Tattoosday: May 2015

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Mara's Flower for Her Mother

Yesterday I met, Mara, from Argentina, outside of the New York Stock Exchange at the corner of Wall Street and Broad. She shared this lovely tattoo from her upper back:

Mara hails from Argentina, and she explained that the rose bears her mother's initials in the center of the flower.

She got this done at home from an artist named Luciana who is currently tattooing in France.

Thanks to Mara for sharing her flower with us here on Tattoosday!

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Marina's Hibiscus, Reflowering (A Repost)

Here's a quick repost for your Friday enjoyment, dating back to the end of May 2012. I was able to edit the photo to make it a little clearer than when it appeared originally:

A couple weeks back I ran into Marina on the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. She had just received this tattoo only two days before:

These stunning hibiscus flowers were tattooed by Gustavo Rizerio at Invisible NYC. Work from Gustavo has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Marina for sharing her lovely floral tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012, 2015 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Vulnerable, But Capable of Flight - Sara Henning's Dove (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Today we have another tattooed poet, Sara Henning, in our ongoing Tattooed Poet of the Week series. Sometimes tattoos are not always colorful and elaborate, yet they still still are full of powerful meaning and symbolism. This is Sara's tattoo:

She explains:

"I got this tattoo when I was 24 and on a visit home (to Athens, Georgia) while I was pursuing an M.F.A. in Poetry at George Mason University. I had wanted to get the tattoo for a long time, because the tattoo, a recreation of a dove in flight hovering around my kidney area, functioned as an effigy for the life I wish I could have been living. I was in a relationship at the time that had turned physically violent, and my partner had been arrested and banned from our apartment for acts of physical violence against me. I recall often going to school to work in the Writing Center or attending classes covered in bruises from where he would take out his aggression on me. I felt trapped, and I wanted this dove on my body because it depicts the animal's belly, breast, underside of its wing: all of the places most vulnerable and violable. Nonetheless, the creature is able to wing its way out of crisis. I felt that the dove represented to me the dichotomy of the abused woman: vulnerable but capable of flight. Whether she would fly or not was up to her. I'm proud to say I flew."

Sara sent us the following poem, which was previously published in Conte:

AUBADE WITH YOUR HANDS AROUND MY NECK

“Even though I have been out of psychiatric hospital for two years, I am still a missing person for the public who have heard of me. I am neither alive nor dead and, though I have not been buried, I am ‘bodiless.’”

--Louis Althusser, The Future Lasts Forever

My neck like

a shattered mare’s.

But not before

you’re St. Thomas

the Apostle, provoking

the dove-grey specter

of your grandfather’s

tobacco smoke.

My mane unfurling a loamy

intoxication as though

you’re scything barley.

But not before

you only trust what you

can hold

in your hands.

The fertile spikelets

urging you to hold harder.

The blue-black berries

divulging under

the honey-scented folds.

But not before

you learn that after

hours of sheaving,

even chestnut branches

are smooth

and plundered

as a sheared ewe.

My body falling forward,

creamy cluster of elder flower.

But not before

you learn to burn

the chaff you can’t

plough.

And when the empire moth

pauses to tongue

the languor, she is only

pleasuring herself

with an empurpled secret

that left raw,

would poison

most men.

~ ~ ~

Sara Henning is the author of A Sweeter Water (Lavender Ink, 2013), as well as two chapbooks, Garden Effigies (Dancing Girl Press, 2015) and To Speak of Dahlias (Finishing Line Press, 2012). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in such journals as Quarterly West, Green Mountains Review, Crab Orchard Review, Greensboro Review, and RHINO, and anthologies such as Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (2013). She holds an M.F.A. from George Mason University, and she is currently a doctoral student in English and Creative Writing at the University of South Dakota, where she serves as Assistant Managing Editor for the South Dakota Review and on the Editorial Board at Sundress Publications.

Thanks to Sara for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here at Tattoosday on the Tattooed Poets Project!

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Mark's Sleeve by SkullSugar

Yesterday, we enjoyed Maria's work by Fidel "SkullSugar" Quiñones at Lucky 13 Tattoo n Norwich, Great Britain. If you missed the post, revisit it here.

I only bring it up because, when I met Maria, she was accompanied by Mark, who had a full sleeve that was the handicraft of SkullSugar.

Check it out:

Of course you have the koi, swimming up the arm for good luck, with a phoenix on the opposite side of the forearm.

