melanie was nervous.


But Sweetpea assured us that the hand would lighten when healed, and lighten it did. It still amazes me how much work he put into the detail and shading and how he, along with the best tattoo artists, can envision the tattoo after it has healed. It's like an artist creating a painting, but with an extra layer that he knows will peel off and result in a crisper, brighter work below.

Due to scheduling and the shop getting busier, I wasn't able to sit again with Sweetpea until the second weekend in June.

I came in for some final touch-ups, a little extra tuning and coloring to slam the door on the tattoo.

I suggested some gold for the star to really make it shine, and he added some crisper outlining and some subtle shading to finish things up - white highlights in the fingernails and in the chain, and a little bit of added color in the hand.

And whereas I had been happy with the tattoo before, I was astonished at how much more amazing it looked with the "finishing touches".


So what does this tattoo mean? I know that is a question I extend to the countless volunteers who offer up their ink to Tattoosday readers.

I believe that meanings change over time, as the context of a particular tattoo evolves.

The addition of the chain was significant. Instead of merely proffering a symbol, the hand extended a concrete thing that symbolized something larger.

I alluded to our discussion of the chain, as if it had been picked up and held up for examination. This forms the cornerstone of the tattoo's current meaning to me.

So here it is: the hand of a Higher Power, call Him God, or Yahweh, or another deity. The Star of David represents my faith, my understanding of Judaism.


For many years, I had fallen away from the spirituality of the religion and had merely been a "cultural" Jew, meaning I identified myself as Jewish but didn't worship at the synagogue or observe many of the religious traditions.

But when my children reached the age when they started going to Hebrew School, the pendulum swung back and I became more regularly involved in the faith.

And although I do not consider myself "devout," my faith is stronger than it has ever been, it has been plucked from the dust and is being held up to the light.

This tattoo represents Faith, lost and found.

There are other elements that pervade the tattoo that make it more complete to me, as well. I consider it a Judeo-Christian tattoo, in a sense, with a hint of Buddhism.

The hand is still held in an "Om" gesture, despite the modification. So it has a base in a symbol of peacefulness and meditation. The chain has almost rosary-like appearance to it, which is appropriate in that it represents to me the faith of the artist, and my deeper understanding of Christianity that developed over 13 years attending a Christian elementary and high
school.

I thank Peter Caruso aka Sweetpea for creating this amazing tattoo for me. He has told me that appearing on Tattoosday a year ago was a significant moment in his career, as well. In the middle of our second session, he had shared with me that his passion for tattooing had dwindled, and he had been thinking of hanging up his tattoo machine.

However, he said, my interest in the art of tattoo through the blog, and getting him talking about the history of Old School Brooklyn tattooing, rekindled the flame. He started tattooing again and, at Made in Brooklyn, he has been tattooing full-time, doing his own thing, and creating some amazing works of art.

This won't be the last time you hear of Sweetpea or Kaves or Made in Brooklyn here on Tattoosday. Their influence in my neighborhood is being extended on a daily basis. I have witnessed the phenomenal work that they are producing for others and I am sure to be featuring it here in the future. I also hope to bring you a closer look at the shop as they continue to grow the business and transform from a little shop around the corner into a Brooklyn institution.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Jake's Redd Foxx Tattoo Helps Us Celebrate Father's Day!

Last week, I posted about a trio of friends that had recently moved from San Francisco to New York, all of them inked.

Jake was the first of the three to share his tattoo with us, and it is such a good piece, I saved it for a special occasion, Father's Day:


This is, of course, a portrait of the great comedian Redd Foxx. People of my generation (X) remember him as the bristling curmudgeon in the sitcom "Sandford and Son".



For those who are unfamiliar with the series, the show is about a widower, Fred Sanford (Foxx), raising his adult son Lamont (played by Desmond Wilson), and their junkyard business. It was a breakthrough show that was one of the first on network television to feature a minority cast.

The father-son dynamic is an ongoing theme, and Jake recalls watching the show with his dad and it being a bonding experience.

