I would like to take this time and chance to dedicate this piece of blog to Gavin & Bron...
I would like to say, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to come over and experience the lifestyle and culture that happens in Tasmania. Its funny how we even got to know each other, and like they say - Bad things happen for good reasons. I am very honoured and happy to have you guys around. I thank you for your hospitality and comfort given to me over the days I was there. You guys really took good care of me and I am very touched by it.
For you to invite me over was a big thing, putting a trust in me, not knowing what kind of person I could be, was a bigger thing. I never had so much fun, never had so much of calmness in my soul and peacefulness in my mind. I felt safe, guys. It something which I never felt in my whole life. Sad, but its true. No matter how much I say "Thank You", its never enough for what you guys have given me or shown me during my stay.
I am dedicating this piece for you both and telling you that you guys mean alot to me. This is no bullshit. Let me tell the whole world that - You guys, rock my world !!
Like Gavin said, We will mates forever even though we are world apart...
I would never forget you guys and want you guys to know that I am here for you guys when you come to Singapore. Always....
Me and Gavin - Rockin in Van Diemen's Land !!
Bron and Me - Lookin Lovely ain't you bron? Haha !!
Me with 2 of the world best mates I have. Forever !!
I was close to tears when I said good bye to both of you at the airport. I know I sound emotional, but its true. Now everyone is gonna make fun of me when they read this..haha !! I miss the whole bunch. But fret not, I will be making a comeback !! Van Diemen's Land, will never be the same again !!
Sorry for my long absence. To some who have known, Immortal Tattoos was on tour to Van Diemen's Land - Tasmania !!
I am now finally back to the fast paced and noisy land, where everyone seems to be in a rush, and god knows why. One piece of advice to everyone who is new to my blog and to the those who keep track over the months, - Watch and Learn from the boys from Van Diemen's Land. They rock !!
Before I go on about my tour, I would wish to share something.
I was back to my studio today, and I should say, it was not a warm welcome.
Few months back, I had a customer who refused to pay after getting a tattoo by me and I had to call the cops on him. Seems like the cops can't do anything about it as it was between "retailer and customer" issue. Full of shit if you ask me. Anyway, the guy ended up paying and left.
And of all days, he returned yesterday and asked me to retouch his tattoos for him. Well obviously I refused to, and he got pissed and shouted vulgarities at me. After all the peace and quietness, some jackass have to piss me off. There was some confrontation between me and him, verbally that is, and he ran out of the shop and called me out for a fight. When I asked him to come back in, he just took off. What a pussy he was !!
And some other guy I tattooed many months back as well, who is known to be in prison now, was bragging to his cell mates about how he wanted to beat me up and break my shop. And he went on saying to some other guy that my tattoos are expensive and that I am arrogant.
A note to the jail bird - "Well if you are reading this, probably you are illiterate ( If you know what that means ), so it doesn't matter. You can ask your "friends" to translate it for you. But wait ; are they not as dumb as you? Let me tell you something. This is Singapore, my low lifed friend. You can brag to your cell mates anything you want, but your the one serving time in prison, selling your ass for some cash to buy drugs when you are out. So, try harder next time. If you think my tattoos are expensive, don't do it, cause your too cheap to be tattooed anyway."
Sure is fast paced back in Singapore - Pretty FULL-ON boys !!
I will be updating about my tour over the next few days, so don't blink....
I spotted this memorial on Eric's forearm in a local Duane Reade drugstore:
This was Eric's first tattoo, inked about three years ago after his grandmother, Milagros, passed away.
He told me he was both "interested and nervous" when he had this done. He had no regrets, as it is a way for his grandmother to be with him, in spirit, forever.
This was inked at Hypnotic Designs, in Sunset Park. Their work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here. That is where the "Brooklyn Born 'N' Raised" tattoo was inked.
Thanks to Eric for sharing his memorial tattoo with us!
I've been relying heavily on Tattoos I Know since the end of summer, but today, in the chill of January, I spotted a cool tattoo on a stranger and added him to the Tattoosday gallery:
It was in the mid-30's when I asked Frank about his tattoo. He gladly offered up his newest piece, this playing card queen.
Frank is heavily-inked. He briefly flashed a leg and an arm covered with tattoos. But we stuck with this one. This particular piece, his newest, was done by Mike Profetto at Designs by Michael Angelo in Brooklyn.
When I asked him why he had this queen of hearts, he said it only made sense to complement the king of diamonds on the right side of his neck:
Incidentally, that's a spider in the middle the two royal tattoos.
The queen, being the newer piece, is much brighter and crisper.
Frank is the first Tattoosday subject to offer up side neck pieces. He gave me his contact information, so I hope to feature Frank's work again in the future, with more detail about his tattoos, and the stories behind them.
Tracy is a friend of mine who lives in Fort Drum, New York. She was in town last weekend, visiting family, and this was the first time I have seen her since Tattoosday was born over the summer.