Mark noted that he works for the fire service, so the phoenix is a nod to that fiery vocation.

Mark also indicated that the green and yellow behind the carp is a subtle nod to the team colors of his favorite football club, Norwich City. "I would never put football emblems," he explained, "so I have a little bit of colour...that's the only personal bit to it."

As for the genesis of the sleeve, starting up top, Mark added, "It started off as a cover-up....I like Japanese work so I just let my artist just do his thing, really... he came up with the idea of a geisha..."

The colors of the work, speckled with the occasional cherry blossom, are really quite bright and vibrant. I don't generally like to photograph full sleeves, because it's hard to do them justice in two-dimensional venue, but I was impressed by this work enough to make an exception. I think we're able to see how nice this work is.
Thanks to Mark for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Maria's Tribute to Oz and a Floral Flourish

Earlier this month I met a couple from the United Kingdom, sitting on the steps of Federal Hall in lower Manhattan.
They both had a lot of ink and I'm splitting their work into two posts, one today and one tomorrow.
Maria and Mark were visiting from Norwich, England.

Maria shared first, starting with this cool Wizard of Oz tattoo on her calf:

When I asked Maria what motivated her to get this tattoo, she replied, "I'm a massive Wizard of Oz fan, a big geek."
I then took a couple of shots of this stunning floral piece that ran from her upper left arm across her upper back, flowering with orchids (which Maria loves), plumeria and hummingbirds:

All of her work is by Fidel "SkullSugar" Quiñones at Lucky 13 Tattoo n Norwich.

Thanks to maria for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! Be sure to check back tomorrow to see Mark's work, also by SkullSugar!
This entry is ©2015 Tattoosday.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Eric's Eagle Soars on Memorial Day

Earlier this month, I met Eric at the grocery store down the block. His tattoo is perfect for Memorial Day:

The banner accompanying the bald eagle and American flag read "Fortes Fortuna Juvat," which means "fortune favors the brave" in Latin.

Eric is currently serving our country in the United States Army.

He credited this work to Vin Dfect with Contemporary Tattoo in Staten Island, New York. Sadly, this talented Staten Island artist passed away back in March.

Thanks to Eric for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday. Even more so, thanks to Eric and all the other men and women who have served and continue to serve our country and protect her citizens!

Saturday, May 23, 2015

A Sliver of Gustavo's Sleeve

Earlier this month, in what seemed like Tattoosday kismet, a tattooed gentleman got on the A train and sat down next to me. When the inkspotting gods treat me so kindly, I almost always follow their lead and start up a conversation.

And so I did, meeting Gustavo, who was rushing for a bus back to New Jersey. I snapped a shot of his arm, slightly off-kilter due the movement of the express train, and handed him my card. He promised to reach out to me.

Maybe he will, but it's not uncommon for me to never see or hear from someone I meet randomly. That said, here's the photo:

If Gustavo ever reaches out, he'll get a proper post. In the mean time, this will do.

Thanks, Gustavo, for sharing this with us on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2015 Tattoosday.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Paulette Beete's Butterfly (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Our next Tattooed Poet of the Week is Paulette Beete, who sent us this photo:

Paulette tells us:

"The image is of my 3rd tattoo, which was inked in June 2011. My sister also has a few tattoos and we decided to get the same tattoo to celebrate the fact that, after a lot of work, we'd become best friends. We both liked the idea of a butterfly because it represents a specific type of change. When caterpillars become butterflies, they become who they were meant to be all along, which was a great metaphor for our journeys of growing into ourselves. We worked with Bill at Ambrotos Tattoo in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. We liked this butterfly because it didn't look too girly like so many butterfly tattoos do. My sister didn't like the stars so Bill made a couple of sketches that replaced the stars with ribbons. Ultimately I kept the stars because they felt quirky like me. My sister's much more elegant than I so the version with the ribbons fit her perfectly."

Paulette sent us the following poem, "The Makers of Memorials," which was previously published in Beltway Poetry Quarterly. She noted, "I believe that the best tattoos are memorials of a sort; stories that we carry on the outside as well as the inside."