His father passed away about four years ago this month from cancer. The tattoo is not only a tribute to the great comedian, but a reminder of the times Jake spent watching "Sandford and Son" with his dad. Jake added, "I'm pretty sure if [my dad] was still around, he would get a kick out of seeing Redd Foxx on my calf."

This amazing portrait was tattooed on the back of Jake's right calf by Greg Rojas at Everlasting Tattoo in San Francisco.

As we celebrate Father's Day today, I thank Jake for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here, and invite everyone to revisit the host of tattoos previously posted on Tattoosday that pay tribute to dads. Click here to see the lot.

And, as a special treat, in the spirit of the day, I present the following clip:



Happy Father's Day from Tattoosday!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Ashley's Trio of Tattoos

I've always said that Tattoosday is 50% about the tattoos and 50% about finding them. But once in a while, tattoos just present themselves and I can't contain myself.

Ashley is a case in point. She was at the laundromat the same time as I was, and she had two small tattoos inked on her feet. Out on the street, I likely would have let her walk by without stopping her, but there, as we stood around waiting for clothes to wash and dry themselves, it struck me as negligent NOT to ask her about the tattoos.

Ashley has three tattoos in all. The first one I noticed was this peace sign on her right foot:


It's a popular symbol, of course, and not simply because of what it stands for, but for the aesthetics of the shape.

Similarly, she has a small heart on her left foot:


What's interesting to me about this simple tattoo is the duality of the colors. Ashley says that the colors represent the "two polar sides" of her personality - the "mellow" green and the more exciting pink.

Both tattoos were done in the same sitting by an artist named Taz.

Ashley has a third tattoo, her first, which she was kind enough to share with me:


This star was inked by Joe at Studio Enigma (whose work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here). This is purely decorative, at the base of her neck, and she had it done with a close friend, who had the same design inked on her shoulder blade.

Thanks to Ashley for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Dozen (or So) of Ed's Sixty-Eight (Approximately) Tattoos

Every neighborhood has at least one or two of them: old-timers who have retired from the workforce and can now shed their suits and proudly display what they have accumulated over a lifetime: their vast tapestry of ink.

Ed lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (my neighborhood) and worked for a bank for forty years. Even today, when the stigma of tattoos is dissipating with the changing times, Corporate America still has employee handbooks which prohibit visible body art.

Ed started getting inked, like many men of his generation, when he was 18 and entered the Service. And, over the years, he collected tattoos. And he's not done, although the real estate is shrinking in quantity.

By his best estimate, Ed gave me a number of sixty-eight (68!). While chatting with outside of the laundromat a couple of weekends back, he let me take a snapshot of his right arm. In this photo, alone, I count at least twelve individual pieces:


Although the focus of the shot is the mermaid on the bicep, one is still drawn to the butterflies, the traditional panther, the New York Yankees logo, the fairy, and the sun.


Old school tattoos have a tendency to be less customized and more based on existing flash art. The result may be an affinity for the pieces, but a lack of great "back story" for many (but not all) tattoos on the older generation of inked Americans.

With so much ink, it is often hard to remember where everything was tattooed, although Ed credits a lot of the work to Brooklyn mainstays like Michael Angelo and artists affiliated with the great the late Huggy-Bear Ferris.

Thanks to Ed for sharing his arm with us here on Tattoosday!

Of course, we hope to feature more of Ed's work here in the future....

Thursday, June 11, 2009

John's Demon Sleeve

Under normal circumstances, I may not have stopped John, as I tend to not feature full sleeves here on Tattoosday. However, last Wednesday I was on a roll, and he gladly modeled his right arm for me:


Here's a little better look at that demonic face that dominated the bicep:


John's ink, which he estimates covers 25% of his body, has no specific meanings, the artwork is just a form of expression. He's 42, and has been getting tattooed since he turned 18.

He credits this work, along with most of his ink, to Bobby at Skin Deep Tattoo in Uniondale, New York.