I knew Tracy had at least one tattoo, because she and my wife have talked ink before. So when I saw her on Saturday, unexpectedly, I was happy that I had a couple of Tattoosday printouts in my pocket.
I explained the blog and asked if she'd like to participate. She was happy to oblige and, as fortune would have it, she was coming to an indoor soccer game the following day. Her nephew plays on the same team as my daughter Shayna. We tentatively agreed to talk tattoo the following day.
After the game Sunday, I asked if she was ready. She lifted the back of her shirt to reveal:
I was surprised, honestly. I was not expecting butterflies, but expecting the one above it which, as fate would have it, is later in this post. But I wasn't about to pass up a cool tattoo, so I took a picture of this one as well.
Tracy is a mother of two boys, Matthew and Danny, and these butterflies represent each of them, as they flutter and transform, as ones children are apt to do, growing from infants into people. Tracy had these inked three years ago in Victorville, when she was living at Ft. Irwin. She said that they had been done at "Victorville Designs," which has either changed names or gone out of business, based on this link.
These butterflies are nicely inked and really seem to float over the skin. Definitely a nice tattoo, from design to execution.
Above the butterflies is the tattoo that I had heard about:
A simple, basic script. The arced triad of three pillars of strength in many people's lives: "Faith. Family. Friends."
In order to understand this tattoo, we have to take a little side journey.
Whatever one's politics may be, or however one feels about what we are doing in Asia and the Middle East, one thing must be acknowledged: the men and women in our military are there to do a job, to serve our country, and to fight to not only protect the people there, but here as well. Thousands of American men and women have given their lives and their souls to serve our country.
As one may have guessed by two prior references (Ft. Drum and Ft. Irwin), Tracy is closely tied to the United States Army, as she is married to Pete, who is a soldier with the 10th Mountain Division, Light Infantry.
On October 31, 2006, Pete's friend and fellow soldier, Major Douglas E. Sloan, was killed in the line of duty in the Wygal Valley in Afghanistan, while serving with Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment. You can read more about Doug here at the Arlington National Cemetary website.
As every drop of spilled blood in the line of duty hits home, the loss of Major Sloan was devastating to his family and friends back in the States. The community of Fort Drum mourned Doug's passing and hearts went out to his wife Kerry and their children.
In December 2006, to pay tribute to Doug's memory, Tracy and three friends, including Kerry, went to Tattoos Forever in Evans Mills, NY, and each had the same inscription inked. In hindsight, Tracy recalls how funny it must have appeared, for four moms in minivans to drive up to the shop and collectively get tattooed.
It is a recurring theme on tattoo shows. Memorial tattoos are among the most popular types of body art. People mourn, heal, and remember through the art of the tattoo. And a piece of the loved one lives on, for years, in the flesh of the survivors, who gain strength and hold on to the memory of the departed.
The alliterative mantra of "Faith, Family, and Friends" reminds not only the tattooed, but those around them, of the most important things in life.
I want to thank Tracy for sharing her tattoos, and the stories behind them. I would add a special nod of gratitude to the memory of Major Douglas Sloan, who I never knew. Yet, by virtue of this tattoo, helped remind me of the sacrifice that our soldiers make day in, day out, and their families they leave behind.
Like many tattoos, this horned skull is occasional. That is, he had it done to commemorate a significant event in his life. In this case, the occurrence was his first jump out of an airplane. He fearlessly overcame the initial anxiety of skydiving and chose to mark the moment with this sweet tattoo.
Basically, in Johnny's words, it represents: "Fear no evil, not even the devil."
The tattoo is a composite of a skull design from the shop and the horns are borrowed from the art of David Boltt. His gallery of tattoos is here. I have to concur that the horns make the skull exceptional.
This is the third of Johnny's four tattoos, and the only one that appears regularly. Johnny and I were talking with Jerome recently and he talked from experience about the pain of having your side tattooed, so I imagine there is a big one there.
Johnny acknowledges that this piece is a work in progress and that he not only hopes to add the words "Fear No Evil" above it, but also plans to eventually add to the arm and build a sleeve.
Thanks to Johnny for sharing the reminder of your fearlessness with us here at Tattoosday!
After my year end double-barrelled post of Erika's Ink, I wasn't expecting to post right away, but another co-worker of mine got his first tattoo over the weekend.
I hadn't even got into my office when I ran into Tom and Jerome.
Tom said "Bill, you gotta see this!"
Jerome took off his shirt to reveal this freshly-inked portrait of Jesus:
I had my camera out before I even knew what I was doing. There's nothing like fresh ink that pops off the flesh.
Jerome is 45 and this was his first tattoo, less than a week old.
Jerome says "I wanted a tattoo all my life, but I was fearful of the pain. I wanted to overcome my fears".
Jerome says that he finds this tattoo gives him strength. He is in Recovery, and this brings him "closer to a higher power". By being on him, Jerome beamed, "He is part of me".