The Makers of Memorials

They sing. They sing blue songs
their mothers wore.
They sing grief, bone-thick & left-handed.
They sing songs cross oceans, cross sidewalks.
They sing skies sealed shut.
They sing men born wearing walking shoes.
They sing women born palms up.
They sing from mouths without lipstick,
charts without notes, pianos without tunes.
They sing back-door songs & apron-
tied-low songs. They sing.
Unmaking the made into something less
teeth-breaking. They sing
dead crops, dead gods, men
put down, men put out,
dreams put off. Off key, off beat, they sing.
Steady. Loud. Relentless. They sing
instead of, in spite of, next door to. They sing
in clinics, in bedrooms, on corners. They sing.
Women in blue & purple, in thorn tiaras braided
from agains & nevermores & never minds.
Songs of children lost, of savings lost,
pawn tickets lost.
They sing. They sing. They sing
blue songs of our mothers,
holier-songs of our blue mothers.
They sing the slow leak that will drown
the world. They call God home
for the re-making.

~ ~ ~

Paulette Beete's poems have appeared in or are forthcoming in magazines including Crab Orchard Review, Escape into Life, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Gargoyle, and The Found Poetry Review. Her chapbooks include Blues for a Pretty Girl (Finishing Line Press) and Voice Lessons (Plan B Press). Her work also appears in several anthologies, including Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC. She blogs (occasionally) at thehomebeete.com.

Thanks to Paulette for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Ryan's Tattoos Represent the Duality of Human Existence

A couple weeks back on Broad Street, I ran into Ryan, who had two tattoos on either side of his calf.

I first noticed the back of the leg, which featured this image:

In explaining the tattoos he designed, Ryan, a chef, specified that "the mosquito represents the parasitic nature of man’s ego." He elaborated, "yup, sucking on, y’know the host, the earth."

Then there's this design on the front of the calf:

Ryan told me, "...on the front, a lotus flower, coming out of the earth with the sun rising, the hopeful sun rising future, the lotus flower representing the man’s spiritual potential." He added that "the front and back are the dualities of what we fight with."

He also shared this piece on his arm, noting that the kanji on the wrist was done first, and the rest of the tattoo was built around it:

Ryan explained:

"This was inspired by my favorite author’s book, JosephCampbell’s A Hero with a Thousand Faces and …it [the kanji] just says hero and then the reflection of it in the water, the faceless monk… it’s a representation of that book."

Ryan couldn't remember the exact name of the shop or the artist, so the work will have to remain uncredited, for the moment.

UPDATE: Ryan confirmed that the work was done by Joy at Twelve 28 Tattoo in New York City.

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

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Naomi's Mandala, Plus Two More

Last week I was picking up a pie from Nino's, one of the better pizza places in my neighborhood, when I met Naomi, who was standing, waiting for her order. She shared this lovely mandala tattoo on the back of her neck:

Naomi later emailed me the details, and included a couple of extra photos of some of her other work. She explained:

"The woman who tattooed me is Sarah Herzdame from Germany and is currently tattooing in Berlin [at Erntezeit Tätowierungen]. She should be out here again in August at Gristle Tattoo [in Williamsburg, Brooklyn]. Her Instagram is @tilldthtattoo. Her email is on there too.

I've gotten two other tattoos at Gristle Tattoo. One by a man named Felix and the other by a woman named Anka. Felix's Instagram is @felixvayner and Anka's is @ankalavrivtattoo.

Felix did the leaves, Anka did the cat. I got both of those on their Friday the 13th event and they were both $31. They had different sized tattoos for $13, $31 or $130 and had their local artists doing tattoos and a guest artist in as well from I believe Japan."

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

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Emma's Tattoo for Her Faith

Yesterday afternoon, while walking to the subway through Bowling Green park, I met a couple of Korean tourists after they stopped to ask me if the National Museum of the American Indian was closed (it was).

I noticed that one of the women, Emma, had a tattoo on her thigh and I asked if I could take a photo for Tattoosday. She consented:

She told me "I got it for Jesus ... because I am a Christian."

It's a pretty cool variation on the standard Jesus with the crown of thorns, in black and grey, with a rose added at the bottom.

She got this at Wild Rose Tattoo in Seoul, Korea.

Thanks to Emma for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, May 18, 2015

Laura and Her Heart that Doesn't Stop Beating

Sometimes tattoos can be powerful in the simplicity of their design. For example, my friend Laura recently got this new tattoo:

Laura explains how this tattoo on her wrist is a poignant memorial:

"On a day where I would typically be celebrating my mom’s life [May 18], this year I am remembering her death. My mom passed away on November 13, 2014.