Thanks to John for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tattoos in the News - Friday Jones Fifth Avenue

Sara from W Magazine just e-mailed me about a couture studio in New York's Flatiron District.
She writes:

"...Thought you might be interested in our article on Friday Jones Fifth Avenue, the "couture" tattoo saloon located inside the Flatiron District's Senses NY Saloon & Spa. Classically-trained tattoo artist and owner Friday Jones has catered to a clientele of Hollywood stars and socialites including Angelina Jolie and Lydia Hearst. The unique combination of a spa-like environment and design excellence has driven Jones' expanding market, even offering white tattoos as a more subtle alternative for those not ready to commit to black ink."
Check out the article here.

The question becomes, when will one of these tattoos be spotted by the Tattoosday camera?

Audrey's Wrist Tattoos Keep Her Grounded

Last week I had a wonderful Wednesday of inkspotting, photographing four tattoos at lunch, and those of a fifth volunteer after work.

The run started with Audrey, whose tattooed wrist caught my eye in the plaza in front of Borders.

As it turns out, Audrey has both wrists done:


Her left wrist bears the slogan "Be Present" and the right wrist hosts a series of Roman numerals.

The "III.XX.MMVIII" refers to her sobriety date, 3/20/2008. I asked her then, if the phrase "Be Present" was from program literature. She acknowledged that it was and said she had no issue with my sharing these tattoos here on the blog.

When I asked if she found that her ink gave her strength in recovery, she nodded and said that the phrase makes her "mindul of what I'm doing in any given moment".

And the date? "It keeps me from making mistakes," she added.

These are two of her four tattoos. Recollecting my wife Melanie's surprise at the pain she experienced from the "13" on her inner wrist (recalled here), I asked Audrey if these strings of letters had been particularly painful. She smiled and said, "No, actually, it kinda tickled".

She could not recall the name of the artist that did these tattoos, but she did confirm they were inked at Lucky Dog Tattoos in the Fresh Meadows section of Queens.

It never ceases to amaze me how people use tattoos not only to decorate their bodies, but to give themselves the tools for survival. Whether it be a memorial piece that exudes comfort in periods of loss, or anchors used to ground the individual as they face the challenges of daily life, the tattoo can often be the center that makes life more bearable, that makes living each day a more pleasurable experience.

Thanks to Audrey for sharing these particularly personal tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Jason's Lucky Devil

I spotted Jason walking among the crowds during the annual Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Festival.

He had sweet tattoos on his forearms but he chose to share one, near and dear to his heart. His wife chimed in that it was her favorite as well.

Where once there was a "bad tribal/skeletal dragon," there is now this phenomenal new tattoo on his left bicep:


This was, he told me, his groom's gift, a tattoo commemorating his marriage, and the fact that he is a "lucky devil".

The piece was inspired, in part, by the artistic style of Coop, and includes a lucky seven (rolled on the dice) juxtaposed by the lucky number 13.

This cool tattoo was inked by Johan Florendo at Mean Street Tattoo Studio in the College Point section of Queens, New York.

Thanks to Jason for sharing his awesome lucky tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sinner # 2

Sinner # 2 - XVI -


Monday, June 8, 2009

Brian's Amazing Angelic Ink

On Saturday, I was at the park, playing ball with my daughter, and I noticed a guy off in the distance with some dark ink on his upper arm. When we were ready to leave, I ambled on over to him.

What I initially spotted was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Brian was more than generous in rolling up his sleeves and sharing his astonishing work. He showed me both biceps and his back piece which, combined, he estimates represent nearly 150 hours of work.

First, the one arm:


Then the other:


Both pieces, what he calls Bad Angel and Good Angel, were cover-ups.

And then, the feather in his cap, so to speak, his back piece:


All three pieces were custom-designed by Denise de la Cerda whose website, ChicksDigTattoos.com, is a great showcase of her work. In fact, you can see the before and after of each tattoo on the cover-ups section of her site. The back piece can be viewed here. The "good" angel can be seen here. And the "bad" angel can be viewed, before and after, here. Truly amazing!

One of Denise's tattoos, albeit a much smaller one, appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Brian for sharing these awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Vince and a Word from John Keats

I'm a sucker for words.

Scrabble, crossword puzzles and, when I find them, words inscribed in flesh.

I recently spotted Vince, walking down 32nd Street in Manhattan. I caught up with him after he crossed Broadway, heading east.

He has eight tattoos, but I snapped a picture of this one:


And why does he have the word Beauty inked on the outside of his right forearm?

Vince is an artist and illustrator (see some of his work here) and he finds inspiration from the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats. The lines

When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou sayst,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," -that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

resonate deeply with him. They are central concepts to him as an artist and a human being. The word "Truth" is inscribed on his left side to accompany the Beauty on his arm.

"I live for them," he told me, and I thank him for taking the time to talk with me.

The tattoo was inked by Kari Hamilton, a friend of his, in her basement in Michigan.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Pepper's Apprentice

It was Rush Hour in Penn Station when I spotted a fairly large tattoo on the right ankle of a woman walking, as it turned out, to the same train platform as me.

I was able to grab a few words and a photo from Pepper as we waited for the downtown train:


This one-color tattoo, one would imagine, for its size, should have significant meaning (or so I thought), but that is far from the truth.

Often, Pepper said, she doesn't "even remember that it's there".

About fifteen years ago, she managed a tattoo shop in West Chester, Pennsylvania called Damian's City Tattoo.

An apprentice named Shawn inked this on her as part of his ongoing learning process. Pepper believes that it is based on the artwork from a comic book called "Sláine". She worked at the shop for only a year, and has no idea what became of the artist.

It never ceases to amaze me the variety of back stories behind tattoos. We are so accustomed to the deep meanings, the personal ordeals, the appreciation of art for art's sake. But more often than one might imagine, a tattoo is a signpost marking a moment in time, and nothing more.

I thank Pepper for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sinner # 1

Sinner # 1 - XVI -




(Tribal Dragon not done by me)

Friday, June 5, 2009

Danielle's Stars and Signs Forever

Despite great inkspotting weather earlier this week, I found myself walking in Chelsea at lunch, marveling at the absence of tattoos.

I like to remind myself from time to time that Tattoosday is 70% tattoos and 30% about finding them.

So, I had walked down to one of our vendor's offices at lunch (13 blocks away) to get some forms we needed. I was on the elevator heading back downstairs when I noticed the woman next to me (who worked for the company I had just visited) had this interesting set of tattoos:


On the street, I may not have stopped her, but in an elevator, it seemed foolish not to.

Danielle had these tattoos (one of three total) inked at a shop in Long Beach, New York. She didn't recall the name of the shop or the artist who did the work, but she did mention that her fiance has a matching set of the three colored stars on his left bicep.

These stars and signs, tattooed on Danielle's inner right wrist, are decorative and, the three symbols represent Danielle, her mother and her sister.

From left to right, the three insignia stand for Libra (her mother's astrological sign), Gemini (for her sister) and Aries (her own Zodiac affiliation).

What I have found interesting about astrological tattoos, is that each sign of the Zodiac has a simple line representation, but that these symbols can be modified artistically in so many different ways. The whole range of astrological signs as interpreted by subjects of this site can be seen here.

Thanks to Danielle for sharing this cool tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Alex's East Indian Tribal Mask

What's fascinating about approaching two inked people talking on a subway platform and asking them if either would like to share a tattoo, is that you never know what you'll get (if anything).

On Saturday, May 23, I found myself in such a situation, and Alex, one of the two people chatting on the 59th Street subway platform in Brooklyn, offered up this, one of his sixteen (16) tattoos:


This piece, which covers the front of Alex's right shin, is a representation of an East Indian tribal mask.

The tattoo was done by David at Dragonfly Studio & Gallery in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

Thanks to Alex for sharing this cool mask with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Tattoo Highway Contest #2

Win Prizes from the New A&E Real Life Series TATTOO HIGHWAY, THIRD AND FOURTH EPISODES AIRING WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 AT 10/9C.