The days leading up to her death was filled with constant noise. There were heart rate monitors and breathing monitors and the IV drips. I remember constantly staring at the heart rate monitor scared that it would go flat. When I walked into the room after she died, there was peace.

So not only does my tattoo mean 'love never dies.' it’s also a reminder that there is no more suffering, she is at peace."

Laura got this done at Studio Enigma in Brooklyn, by Adriano.

Thanks to Laura for sharing this very personal tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Chris and His Tattoo Draw on Mental Alchemy

Last week on Wall Street, I met Chris, who was visiting the U.S. from the Netherlands. He had an interesting-looking tribal tattoo on his left arm:

He credited the work to an artist named Jeff at Stillwaters Tattoo in Tilburg, in the Netherlands.

He told me it was based on his own sketch, and said that "he redesigned my own sketch ... it's something he just drew ...mine was way too detailed and he made it simpler, a little bit rougher than it was."

When I asked if it had any specific meaning, he elaborated:

"It's kinda dangerous to show this in public, actually, because it's all about the triangle here at the top...

It's a square in the middle and the circle, it could remind someone of the Illuminati, some people actually thought it was, but it's actually from Mental Alchemy and it means finding love in everything and everyone. It actually comes from this program that was made in the US, this guy, he was just walking past someone in Islamic clothing ...and he had a problem with his car and he stopped and he helped him for a couple of hours and he said, 'Well, I believe in Mental Alchemy and that basically resembles a triangle with a square in the middle, a circle that touches everything' ... mental alchemy... finding love in everything and everyone."

Thanks to Chris for sharing his cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, May 15, 2015

All Of Her Tattoos Have Wings - heather hughes is Our Tattooed Poet of the Week

Our next Tattooed Poet of the Week is heather hughes. She is sharing this tattoo:

heather tells us:

"I have four tattoos (at the moment), and of course I chose one that's difficult to photograph to send: a dragon silhouette on my left ribcage. The ink was done at Chameleon in Cambridge, MA, and I went there with 3 other poet friends who were also getting work. The art is based on drawings by Wayne Anderson that are featured in Peter Dickinson's book THE FLIGHT OF DRAGONS.

I developed an obsession with fantasy, and dragons in particular, largely because of an 80s Rankin & Bass animated adaptation (which I still deeply love). When I went into the tattoo shop, I thought I was going to get this design much smaller, and on my left forearm. Instead, I walked out with a dragon next to my heart. I was coming out of a fragile headspace and had only recently recommitted myself to making art. My dragon reminds me that I can be fierce, that I can protect what matters most, that I can continue to believe in what seems impossible. He's found his way into a poem. And I expect that someday I will have another dragon tattoo to keep him company."

heather sent us the following poem:

Specter: Last Words

Hollow out

spine

and binding

— open —

thousandstarred spark

I dream your funeral speech

you stammer at my ghost

leaving these pages to soak on the porch.

~ ~ ~

heather hughes hangs her heart in Boston and Miami. All of her tattoos have wings. Her poems have appeared in Bad Penny Review, Cream City Review, Grain, Hinchas de Poesía, and Prick of theSpindle, among others. She posts NaPoWriMo & letterpress experiments at dragonheartbeat.tumblr.com and can also be visited virtually at birdmaddgirl.com or @birdmaddgirl on twitter.

Thanks to heather for contributing to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Oh Deer! Tattoosday Walks Into a Bar

Last Friday, I went to a book release party for my friend and tattooed poet Jeanann Verlee at the Side Walk Cafe & Bar in the East Village.

I had a Sixpoint Sweet Action (ok, I had two - the Happy Hour deals are great) before the reading started at the bar's performance space.

The beer was cold, rich and delicious, and was poured by the bartender Amy, who was sporting this incredible tattoo:

This black and grey deer was accompanied by a landscape, decorated on the other side of Amy's arm:

Amy told me the work was inspired by the fact that she had been "living in a shitty apartment" and her room had a terrible view, but it did have a poster of deer and wolves in it. This poster was a distraction and made the space a little more bearable.

At East Side Ink, she worked with Josh Lord, who "drew it up and molded it to [her] musculature and shoulder blade." The end result was this beautiful black and gray landscape.

Thanks to Amy for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Be sure also to check out Jeanann's fabulous new book Said the Manic to the Muse. She's an amazing poet!