Tattoo Highway follows 15-year tattoo veteran and star of former A&E hit “Inked,” Thomas Pendelton as he takes his tattoo parlor on the road to cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City to transform personal stories into living art. Pendelton and his business partner and wife Monica have transformed a 1970s tour bus into a tattoo parlor on wheels, featuring a swanky interior and top-of-the-line tattooing equipment. It’s a tattoo shop that can tattoo anyone, anywhere. Ride along as emotional limits and friendships are challenged and the persistent mechanical problems of a vintage bus are tested on the road, as “Tattoo Highway” proves to be one bumpy ride. Tattoo Highway premieres Wednesday May 27th at 10/9C on A&E!

Visit http://www.aetv.com/tattoo-highway for more information.


Here at Tattoosday, we've partnered with A&E to help promote this exciting new show. Here's how our contest is going to work:

Tattoosday is all about stories behind the tattoos and how each piece of body art resonates with the individual. To be entered into the contest, simply watch the two episodes airing Wednesday, June 3rd from 10:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern/9:00 to 10:00 PM Central) and then write a little something in the comments section of this post. Tell us what tattoo that you saw on the premiere episode was your favorite, and why you liked it. Winners will be chosen randomly among the entries and you could win:

a Tattoo Highway iPod Skin OR

a Tattoo Highway Aluminum Water Bottle OR

a Tattoo Highway Tank.

Watch and enjoy! Winners will be announced on the site by Monday, June 8.

Dana Winkler and Chris Manning were the winners from last week. Congrats to Dana and Chris!!

Tattoorism: Josh Pays Tribute to the Verrazano Bridge

Last Friday I received a very special surprise via e-mail from a guy named Josh:


The following explanation accompanied the photo:

"I recently discovered your blog's postings about various Verrazano Bridge tattoos you've seen [here and here] ... They both looked pretty awesome.

I'm also a big enough fan of the bridge to get it inked on my skin ... Although mine is a slightly different style than the other two you posted.

I'm originally from New Jersey, and used to drive over the bridge on a regular basis to my Army duties at Fort Hamilton ... I also wanted to run in the NYC Marathon for many years growing up, and finally did so in 2004 (and again in 2006) and decided to commemorate the occasion with a little inking."
Needless to say, it's a phenomenal piece. I, too, am partial to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, as I can turn my head to the left as I type this at my computer, and see it through my window.

Josh had the tattoo done by an artist named Mark Van Ness at Blue Flame Tattoo in Raleigh, North Carolina. Work from Blue Flame has appeared twice before on Tattoosday.

Josh elaborated on the piece in a follow-up e-mail:

"...I was inspired by the works of artist Barbara Bascove, who's painted dozens of New York City landmarks in her unique style. I loved the dark, rich tones of her paintings, and decided to get my tattoo along the same lines. I used the same angle / template from one of her paintings of the George Washington Bridge, and just had the tattoo artist replace the GW towers with those of the Verrazano."


The piece, which Josh says took about five and a half hours over two sessions, is one of several tattoos that he has. You'll have to wait until a later date for us to share those here at Tattoosday.

Thanks again to Josh for sharing his awesome Verrazano Bridge tattoo with us here on the site!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Manhattan

At one of the busiest intersections in Manhattan (34th and 7th), I recently met Kelsey, who offered up this still-fresh tattoo:


This is a scene from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, when Alice meets the Cheshire Cat for the second time.

The tattoo is based on this illustration:


This is her most recently tattooed piece. The inspiration behind it is that this was one of her favorite stories, ever since she was six years old.

This was done by Mark Roberts at Fine Line Tattoo Parlour in Deep River, Connecticut.

As a postscript, I noticed in the original photo I took, down on her ankle, was another tattoo, an apparent equation:


I e-mailed Kelsey asking her what the significance of "<3.14". I initially thought that it had something to do with being less than the value of Pi. (π).

Her response surprised me with its cleverness:

"Well, it's <3.14 because <3 is a heart and 3.14 is Pi, an irrational number ... I got it at a tattoo parlor in Augusta, Maine. Four of my friends also have that tattooed in the same spot."

Thanks to Kelsey for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!